In January 2015 I visited the inaugural Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge. In this article I’ll recount my “adventures” before, during and after the event. It’ll be a cross between a report about the event, and a travel report about Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates. I’m not an experienced traveller, and this will surely show 
Flight in (Jan 13)
This was both the longest flight I’d ever made in my life, and also the first longer flight I’d made alone. I’d flown alone to Edinburgh once, but from Amsterdam airport that’s more like a bus service. The flight was uneventful – but boring. I landed around 20:00, and after receiving my very first stamp in my brand new passport I entered the central hall of the Abu Dhabi airport, which is of a stunning design. It was a sign of things to come, as I would come across many examples of remarkable architecture in the UAE. I had planned to purchase a local SIM card, but I couldn’t find the Etisalat store at the airport. As I was tired, I decided to do that the next morning. This turned out to be a (small) mistake, more on that later.
Not my rental car, but the first thing I saw at the Abu Dhabi airport
I found the car rental desk and got my Nissan Sunny (appropriate, I think?) without any fuss. When I pulled onto the motorway on my way to my hotel, the very first thing I saw was two quads passing me at very high speed, with two guys in traditional dress each on them. It was a first sign of what traffic in the UAE can be like.
I made my way to my hotel, where I encountered valet parking for the first time – I was quite surprised that the hotel employee took my car away from me After a tiring flight (amazing how just sitting around for seven hours can tire one out) and already a number of new impressions I was very glad to be able to sleep.
Scrutineering day two (Jan 14)
I wanted to get to the Yas Marina race track as early as possible, so the first thing I wanted to do is to get the local SIM card to have a mobile data connection on my smartphone. In the Netherlands, where I live, shops usually open at 09:00 on weekdays. So, naturally, I showed up at the local Etisalat shop at 09:00 – to find out that the shop opened at 10:00. After driving around the area for an hour (visiting the experimental sustainable Masdar City) I arrived back at the store at 10:00, to find three people in the queue before me. To make a long story short, after having argued with a woman dressed head to toe in a niqab about our spots in the queue, after having waited for nearly an hour, and after having filled in a huge stack of forms I finally had a working mobile data connection by approximately 12:00.
(In all honesty, this was really the only minor problem I had during my stay in Abu Dhabi. Also, the Etisalat SIM card worked flawlessly during my entire stay. I don’t think I’ve been even five minutes without mobile network, even deep in the desert. Awesome performance, and not very expensive, too.)
Visiting the pit boxes. Photo credit PI solar car
After this little hiccup I drove to the race track, where the second scrutineering day was in full swing. At the race track I found the organiser’s headquarters, made acquaintances, and got all the stuff I needed to move freely about the track (wristband etc.). After that I went over to the pit boxes where the solar car teams were working on their cars for the second day of scrutineering.
It felt absolutely great to be there! I wore my solarracing.org t-shirt and many people recognised the logo. That made it very easy to start conversations. It felt very good that people recognised the logo and the website (and in some cases, even me), and I was received very warmly.
The Hiroshima solar car during brake tests
Much of the scrutineering had been done a day earlier (on the first scrutineering day), which I could not attend because of how the timing with flights etc. happened to work out. I still managed to catch a fair bit of scrutineering activities, which was great. It took some retests and adjustments, but by the end of the day, all cars had passed scrutineering.
Qualifications (Jan 15)
The cars getting into position for the group photo
The next day I got up early for qualification day. The day started with a group photo of all the teams with their cars on the race track. After that was taken care of, the cars were moved to the starting grid.
For qualification, the solar cars would drive around the track from 09:00 until 17:00. To qualify for the road part of the event, each solar would have to drive a minimum of fifty laps, while each driver that the team wanted to have drive on the road would have to drive a minimum of thirteen laps. Also, the total number of laps driven would determine the starting order for the road part of the event, the next day.
