Chile to host its own solar-powered vehicle race

SANTIAGO.- As a pioneer event in Latin America, "La Ruta Solar" race has emerged as way of resolving future needs for clean energy transport. The initiative, which is being promoted by engineers at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, hopes to bring participants from all over the continent to a competition between vehicles that run on human and solar energy.

Inspired by the World Solar Challenge (WSC), Eduardo Soto and Leandro Valencia are heading the multi-disciplinary team that will hold and event that, until now, has never taken place in Latin America.

At its initial debut in Chile, the objective of the "La Ruta Solar" race will be to cover Route 68 in hopes that solar energy will become a solution for future transportation problems in Latin America. "La Ruta Solar" seeks to serve as an international model for developing awareness about solar energy and bring it closer to the residents of Latin America.

The purpose of the competition is to have 16 teams with at least 11 being made up of foreigners and 10 thousand people joining the cause by registering on the web page www.rutasolar.cl.