View larger image — At VX Aerospace in Morganton, team members use a vacuum infusion process to make the carbon fiber body of ROSE, Team Sunergy’s second solar vehicle. Members fill buckets with resin that is then pulled through the fibers by a vacuum. Photo by Chase Reynolds

The making of ROSE, Team Sunergy’s first Cruiser Class solar vehicle — a photo gallery

By Alex Jansen

Posted June 22, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.

BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s solar vehicle team, Team Sunergy, designed and built its first Cruiser Class vehicle entirely in-house — including cup holders — ahead of the 2018 American Solar Challenge and Formula Sun Grand Prix.

See many of the step-by-step processes required to build this vehicle named ROSE (Racing on Solar Energy).

Racing on Solar Energy — the evolution of ROSE and Appalachian’s solar vehicle team

June 22, 2018

Appalachian’s Team Sunergy unveils its Cruiser Class car named ROSE (Racing on Solar Energy), designed for 2018 competitions and beyond.

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About Team Sunergy

Appalachian State University’s internationally recognized Team Sunergy is an interdisciplinary team with a passion for sustainable transportation — and the ingenuity, innovation and drive to create it. Its premier solar car, Apperion, gained national attention with top-three finishes in the 2016 and 2017 Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), an international collegiate endurance competition that sets the standards for and tests the limits of solar vehicle technology. In 2018, the team’s second, Cruiser Class car, ROSE (Racing on Solar Energy), placed third in the FSGP competition and tied for second place in the American Solar Challenge — an international solar vehicle distance road race held biennially by the Innovators Educational Foundation. In FSGP 2021, Team Sunergy captured second place in its class, advancing to the ASC and winning first place for multiple-occupant vehicles. Learn more at https://sunergy.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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