The Rand Show, taking place this week, will feature North-West University's Sirius X25, the R1.5 million solar car, in the Science and Technology Hall as part of the SA Solar Challenge exhibit.
The SA Solar Challenge tasks young engineers with building solar cars that can cover thousands of kilometres in an eight-day staged event from Pretoria to Cape Town.
In 2012, an NWU team competed in the Sasol Solar Challenge for the first time and tied first with a Japanese team from Tokai University. Last year, the NWU team came fourth overall and was given the award for the furthest distance travelled by a South African team per day.
The Sirius X25 was designed by a multi-disciplinary team of students from NWU's Faculty of Engineering, under the guidance of team project manager professor Albert Helberg.
The car weighs 208kg without the driver and is 4.5m long. The car's average speed on level terrain is 80km/h but can reach speeds of up to 140km/h.
The Sirius X25 will represent South Africa in October when it competes in the biennial World Solar Challenge that takes place in Australia.
NWU is one of two teams from Africa to have entered. The world challenge will see the Sirius X25 drive roughly 3 000km from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Adelaide in South Australia.
The Solar Challenge team will present talks at the Rand Show on the challenge, solar technology and solar cars.
There will also be a model of a full-size solar-powered sedan car, and an interactive display of an electric motor to show how an electric vehicle works.
The Rand Show is on at the Johannesburg Expo Centre until Sunday, 12 April.
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