Solar races

Energy lessons, racing and trying to set hot dogs afire at Solar Car STEM event

MOSES LAKE — Fifth-grader Rafaela Arnberg explained the principle behind the propulsion system on her solar race car. “Basically the energy from the sun hits the solar panel and the solar panel makes the motor move,” she said. Her Knolls Vista classmate Nathalia Anguiano showed the mechanism. “The motor is attached to this thing here that makes it go,” she said, pointing to the tiny car’s rear axle. “When the solar panel touches the sun, it goes.” Fifth-graders from schools throughout Grant County built solar cars from a kit and brought them to Big Bend Community College for a day of racing and learning about energy. The annual Solar Car STEM days were sponsored by the Grant County PUD, Big Bend Community College, the Moses Lake School District and REC Silicon.