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Innoptus Solar Team
The Innoptus Solar Team consists of Belgian engineering students from KU Leuven who aim to build the most innovative and efficient solar car possible. Since 2023, Innoptus has proudly supported the team as its main sponsor.
In 2024, the team continued to achieve outstanding success on the global stage. We are immensely proud to be part of this incredible journey and to witness the team's world-class accomplishments.
September 25, 2024: Successful year for the Innoptus Solar Team shines even brighter with the extension of the main sponsorship by the 4ITEGO Group
4ITEGO Group, which includes the companies Innoptus and Infinite Simulation Systems, is pleased to announce that it will continue as the main sponsor of the Innoptus Solar Team for another two years. Following the successes of the past year, the 4ITEGO Group will also support the new Solar Team in their pursuit score a hattrick by becoming world champions again in Australia. To achieve this goal, a brand-new solar car will be developed entirely from scratch. The team looks forward to once again pushing the boundaries of what is possible and competing with the best teams in the world.
September 22, 2024: Historic Double Victory for the Innoptus Solar Team and the BluePoint Atlas on the F1 Circuit at Zolder!
This weekend, the Innoptus Solar Team achieved an incredible feat, winning two gold medals in just 48 hours. After their victory at the Sasol Solar Challenge in South Africa with the Infinite solar car, the team claimed the European title at the iLumen European Solar Challenge on the Formula 1 Circuit at Zolder, Belgium.
With flawless strategy, the team dominated the 24-hour race. This double victory, all in one weekend, demonstrates the team's drive and perfectly sets them up for their next major challenge: the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in 2025, in Australia.
September 20, 2024: Resounding victory for the Innoptus Solar Team at the Sasol Solar Challenge 2024!
The Innoptus Solar Team shone by taking first place in the Sasol Solar Challenge 2024, their historic first victory in South Africa! During the race, the team took on all the challenges, covered more than 4,000 km through varied terrain and broke the day-long record twice, a remarkable achievement.
This triumph is the result of months of hard work, strategy, and innovation. We are incredibly proud to support these students who have been able to surpass themselves every step of the way. Congratulations on this incredible achievement and thank you to everyone who believed in them and accompanied them on this exceptional adventure!
September 11, 2024: Team passes scrutineering and qualifies 2nd for Sasol Solar Challeng
The solar car Infinite underwent rigorous technical inspections, passing tests for safety and fairness to ensure it was ready for the competition. Afterward, the qualifying lap took place at the Red Star Raceway, where the Innoptus Solar team finished with a fantastic result of 3 minutes and 28 seconds. This achievement secured them a strong second-place starting position for the Sasol Solar Challenge, which will begin in two days!
August 26, 2024: Arrival in South Africa marks the final countdown
After 13 months of hard work with 13 engineering students, the Innoptus Solar Team has finally arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. Here, they will be taking part in the Sasol Solar Challenge, where student teams from all over the world drive more than 4000km from Johannesburg to Cape Town in 8 days. They are ready for the final preparations, including extensive testing of the innovations added to their high-performance solar car, the Infinite.
June 28, 2024: Unveiling the upgraded Infinite Solar Car
After 12 months of hard work, the Innoptus Solar Team presented the Infinite - the most efficient solar car ever built, which became the world champion in October 2023. In September 2024, the students will participate in the most extreme Solar Challenge in the world in South Africa, where they will have to deal with large differences in altitude, busy cities, and exceptional weather conditions. Therefore, it was important that Infinite, which gave the team the world title in October 2023, was provided with the necessary adjustments and innovations.
June 3, 2024: Testing the Infinite on Flemish roads to prepare for extreme South African terrain
The Innoptus Solar Team tested their solar car on the roads of Leuven to prepare for the Solar Challenge in South Africa where they will face challenging conditions such as steep slopes and high temperatures. The students were able to conduct their tests safely, and after some adjustments to the motor, the solar car successfully drove up the steep Wijnpersstraat in Leuven. The Belgian team will leave for abroad with the car Infinite at the beginning of August!
Summer 2024: From Flemish roads to South Africa – Belgian Solar Team’s final preparations
Their high-performance solar car, the Infinite, will go through extensive testing and upgrades to prepare for the challenging race from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The team is getting ready to take on the challenge and showcase their innovations in the upcoming competition.
April 19, 2024: 200 young innovators compete in Solar Olympiad finals
Following the Belgian Solar Team's world title, 200 Belgian students also competed at the Headquarters of Colruyt Group Technics, showcasing their solar-powered cars and gadgets. Out of 200 initial teams, 40 advanced to the final round. The Solar Olympiad aims to promote STEM education and sustainability, providing students with hands-on experience and encouraging them to contribute to sustainable innovations in the future. Prizes were awarded based on speed, innovation, technology, and presentation.
Spring 2024: Solar Olympiad brings together 200 Belgian students for final showdown
The engineering students of the KU Leuven organized their 20th Solar Olympiad today. The Solar Olympiad is an 8-month competition in which Belgian youngsters go through a Solar Challenge.
