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The Southern California Solar Car Team is a diverse, interdisciplinary group of talented undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students dedicated to the pursuit of designing, building, and racing USC’s first-ever solar-powered race vehicle. Our goal is to provide students with a rare, hands-on opportunity to apply their engineering, business, marketing, and outreach skills to a unique project that seeks to inspire and train students for a fast-paced, quickly evolving workforce. We pride ourselves on making student learning and enrichment a priority as we know the skills and knowledge gained from this project will be key assets in the future of our team members as well as advancing the future technology of solar-powered vehicles.
Our Mission
Our team is working hard to successfully construct and race USC’s 1st solar powered race vehicle, Argo. This vehicle has been the culmination of the hard work our members have dedicated to this team for the past few years since the team’s founding and first design: Traveler 1. We are confident that the completion of our new and improved solar car will pave the way for further research into revolutionary transportation and green energy technologies here in Southern California. Our team is committed to inspiring the next generation of innovators, visionaries, and responsible citizens. This past year, our team has worked diligently to design Argo using digital softwares, such as SolidWorks, to test and refine our vehicle in preparation for the 2024 American Solar Challenge..
Our Goal
Our team is raising funds so that we can purchase the supplies and materials we need to construct our 1st Solar Car and compete in both the 2024 American Solar Challenge (ASC) and represent USC as its 1st competition vehicle in the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP).
This school year, our team is focusing on getting the mechanical, motor, safety, and battery systems fully completed, allowing an occupant to safely drive the vehicle. Our goal is to have all functional portions of the car complete, and confirm that the car can operate using only solar power. Next year, we plan to improve the vehicle by focusing on increased efficiency, performance, resiliency, safety, and by incorporating an aerodynamic top shell, allowing us to test and finally send Argo to competition.
While our long-term goal is to raise enough funds to compete in the American Solar Challenge, our plan for this year is to fundraise enough so that we can finish building our car and enter the Formula Sun Grand Prix for Summer 2024. The FSGP takes place every year and is a competition to design, build, and drive solar-powered cars in an endurance race around a racetrack. On years when ASC occurs, the FSGP serves as a qualifying event for the cross-country race. This competition sees participation from teams all over the country, including the University of Michigan, Stanford University, and MIT.
Our goal is to raise $7500 through this campaign and help fund our Electrical team’s build design, including but not limited to, our BMS (Battery Management System), Battery Box Materials and Manufacturing, Connectors and Wires, Solar Cells and Solar Panel Manufacturing, etc. These funds will ensure our team has the necessary resources to build a safe, reliable, and efficient electrical system for our Solar Car to excel in the Formula Grand Prix in Summer 2024. All of the funds that are raised will go towards the purchasing of parts and materials for our race car. As we construct our vehicle, your gift will be extremely crucial in funding the tools, mechanical components, and electrical components needed to meet the requirements set forth by the ASC competition regulations. Any additional funds we receive will go towards all travel expenses and competition fees to get us to the ASC and FSGP competitions.
Project Timeline
With most of our designs complete, the main focus of our team is now manufacturing and integrating the various components. We are on track to complete the mechanical foundation and electrical components of the car this summer, after which the main focus will be testing and refining the various systems within the car. With the competition in July 2024, we allocated to have the 2022-23 academic year for design, design improvements, and construction and we dedicated the 2023-24 academic year to testing, refining, and acquiring the necessary documentation and inspection approvals for the vehicle to be registered as street-legal vehicle under the California DMV.
Please help us to complete our car AND help us make it to the American Solar Challenge FSGP in 2024. No matter the size of your gift, EVERY GIFT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Only with your support can we make this happen.
We Thank You in Advance for Your Support! FIGHT ON!
Learn more about our team at our official website:
Follow us on social media at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uscsolarcar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uscsolarcar/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@USCSolarCar/
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The University of Southern California is a 501(c)(3) organization, so gifts and donations to USC are considered charitable contributions. Gifts in support of the SC Solar Car Team (Student Projects Fund) are tax-deductible in accordance with State and Federal law. Donors to USC should contact their tax advisor or tax accountant when inquiring about their individual tax consequences. USC’s federal tax I.D. number is 95-1642394.
Make sure to come back and check out our “Updates” tab for news about our campaign, as well as to see YOUR NAME posted as one of our loyal donors. Our sincerest thanks for your generosity and support.
If you have any questions about this campaign or would like to remain an anonymous donor on our “Updates” page, please contact Jane Ong, Director of Development at jane.ong@usc.edu / 213.821.2921.
Thank you for your support! Any gift size can go a long way and we want you to know that we greatly appreciate your support by sending you a personalized email from our team.
Your support truly makes a difference. As a thank you, we will send you a personalized thank you letter from our team.
As a thank you for being a loyal SC Solar Car team supporter, for your gift, we will highlight your name on our website's donor wall.
Thank you so much for your support! For your gift, we'd like to thank you by listing you as a supporter on all SC Solar Car social media pages.
Thank you for making a generous gift in support of our team! To thank you, we'd like list you as a sponsor on our team t-shirts so that we can proudly show everyone that you are the reason we are able to do what we do.
As a thank you for your generous gift, we'd like to list you as a sponsor on our vehicle driver box so that we can show others you are a supporter of our team...and car!
Thank you so much for your dedication to SC Solar Car! As a thank you for making a gift of $500 or more, we'd like to list you as a sponsor on the official SC Solar Car race helmet. Thank you for your very generous gift!