Students from Palmer Trinity School earned high honors at the SunChase Solar Go Kart Competition, taking second place in Technical Presentation and third place in the Endurance Race after two years of design, building, and testing their custom solar powered vehicle.
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Their strong performance placed them among the top performing teams in a highly competitive statewide field.
Representing Palmer Trinity’s Apollo Project, students engineered their solar powered go kart entirely from the ground up. The team designed and integrated custom suspension and steering systems, fabricated structural components, and optimized solar energy collection to power the vehicle under real world racing conditions.
Hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University, the SunChase Solar Go Kart Competition brings together student engineering teams from across the state to design, build, and race solar powered vehicles. The event challenges teams to demonstrate mastery across mechanical engineering, electrical systems, energy efficiency, safety, and strategic race management.
Teams are evaluated in three major areas:
Technical Presentation — Students articulate their engineering decisions and defend their design before a panel of judges.
Endurance Race — Karts complete as many laps as possible using only solar power and stored energy.
Design and Innovation — Judges assess creativity, craftsmanship, and problem solving.
During the endurance race, Palmer Trinity students operated with the precision of a professional pit crew. They maintained constant communication with the driver, adjusting strategy in real time to balance speed with battery conservation — two critical factors in solar endurance racing.
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“This achievement reflects the spirit of inquiry and hands-on learning that defines a Palmer Trinity education,” said Adrianna Truby, associate head of school for Academic Affairs. “Our students embraced the full engineering process — designing, building, testing, and refining — and their success is a testament to their perseverance and creativity.”
The team already is applying lessons learned from this year’s competition, embodying the iterative engineering mindset as they refine their design and prepare to return even stronger next year.
For more information about the school, visit www.palmertrinity.org.
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