January 10, 2024: Gearing up for the world's most extreme Solar Challenge
The Innoptus Solar Team from KU Leuven, world champions in 2023, is preparing to compete in the SASOL Solar Challenge 2024 in South Africa, considered to be the most extreme solar challenge. The 4000-kilometer race will run from Johannesburg to Cape Town over eight days. The team is refining their champion car, the Infinite, for the demanding competition. They must adapt the car for steeper gradients and more frequent acceleration and braking. The race requires strategic planning to cover the most distance within the given time. After finishing second in their debut in 2022, the team aims to win this year with strong competition expected.
New year, new challenges: Belgian Solar Team aims for victory in 2024 SASOL Solar Challenge
In September 2024, the engineering students will participate in the Sasol Solar Challenge for the second time, where they achieved 2nd place last edition. With the innovated Infinite, they hope to take the win to Belgium this year.
October 26th 2023: world champions!
Today, Oct. 26, the Belgians secured the coveted title, fulfilling their ultimate goal. After 15 months of work on their solar car, the Infinite, they crossed the finish line in Adelaide as the first to do so. The students thus take home the world title for the second time in a row.
October 22nd, 2023 - October 26th,2023: On your marks? Set. Go!
On October 22, the race began. 3021 km through the Australian Outback, solely powered by solar energy. Who can complete these kilometers as quickly as possible? The Innoptus Solar Team has a title to defend. During the previous edition in 2019, they became world champions. This year, there is increased competition because the 2021 race was canceled.
Race updates:
- Day 1: Darwin – Dunmarra: 776/3021 km: average 97 km/h
After a smooth start, the team quickly secured first place by overtaking the Aachen Solar Team. - Day 2: Dunmarra – Alice Springs: 1494/3021 km: average 95 km/h
During the hottest day of the championship, the Infinite increased its lead over the Dutch teams. They drove past several forest fires, which required a strategy adjustment. - Day 3: Alice Springs – Coober Pedy: 2137/3021 km: average 89 km/h
The Twente Solar Team made up some of their lag, resulting in the Innoptus Solar Team having only a 24-kilometer lead. In this part of the race, teams face strong crosswinds, making the Infinite's secret weapon, the fin, very useful. - Day 4: Coober Pedy – Port Augusta: /3021 km: average 89.5 km/h
The Innoptus Solar Team expanded their lead over the pursuers, again thanks to the fin providing additional stability and energy savings. The team ended the day 213 km from the finish. - Day 5: Port Augusta – Adelaide: 3021/3021 km
WORLD CHAMPION! The Infinite crossed the finish line first in Adelaide. After a flawless race with exciting pursuit by Solar Team Twente, the Innoptus Solar Team takes home the world title again.
Read more about the Solar Team
Stay up to date on our journey with the Solar Team on our LinkedIn-page
September, 2023: On the Road
Time to leave! We’re sending of INFINITE at the end of August. The Solar Car will be transported to Australia by airplane.
Two weeks after, the team leaves as well. Giving them a month in Australia to test the car, to do some final adjustments and acclimate to the warmer climate. This way they are ready to race!
August, 2023: Racing simulations
Time to test! In August the students are taking their car to the test track to test it thoroughly. How does it drive? How does it react on certain circumstances? Are all systems functioning as designed? Everything to be prepared for the World Championships!
July, 2023: Into the wind tunnel
The new Solar Car must be streamlined to the max! For this, the team did a lot of CFD simulations.
In July, the team is testing their new vehicle in the wind tunnel to examine whether the simulations correspond to reality.
It is also a great way to find out if there are some minor adjustments necessary before the Solar Car leaves for Australia. Because of these wind tests, the designers can also see how the car performs under certain types of wind and how to use this to their advantage.
July 14th, 2023: New car, new name!
Meet INFINITE, the 10th Belgian Solar Car!
Every two year, the Innoptus Solar Team design a completely new Solar Car bases on new ideas, simulations and experiments. The other year, they innovate and improve the currently existing car.
This year the students designed a completely new car, which is called INFINITE. A fitting name, considering that the Ansys solutions from Infinite have had a big impact on the design of the vehicle. After lots of simulations, the Solar Team was able to design a super aerodynamic car with which they are going to defend their World Title this October.
Innoptus?
As a company, Innoptus wants to take social corporate responsibility and bridge the gap between education and industry. It provides high-end technology and expertise, which allows the Innoptus Solar Team engineers to work with the best technology and best practices. Innoptus can and wants to play an active, supporting role, and the best way to do so is through intense collaboration.
Innoptus is part of the 4ITEGO Group together with Infinite. Both Innoptus and Infinite are sponsors of the Solar Team. The Solar Team can use Ansys software and expertise through Infinite for its simulations. In terms of design and data management, Innoptus supports the team with PTC software and know-how to optimise their product development process. The rebranding of CadCorner and the GPO Solutions made it crucial for us that Innoptus gained more visibility in the market. Infinite is already well established, which is why we choose to link the Innoptus name to the Solar Team.
