The Solar Team Eindhoven has been busy at Brainport Industries Campus for months to develop SHOW. This beautiful Self-Sustaining House on Wheels is taking shape and is being developed by 22 dedicated students from Eindhoven University of Technology to actually hit the road in September.
The Solar Team Eindhoven realizes a vehicle that runs entirely on solar energy every two years. By creating innovative and energy-efficient solar vehicles, they want to inspire the current market and society to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future in energy and mobility. In 2013, the first vehicle, a family car, was launched: the Stella. In 2015, it was the Stella Lux, which could also drive positively with energy, and in 2017 the Stella Vie, a five-seater with a license plate. Two years ago Stella Era hit the road, a self-propelled charging station on wheels.
Last year, a new team of students was set to work developing a new solar vehicle with complete freedom, independent of the market and of the university. After a lot of brainstorming, voting and designing, it became ‘SHOW’: Self-Sustaining House On Wheels. A house on wheels in which you can travel, work and live on solar energy. Wherever you want. An enormously ambitious idea, with which the students will be at the forefront of the current market for at least 5 to 10 years.
Partners within BIC
The Solar Team Eindhoven (STE) is based on the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC) in Eindhoven. They have their own domain in a huge factory hall, and they work almost day and night to build the camper. Indispensable are the large number of partners and sponsors. Some of them are also located at BIC. That made it convenient, says Charlot Felderhof, Innovation & Technical Partnerships Manager at STE. “The lines within BIC are very short. You can walk in, so to speak, to anyone. And there is immediate recognition: ‘Hey, you’re also at BIC’.”
For example, the bearings in the wheels of the SHOW come from Ceratec, which makes ceramic products for the high-tech industry in particular. Felderhof: “The weight of SHOW is extremely important, we want to produce all parts as light as possible. Ceramic bearings are one third the weight of metal bearings. In addition, they are more wear-resistant.”
Students from Summa College, also housed at BIC, also started working for STE at ‘across the street’ KMWE as an internship project. They made various parts for SHOW, and were proud to see how they were placed in the vehicle.
For all legal matters, the student team was supported by BG Legal, where a team of lawyers from different expertises work for technology companies. This includes employment law, intellectual property law, contracts and administrative law.
And so there are a lot of partners inside, and also outside BIC, who make the SHOW possible. The vehicle must be ready on July 18, after which inspection and test driving can begin. In September the caravan leaves for southern Europe.