United Solar Challenge 2023

The United Solar Challenge (USC) is the only competition in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that is officially recognized by the International Solarcar Federation (ISF). The first event, the Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge, was held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January 2015, and will return to the UAE again.

While the USC seeks to encourage competition among engineering students, it is also aimed at providing a means to convert their knowledge into real world solutions that promote energy efficiency. It brings together students with diverse backgrounds from around the world and enables them to compete their hand-built solar powered cars in some of the most exciting destinations in the world. Aside from its broad mission of supporting and encouraging bright young minds to succeed in STEM fields related to energy efficiency and future transportation in multi-disciplined learning, the USC also aims to:

Encourage partnerships between international teams and institutions of higher learning in the USC host countries to facilitate knowledge transfer and foster collaboration to help them participate in other future ISF events.

Adopt vehicle design and sporting regulations that enable cars designed for different events and across multiple years to participate and compete fairly and safely.

Unite the solar car community by involving organizers, officials, scrutineers, judges and observers from across all ISF-recognized competitions to participate in running the event.

Event Dates and Route

The next USC will be held in UAE in January 2024. The event is comprised of scrutineering/qualifying followed by the on-track and road challenge.

Overview of Regulations

The official Rules and Regulations document may be requested by emailing competitions@GlobalEEE.org.

Single and multi-occupant vehicles and vehicles of different size arrays are allowed to compete, with different weighting factors applied accordingly.

The USC shall follow the ISF Recommended Procedures for Protests and Appeals document number ISF01-V1, first published in March 2015, with an appointed Chief Judge and independent Tribunal of Judges.

Team Registration

Registration is officially open and teams wishing to register should email competitions@GlobalEEE.org to request the registration form.

Financial Support/Grants

USC events offer grants in the form of reduction of registration fee, local logistics (accommodations, support vehicles), airfare, or shipping of car/equipment. Teams in need of financial support may apply for a grant once the registration form is completed. Grants are need-based and are evaluated on a first come basis and are subject to availability of funds.

ISF Championship Points

Teams that participate in USC 2024 will receive ISF Championship points as follows:

- Top ten finishers: 10 pts for 1st place, 9 pts for 2nd place……. 1 pt for 10th place.

- Pole position determined by qualifiers after scrutineering: 1 point.

- ISF event participation: 1 point.

You may request the PDF document explaining the ISF Championship points system and the sample table for the pre-COVID two-year cycle by emailing the Middle East and Africa office of the International Solarcar Federation at mea@isf.earth