The Philippine-made solar-powered car, Sikat II, is the Philippines official entry to the 2013 World Solar Challenge (WSC) in Australia. The car is a product of the Philippine Solar Car Project of the De La Salle University (DLSU) and the Sikat Solar Challenge Foundation Inc. (SSCFI), with the support from other groups.
The Sikat II was unveiled to the public on Thursday, the project was also supported by Lopez-controlled First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) and its subsidiaries First Gen Corp. (Fist Gen) and Energy Development Corp. (EDC).
The world’s popular World Solar Challenge (WSC) is a grueling 3,000-kilometer race among solar cars from all over the world, across the Australian outback from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Adelaide in South Australia, the 2013 edition will be held this coming October 6 to 13, 2013. The Philippines entry is the Sikat II solar-powered car.
The Philippine team manning the Sikat II is the Team Solar Philippines, composed of a group of 50 mechanical and electrical engineering students and six facult members from DLSU, modified and made improvements to the 2011 Sikat II car.
The Sikat II solar-powered car was modified for six months and made a series of test runs at Basa Airbase, Pampanga and at SCTEX from April to June this year. The result was better performance and higher reliability, and the car was able to run with higher speeds at lower power consumption.
The Team Philippines to the 2013 WSC will depart for Darwin this coming September 2013. The DLSU delegation is the first academic institution in the country to accept the challenge of the Australian race. As of press time, the WSC website listed entries from 23 countries, including Sikat II.
