Lead-free solders for solar and electric vehicles - Reflections on The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2013 in “Arrow1”

Solar and electric vehicles offer a sustainable future for the automotive industry and demonstration events offer realistic conditions to test and demonstrate the technology involved. We produced a four wheel solar car “Arrow1” by adopting a variety of appropriate technologies. These include the use of a lead-free solder alloy (Sn-Cu-Ni-Ge) in connections of the electric circuit boards of controllers, terminals of lithium-ion batteries and cable ends for the motor. This paper reports on the team's participation in the largest solar car race, The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2013, from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia in mid October 2013.