The solar cars on the grid, preparing for the start
The day presented a great opportunity to see the solar cars and teams in action on a relatively compact location. I spent the day talking to the teams, and watching the solar cars entering and exiting the pits for driver changes, and for planned and unplanned maintenance. As I found out for the first time during the European Solar Challenge, the atmosphere was both tense and relaxed. There were a few teams with technical problems, and there was lots of inter-team help to make sure all cars kept moving.
Meeting Michigan’s Chuck Hutchins!
A meeting particularly worth mentioning was with Chuck Hutchins. At age 80 (now 81) he has travelled with the Michigan to each of the events they participated in, except just two. It was great to have met him, and it absolute honour to find out that he knew about me and this website. He told me that whenever he is away with the team, his wife keeps a sharp eye on this website to find out what’s going on. I love that
A funny story developed when I visited Race Control. This is a room with lots of monitors and radios from which everything that happens on the track can be followed and controlled. When I was there only two people from the track were present. They were used to controlling Formula One races, DTM, fast stuff like that. Solar cars were completely new to them. They were amused by the leisurely pace of the solar cars on the track.
The race track control room
After a while, one of the teams ran out of battery power, pulled over in a wide corner, and popped up their array to charge from the sun – as solar cars do. The controllers were quite surprised by that, and at first weren’t sure what to do. Should they send help? Pretty soon, some one explained to them over the radio what was going on and things settled down. We had a good laugh about that On the photo, the team (I think it was Oregon) can be seen charging on the top row monitor, fourth from the right.
The final scores at the end of qualifications
The day passed by quickly as there was lots to see and lots to talk about. The weather was pleasant, too, lots of sun for the cars but not too hot to walk around comfortably. At the end of the day, the Turkish SOCRAT team had driven the most laps, followed quite closely by Punch Powertrain from Belgium and the University of Michigan from the USA.
The teams spent the evening cleaning out their pit boxes, and packing their support convoy for the first road day.
Road day one (Jan 16)
ADSC route map. Image credit: ADSC
At the beginning of the first road day, the teams gathered at the race track for a 09:00 start. After the start, they made their way to the city of Abu Dhabi, emerging onto the eastbound E22 motorway towards the control stop at the UAE University in Al Ain. I chose not to follow the solar cars into the city because the traffic is very dense there. Instead, I drove directly to the point where the course exited the city, and waited for the first few cars to pass by.
The solar cars lined up. minutes before the start of road day one
After taking a few photos of Team Arrow, SOCRAT and the Petroleum Institute as they sped by, I hopped into my car and tried to get to Al Ain before them to see them arrive. I found out how hard it was to overtake a fast-moving solar car, even when they’re only a handful minutes ahead, because PI arrived in Al Ain before I did.
The solar cars charging at the Al Ain control stop
I spent some time at the control stop, observing the solar cars arriving, charging, and leaving. The UAE (which is housed in one the most striking buildings I have ever seen) had arranged an excellent lunch, so between all that and the pleasant weather it was really a pleasure to be there.
Solar cars charging at Masdar City at the end of road day one
After lunch, I drove to day one’s end point, at Masdar City. I got completely lost when my sat nav couldn’t deal with brand new roads in a part of the city of Abu Dhabi. When I arrived at Masdar City, about half the teams had already arrived, and were charging their batteries from the sun.
PI team handing out excellent local food that really hit the spot
I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the solar car teams, watching the rest of the solar cars trickle in, and eating the good food that the PI team was handing out. The atmosphere was great, with little clusters of solar car team members mingling and standing around, talking solar cars.
It was clear though, that the course was too short. A few hours after having arrived, but before the sun went down, at least three solar cars lowered there arrays and were covered up. All teams declined to comment on their battery status, but it was clear that many teams had full or nearly full batteries.
Road day two (Jan 17)
Road day two had both start and finish at the Shams 1 concentrated solar power plant. This powerplant has 1600 by 1600 metres of parabolic mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto tubes filled with mineral oil. That oil is heated to 400°C, which is used to generate steam, and that steam in turn is used to generate up to 100MW of electricity.
