its solar panels. The record of was set on 7 January 2011 at the naval air base in Nowra, breaking the record previously held by the General Motors car Sunraycer of . The record takes place over a flying stretch, and is the average of two runs in opposite directions. Miscellaneous records Australian Transcontinental (Perth to Sydney) Speed Record The Perth to Sydney Transcontinental record has held a certain allure in Solar Car Racing. Hans Tholstrup (the founder of the World Solar Challenge) first completed this journey in The Quiet Achiever in under 20 days in 1983. This vehicle is in the collection of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. The record was beaten by Dick Smith and the Aurora Solar Vehicle Association racing in the Aurora Q1 The current record was set in 2007 by the UNSW Solar Racing Team with their car Sunswift III mk2 Vehicle design Solar cars combine technology used in the aerospace, bicycle, alternative energy and automotive industries. Unlike most race cars, solar cars are designed with severe energy constraints imposed by the race regulations. These rules limit the energy used to only that collected from solar radiation, albeit starting with a fully charged battery pack. Some vehicle classes also allow human power input. As a result, optimizing the design to account for aerodynamic drag, vehicle weight, rolling resistance and electrical efficiency are paramount. A usual design for today's successful vehicles is a small canopy in the middle of a curved wing-like array, entirely covered in cells, with 3 wheels. Before, the cockroach style with a smooth nose fairing into the panel was more successful. At lower speeds, with less powerful arrays, other configurations are viable and easier to construct, e.g. covering available surfaces of existing electric vehicles with solar cells or fastening solar canopies above them. Electrical system The electrical system controls all of the power entering and leaving the system. The battery pack stores surplus solar energy produced when the vehicle is stationary or travelling slowly or downhill. Solar cars use a range of batteries including lead-acid batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMH), nickel-cadmium batteries (NiCd), lithium ion batteries and lithium polymer batteries. Power electronics may be used to optimize the electrical system. The maximum power tracker adjusts the operating point of the solar array to the voltage that produces the most power for the given conditions, e.g. temperature. The battery manager protects