Faust
After learning from the experiences of their previous experimental vehicles, Blue Sky Solar Racing was prepared to make a splash on the international stage. In the design of their third generation vehicle – Faust – the team focused on several key concepts to produce a solar vehicle that was competitive in international competitions; mainly, to minimize drag and weight. This led to several drastic departures in their design traditions. First of all, in contrast to Blue II, Faust was designed as a three-wheeler to minimize rolling resistance and decrease the overall weight of the vehicle. Secondly, the chassis for Faust was made of an extremely lightweight hollow tube aluminum space frame which decreased the overall weight of the vehicle to only 440 lbs, nearly half of the weight of Blue II. These departures in design lead to vast performance improvements which made it possible for the vehicle to achieve a top speed of 140 km/h. Construction Faust was completed in 2001 and it participated in two competitions in the same year.
Weight: 620 lbs
Power: 950 watts, 16.2% silicon solar cells
Batteries: Lithium ion-polymer
Competitions: World Solar Challenge 2001 – 12th place, American Solar Challenge 2001 – 14th place