Known as eVe, the car is the world’s fastest solar electric vehicle over 500km. The visit allowed Gullen Range Wind and Solar Farm and UNSW students to learn about each other’s technology. Students from Crookwell High were also invited, to whet their appetite about renewable energy.

The Sunswift team of students from UNSW is dedicated to building the world’s most advanced solar electric vehicles.

The team comes from a multitude of international backgrounds and brings a variety of disciplines to the design challenge. This is reflected through the five divisions of Sunswift’s project: mechanical, electrical, business, operations and strategy.

Sunswift project manager Matthew Holohan said the team “truly believes we can make a difference in the world through solving practical problems and constantly pushing technology to the limit.”

Students from Crookwell High School enjoyed seeing eVe, learning about the Sunswift initiatives and hearing about their newest solar car, Violet, which is the sixth vehicle to be designed and manufactured by them. Violet is currently undergoing a series of mechanical and electrical upgrades in preparation for the upcoming Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in 2019.

The Gullen Solar Farm project is a 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant. The solar farm is co-located within the existing Gullen Range Wind Farm, a 73-turbine farm which produces enough energy to power in excess of 70,000 average homes on an average day of wind. The solar farm consists of 42,000 solar panels and first generated electricity in 2017. It produces approximately 22,000 megawatt-hours of clean renewable energy each year, which is enough energy to supply approximately 3100 average homes.

Gullen Range asset manager Leo Pearce said it was “fantastic to see two state-of-the-art applications of solar technology side by side”.

 “Solar energy has such a bright future in Australia,” he said. 

Gullen Range Wind and Solar Farm is owned by BJCE Australia, who also own Biala Wind Farm, a 31-turbine farm which is expected to have an installed capacity of approximately 100MW producing enough electricity for approximately 46,000 typical homes on an average day of wind.

If you are interested in learning more about clean energy generation or would like to see this technology first hand, BJCE Australia operates free public tours of the co-located facility.