Belgium’s Innoptus Solar Team has over two decades of experience racing solar-powered cars against other universities at the biennial World Solar Challenge.
The numbers speak for themselves: five podium finishes and two world championships in 2019 and 2023 across the 3,000-kilometer race that covers the entire length of Australia.
But for 2026, engineering students from KU Leuven in Belgium are racing a new course: The American Solar Challenge, a 1,500-mile trek from Minneapolis to Amarillo, Texas.
Since building their first solar car in 2004, Innoptus has raced in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Australia. Only one continent remained for them to race across: North America.
With no contacts or previous experience in the United States, Team Manager Marie-Johanna Schillemans knew they’d be in for a unique challenge.
“We wanted to do something new; we had heard about the American Solar Challenge, but the rules are very different than what we are used to in Australia,” she said. “We couldn’t find anywhere to stay, until SCSU said they would find a solution for us. It was the best we could hope for.”
Residential Life Executive Director Kevin McDonnell first received the team’s request from Visit Greater St. Cloud in late March. After a virtual meeting with team members gave him a better scope of the project, McDonnell coordinated with the Department of Campus Involvement and Facilities Management to put together a plan.
“We were able to work together to provide a seamless experience for them while they are on campus,” McDonnell said. “It’s important to get new, exciting clients on campus during the summer months, and we are proud of the individualized experience we’ve been able to give them.”
The 11 team members have been staying in Lawrence Hall since early June and testing their car next door in Kiehle Visual Arts Center. With former departments in Kiehle moving to renovated spaces across campus, that left a convenient, centralized location for the team to work.
The team is competitively selected to work on the project for a year. A different group of 20 members spends one year building the car and testing, while the second year gives the smaller group chances to innovate and improve performance prior to competition.
Preparation for the race is intense. Team members have traveled the entire race path to Texas, noting every crack or bump in the road. Beyond the actual competition car, there are vehicles in the convoy for scouting, supplies, filming and managing the journey.
“We’re not an easy group to fit, but we’ve never had this much support for preparations as we’ve received from SCSU,” Schillemans said. “The facilities have been great, and we’ve received help in 3D-printing materials in the Make-It-Space. Our studies back in Belgium have been quite theoretical, so this is a perfect place inside a university to put the practical side of our learning to use.”
Additional team members will arrive on campus in the leadup to the American Solar Challenge. Three days of qualifications start on July 21 at Brainerd International Raceway before the week-long race kicks off July 25.
The journey will challenge the Innoptus team’s “Infinite Apollo” solar car nine hours per day through seven states until its conclusion in Amarillo, Texas.
With the logistical challenges of racing on a new continent handled, they now get to focus on the task at hand: chasing another title.
“You are constantly challenged, and it’s hard to be a perfectionist all the time during the race,” Schillemans said. “Every second counts.”
