Crowder College's TSAR was the first solar-powered vehicle to complete a trek across the US. The car was built with the ingenuity of Art Boyt, Steve Tipton, Chris Kalmbach, Greg Brockman and Doug Smith. Today it resides in the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.
The group took their ideas and crafted a vehicle that looked something similar to a bicycle/car combination with a bed of solar panels behind the driver. The solar panels would charge during daylight hours creating a vehicle that would travel up to 50 miles per hour. It took 45 days to travel the distance. A modern solar car could go 3,000 miles in approximately 10 days.
Crowder's accomplishment was 25 years ago and it is marking the anniversary on August 29, 2009 with other accomplishments that make the college known worldwide: its multiple solar cars--STAR I, STAR II and Swiftsure--, solar houses and having on campus in Neosho the Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology Center or MARET directed by Dan Eberle who also played a role in the monumental TSAR journey from California to Florida.
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