Panasonic supports Tokai University solar car team

TOKYO, JAPAN: Panasonic Corp. has agreed to provide technical support to Tokai University's solar car team, which will compete in the 2013 World Solar Challenge (WSC 2013), one of the world's biggest races for solar cars, to be held from October 6 to 13 in Australia.

Under the sponsorship agreement, Panasonic will provide the Japanese university team with its HIT solar cells, which boast the industry's top-class electricity output*2 as well as its high-capacity lithium-ion batteries.

The WSC, which started in 1987 and became a biennial event in 1999, is a time-based competition over a distance of 3,021km from Darwin in the north down to Adelaide in the south. Teams from around the world, including universities and corporations, participate in the race in cars powered solely by sunlight.

The Tokai University team has an impressive track record in solar car racing. The team won the previous WSC races held in 2009 and 2011, and is now looking to make a hat trick in the WSC this year.

Last year, the team also won the race in South Africa that was recognized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the world's longest alternative fuel vehicle car race. Panasonic's energy products contributed to the team's victories at these international competitions.