The solar cars lined up for the start of road day two
I got up really early to make it to the power plant in time for the 10:00 start, and made it just in time. I had Chris Selwood (of World Solar Challenge fame) in the car, so that was a great opportunity to discuss the upcoming WSC. Also, later during the day, Chris drove, which freed up my eyes and hands to take photos and tweet.
After the start the solar cars moved south and east to a control stop in Hamim, after which the moved back west and north again, passing the power plant a couple of hours later. We took the opportunity to explore the environment a bit. Right across the road, there was camel race track where they were training, and we went over to take a look. These beasts are faster than you’d think!
Michigan in hot pursuit of the PI Solar Car team
Eventually we travelled south and caught the first few teams on their way north to the second turning point there. This also made for a few nice photo opportunities. We followed a couple of the teams north, and went for a nice lunch in the small town of Madinat Zayed, a few km north of the power plant. The solar cars kept passing by on their way north, which made for couple of very nice photo opportunities. During the lunch, we could follow the solar car’s progress on the live GPS map, so when we saw the first of solar cars approach the town southbound, on their way to the finish line, Chris and I hopped into our car and were immediately in the thick of it.
By then the front three cars were quite close together. This made for some really intense driving once the cars reached the urban area. To be completely honest, I perceived some of the driving I observed as a bit unsafe, something I had not expected. There’s a huge difference between how the solar cars drive on the (mostly not very busy) motorways and in crowded urban traffic, fighting for a position.
The Shams 1 CSP power plant is a truly amazing construction
Eventually, all solar cars and their convoys made it safely to the finish line at the power plant, one by one. The atmosphere was again great. A very nice surprise was that we could take a tour of the solar power plant, which was very cool. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, and he was able to field the questions of a van full of solar car engineers very well. It’s an absolutely awesome installation.
The solar cars charging at the end of road day two
This day, too, the teams that had arrived earliest put their cars away before the sun went down, so again those teams would start the next day with full batteries.
For me, the day finished with an excellent local meal, provided by the organisers, before Chris Selwood and I started our 2½ hour journey back to the hotel in Abu Dhabi. The teams spent the night at the power plant in two huge tents.
Road day three (Jan 18)
Start of road day three: the solar cars on their way at one-minute intervals
I decided to spend this day in my hotel, for a few reasons. For the solar car teams, this seemed (and would prove) to be a virtual copy of the previous road day. The teams started at 08:00, which would mean that I’d have to start my trip to the solar power plant no later than 05:30, which in turn would also mean I would have to leave without breakfast. And finally, really, I was just tired and needed a bit of a break after four days of hard work and many new impressions. By this time, a dip in the hotel pool and a phone call home both seemed like very good ideas
This didn’t mean that I totally missed the third road day. I followed the solar cars using the live map and the social media updates by the teams. The excellent UAE mobile data network made this actually quite easy.
The weather was sunny and the cars had, again, plenty of energy so the speeds at the front of the field were high. Michigan and Petroleum Institute arrived at the finish within five minutes of each other, and that meant that penalties and protests could make all the difference.
At the end of the day, I could watch the solar cars, loaded onto trucks and trailers, make their way along the coastal motorway to Abu Dhabi for the next day’s award ceremony.
Award and end ceremonies (Jan 19)
The opening ceremony of the Abu Dhabi sustainability week
Well-rested, I made my way to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre for the award ceremony of the ADSC. Both the ADSC itself and the award ceremony were part of the starting ceremonies of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. I hadn’t arranged my entrance ticket in advance (which wasn’t very smart), so it took me quite some time and hassle to get into the exhibition centre. I nearly was too late for the ADSC part of the proceedings, but I made it just in time.
The day started with presentations by people who had made notable contributions to sustainability. Among the people giving talks were Al Gore and the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
During the handing out of the prizes, a funny situation developed. The top three finishers (Michigan, Petroleum Institute and Punch Powertrain) were located in a side room from the main presentation stage, and the people in the main auditorium were shown a live video image of each team receiving its prize.
