Hello! Hey if there was ever an event to excite the SMART group, this is IT.

It would be great if the SMART group would have a meeting and get together and get energized about Solar events. Remember, that the tour of solar homes is in the Fall, so now is the time to talk about some plans

All SMART events will be great for our newsletters and website!

Barbara for Prof. Goswami

Clean Energy Research Center

4-8840

From: Laurie Flarity-White [mailto:laurie@applecapital.net]
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 4:11 PM
To: Graham, Barbara; Marcelo da Luz; mfeith@xof1.com; John.streif@international.gc.ca
Subject: World record breaking solar car, XOF1 nears Tampa, FL

Hello!

I am writing to you regarding a world record breaking solar car that is making its way down the west side of Florida right now. The inventor and creator is Marcelo da Luz, a Brazilian Canadian who is extending his current world record in a car powered purely by the sun and is never plugged in. He is driving down to the Florida Keys after a traveling over 14,000 miles from Buffalo, NY, through many Northern US states, through many Canadian Provinces and the farthest point north you can drive, past the Arctic Circle, through Alaska, then back down through Canada and Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and now Florida. Please see Marcelo's website for more information about his epic tour: http://xof1.com/

I have included some pictures from his tour and a short biography about Marcelo and his dream to promote clean, sustainable energy via a solar car that he has dubbed, "the power of one," or "X of 1" for short.

Please feel free to call or email me if you would like more information or would like to host or sponsoring the project at your Clean Energy Research Center. Marcelo has an excellent presentation he gives about the tour if you could provide a conference room and projector for him! Please feel free to forward this information to other people who may be interested in knowing about this very special project!

Marcelo and his crew (which I believe to be one other man right now) will also be looking for hosts to stay with while in the Tampa area, and I can tell you from experience that the solar car generates a lot of excitement and interest in everyone who sees it, young and old!

I expect that Marcelo will be in Tampa within the next few days and as early as tomorrow night, if the weather permits! :)

Best regards,

Laurie Flarity-White

(509) 662-3359

Marcelo's contact information:

Marcelo da Luz
The Power of One, solar car project
Mobile (509) 293-3558
E-Mail: mdaluz@xof1.com
Website: www.xof1.com

Marcelo’s Biography

Marcelo da Luz was born in Brazil. He attended public schools in Brazil and vividly remembers a teacher explaining the amount of pollution with this statement; “Pollution is the price of progress.” Even at a young age, Marcelo felt this explanation was unacceptable, and this belief sparked his lifelong interest in protecting the environment and promoting the use of clean, sustainable energy for the whole world.

When Marcelo was a teenager, he was watching TV in Brazil and saw a show about the World Solar Challenge (WSC) being held in Australia. The year was 1987 and the show was instrumental in inspiring Marcelo’s dream to build and drive his own solar car someday in that challenge. He went to college in Brazil, majoring in marketing. Marcelo is not an engineer or scientist, nor has he any specialized training in the area of solar or electric cars.

Marcelo immigrated to Canada in 1990 and settled in the Toronto, Ontario area. He became a flight attendant for Air Canada in 1997. However, Marcelo never forgot his dream to build his own solar car and enter it into the WSC competition.

Eventually the pain of not following his dream became too great for Marcelo. In 1999, about 12 years after viewing the TV program about the World Solar Challenge, Marcelo decided to invest his time, energy and his own money and resources into creating the solar car project, which he dubbed the “XOF1”, for the “power of one.”

At the time, Marcelo had an engineer roommate who told him that it takes an engineer about 50,000 total hours to build a solar car, which is the equivalent of one person working 40 hours a week for 25 years. He ended this statement with, “Good luck, Marcelo!” Marcelo thought to himself, “If it takes an engineer that long to build a car, I better get started right away!” In the process of designing and building the solar car, he has received parts, technology and support from 23 different countries, making his solar car one of the most international solar projects today.

While Marcelo was designing and building the solar car, he also changed his goals and objectives. Instead of competing in the World Solar Challenge, he decided to build and design a car that would break the world distance record.

After more than 2 years of difficult political challenges from the Province of Ontario, Marcelo officially finished the car in 2007. The solar car is licensed in the country of Barbados and is allowed by an obscure 1949 Geneva Traffic Law to be driven legally in any country that has ratified this law. Despite the car being legal to operate, Marcelo has been stopped some 16 times by local police or state troopers.

Marcelo started his quest to achieve the world record on June 12, 2008, symbolically at Seneca College in Toronto, where he had received a lot of technical support, help and encouragement. He and his crew trucked the car to Buffalo, NY where the official start and the mileage was recorded. He has traveled across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota before driving the solar car into the Canadian Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territories, and Northwest Territories. He has also driven the solar car in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. He officially broke the world record distance on October 30, 2008 in Victoria, BC at mile 0 of the Trans Canadian Highway and has driven the car more than 14,000 total miles. Every mile he drives the solar car, he achieves a new world record by breaking his own record!

His mission continues to be; “To fulfill a dream and inspire others to accomplish their dreams in a positive way to benefit mankind and the environment.” He remains committed to promoting the use of clean and sustainable energy. His motto is: “Inspired by the sun, motivated by the environment.”

Some stats for the solar car:

Vehicle mass	470 lbs. (without driver)
Occupants	1 (driver)
Car Length	5.0m, 16 feet
Car Width	1.8m, 6 feet
Car Height	0.90m, 3 feet
Ground clearance	0.40m, 1.3 feet

The solar car can achieve the top speed of 75 miles per hour.

The car can accelerate from 0 to 50 mph in 6 seconds.

It is equipped with 893 mono-crystalline solar cells.

On a bright, sunny day, the car can go 300 miles.

With a full battery charge, the car can go 130 miles at night.

There are 26 lithium ion batteries.

The solar array generates 900 watts of energy, which is less energy than an average toaster.

Other records the solar car has broken:

*The XOFI solar car is the first solar car to reach the Arctic Circle.

* The first solar car to run in sub-zero temperature.

*The first solar car to drive on ice roads.

*The first solar car to be driven on over 1000 miles of gravel road.