The nine solar car teams which aim to participate in the 2022 Sasol Solar Challenge have all successfully completed the scrutineering process.

This process, which took place at Red Star Raceway, in Gauteng, from September 4 to 7, was conducted in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, as well as with the help of 12 volunteers from across the world. 

The teams’ solar cars were lined up at the scrutineering area in the early hours of Sunday, taking turns to clock in at each station. 

On Tuesday all the teams had gone through the testing stations and were given the green light to proceed to the second phase of the process and, subsequently, the starting line, on September 9.

The teams competing in this year's race are: SolarFlair; Tshwane University of Technology; Central University of Technology; University of the Free State; Agoria (Belgium); Brunei (The Netherlands); Genuine IV; the Northwest University and UniChamps (Unisa).

“Scrutineering is the most important part of the Sasol Solar Challenge, and the process is conducted in order to ensure that all the solar cars meet the event’s requirements and sporting regulations to assure safety of the drivers, as well as the spectators along the route,” says Sasol Solar Challenge director and owner Robert Walker.

“It’s great that all teams were successful and passed all the tests. We now look forward to travelling with them on the road during the eight-day-long challenge.”

The scrutineering process is divided into two categories – static scrutineering, which includes the testing of the mechanical, electrical and energy storage systems (including the testing of signage, body and sizing, driver operations, lights and vision, battery and safety), and dynamic scrutineering, which tests the speed and stability of the solar cars.

The teams are now set to race across five provinces from Johannesburg to Cape Town, from September 9 to 16, demonstrating the power of the sun and showcasing their engineering skills in 18 towns. 

The challenge has an almost brand-new route from the previous years’ races, with new towns, roads and communities. 

New towns include Brakpan, Trompsburg, Willowmore, Kirkwood, Jeffreys Bay, Riversdale and Caledon.

The race is a distance-based race, and not a timed race, with the team to harvest the most kilometres from the sun during the event declared the winner.