The three prizes together
The funny part started when the video, at first, didn’t have any audio. I happened to be sitting among a number of Michigan team members who went completely crazy when they saw their team being handed a prize first – but they had no way of telling whether it was first or third prize! Next, the Petroleum Institute got handed their prize – which seemed a bit smaller on the video, but again the Michigan people had no way to be sure. Finally, by then, the audio had come on and it became clear the the Michigan team had won the first prize – and then they went properly crazy
People having a great time during the end ceremony
In the evening, there was a great final ADSC award ceremony, held at Masdar city. It was a great closing event to a great event, with good local foods, some music, and lots of prizes for the solar car teams in many different categories.
Last day (Jan 20)
For my last day in the UAE I had planned two things: visit a confluence point (more on that below) and visit Dubai. Both didn’t work out, but I was perfectly fine with that
The sandy road that stopped me, and the GPS coordinates of the point I had to give up
I have a weird little side hobby, which is visiting confluence points. A confluence point is a position on the surface of the earth with a “whole” GPS coordinate, for instance 24’00″00 north 54’00″00 east. I like how these points are both completely random and very orderly at the same time. Unfortunately, a sandy road deterred me from completely reaching the point (I was driving a normal car, not a 4×4) but I came pretty close. Next time I’ll be sure to rent the right car for the task
Solar Impulse and the Punch Powertrain Solar Team
About a week before I arrived in Abu Dhabi, the Swiss airplane Solar Impulse arrived there to be prepared for its round-the-world flight (which is going on now, by the way). Ever since I found that fact out, I had been trying the contact the people behind the project to arrange a visit to the airplane, unfortunately to no avail.
The Punch Powertrain Solar Team engineers were very impressed with the build quality of Solar Impulse
The Power Punch Solar Team from Belgium saw my attempts on the social media to contact the Solar Impulse people, and reached out to me. They had managed to arrange a visit with their whole team, and they kindly invited me with them. I’m really grateful for that, and – as promised – the first of the new batch of solarracing.org t-shirts I’m having made is for you, guys!
For the visit of Solar Impulse I have no other word than the overused word “awesome”. Read about my experiences here. It’s great to see the airplane I saw up close now on its way on around the world.
After saying goodbye to the Belgian solar car team, I spent the rest of the late afternoon and early evening strolling through one of the huge malls in Abu Dhabi, before making my way to the airport to fly home.
Flight out (Jan 21)
My last sight of the country – for now
Like the flight in, the flight home was uneventful. I do remember being very, very tired and I don’t remember everything from that (night) flight. I think I must have drifted in and out of (half-)sleep for quite a large part of the flight. I do remember seeing natural gas flares in the Persian Gulf below the airplane, and a starry sky including the Milky Way above it, a mesmerising sight unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
And then I was home again, after a great adventure. I surely hope that this event will return in two year’s time, either in Abu Dhabi or somewhere else in the Middle East, and I sure hope to be there again.
I would like to thank the organisers of the ADSC for organising a great event which I really enjoyed attending. I would also like to thank the International Solarcar Federation for sponsoring my trip to the UAE for a very large part, and I would like to thank my wife for supporting me and my crazy hobby in these crazy busy times for us (11-month old twins…).
Also, I’ve been very lucky with how things worked out. The European Solar Challenge was the very first solar car event I attended in person. It was quite close to where I live, and a “compact” event (on a race track). Even without any experience, it was easy to cover. The ESC taught me some very useful lessons, which I applied to the ADSC. The ADSC, in turn, was a step up from the ESC: farther from home, partly on a track, partly on the road – but in a country with a very good infrastructure (especially the excellent mobile network). This event, too, taught me valuable lessons, which I hope to be able to apply to the World Solar Challenge, which is another step up. It’s very, very far from where I live, it’s stretched out over huge distances and it has large stretches without mobile network. It’s going to be tough, but it’s going to be fun.
