EPM and EAFIT Enter 2nd Generation Solar Powered Racing Car In World Solar Challenge

Medellín’s municipal owned utility EPM and the EAFIT university have joined forces, sharing knowledge, innovation and expertise to design and enter a new solar car to compete with the top engineering universities from around the globe in the World Solar Challenge, to be held this October 18 to 26 in Australia.

The  EPM-EAFIT solar vehicle has faced challenges for the last couple of years in preparation for the World Solar Challenge that have caused its design to evolve and now hopefully be prepared to face the extreme conditions of this competition, crossing Australia from north to south.  Between the first and second generation of the Colombian solar vehicle entry is a significant jump in technology and design that is not only more likely to succeed in Australia, where the team will compete in the same category (Challenger Class), but profits from advances in research and innovation services and systems from sustainable energy.

“This is an event in which universities are at the vanguard of research into alternative energy sources. So it is very important that we confront such new areas for us as solar energy with world class institutions. This is not just a race, but a place where the entire planet can know the spearhead of research in these areas,” says Juan Luis Mejía Arango, Rector of EAFIT.

For his part, Juan Esteban Restrepo Calle, General Manager of EPM Group, said that “innovation is a value that is present in the DNA of EPM since its founding 60 years ago. And the solar vehicle is testimony to how the company constantly seeks solutions to social innovation at the service of the people. We are very proud to participate in a project that potentiates the talent of young people, through the sharing of knowledge with EAFIT.”