TEHRAN, Iran -- Heavy clouds still linger over relations between Washington and Tehran, but that's not stopping a group of Iranian students and their teachers from gearing up for a summer road trip through the American heartland.
Fueled by the sun and their hopes to win first place for the Islamic Republic, the 19-person team is preparing an Iranian solar car for competition in the United States for the first time, at the American Solar Challenge in July.
The flat, rectangular Havin-2, or Brilliant Sun, was test-driven alongside slightly larger gas-powered vehicles recently on a stretch of highway in Iran's mountainous north, in preparation for the eight-day, 1,700-mile race that will run from Austin, Texas, to Minneapolis.
While the engine and photovoltaic panels are imported, the team designed and developed an operating system for the car that manages inverters, battery chargers and other devices to optimize its photovoltaic cells.
Farkhondeh Naziri, 20, in charge of electronics on the project and the only female member of the team from Qazvin Azad University, said they plan to optimize the car's absorption of solar energy based on the route it plans to take.
"We first do a simulation of the actual race course and study the weather conditions there. Then we try to calculate what the sun's angles would be during the eight days," she said.
The 485-pound vehicle is 15 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4 feet high, with a cockpitlike canopy for the driver. With photovoltaic cells covering some 65 square feet of its surface, the car's lithium-ion batteries can power it for up to four hours at speeds between 56 mph and 93 mph.
The car's predecessor, the Havin-1, ranked 17th in the 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia, where 37 teams from 20 nations competed.
The team is sponsored by an Iranian bank and a car-battery maker, which paid some $150,000 to build the car. Participation in the event, including travel, is expected to cost the team a similar amount.
Professor Beitollah Akbari, who manages the Havin-2 team, said he believes the project could help advance the cause of clean energy in a country where generous state subsidies have encouraged overuse use of motor vehicles.
"Our young scholars and university students can significantly contribute to Iran's economic growth, particularly in the field of clean energies that can help us reduce dependency on oil. Especially now that our country is in dire need of cutting off reliance on energies derived from oil by all means."
Last month, Tehran cut a portion of its energy and fuel subsidies to draw prices closer to international levels, nearly doubling some prices at the pump and testing public support for such measures in a country battered by inflation and economic sanctions imposed over its contested nuclear program.
Subsidies have kept the cost of gasoline artificially low and were blamed for making petrol cheaper than bottled mineral water. The cuts aim to free government money for production and infrastructure projects.
Transportation expert Masoud Mohajer said solar energy could potentially be a good investment for the government, given that the country has more than 300 sunny days a year.
"As Iran cuts energy and fuel subsidies, solar energy, which is available almost all across the country, will be a good alternative," he said.
Monday Business on 05/12/2014