Who needs coffee when your morning show is filled with solar energy?

...what I found at Intersolar simply astonished me with what an excellent idea it is.

Aspen Public Radio is featuring Energetics Education throughout the month of July!

Ask high school students a meaningful question - and you'll get a meaningful answer. Just ask January Jones after this news feature interview with the members of the Roaring Fork High School Team.

"It's not a step-by-step process. The teams have to design the car and then solder and wire everything together. Initially they look in the box and say, 'What is all this stuff?'"

We’re starting small by sending a few ideas back to 2001 — to a guy we met named Elon Musk. He appears to have some potential and we need to start somewhere.

“It’s an energy-based competition,” Davis said. “It’s not just the technology and the fabrication of parts and the engineering that goes into it; it’s actually an energy management program, the whole race.”

This is going to be nationwide, and with remote locations and races, we have to scale it up...

ABC News in San Francisco led their Intersolar "innovations in solar" story with Solar Rollers. 

The roller slammed into a  track barrier, built by solar mounting systems supplier Unirac, and its rear wheels jumped-up from the course. Nothing was damaged during that crash or a dozen or so subsequent ones, but the impacts elicited a few “aahs.”

“It’s just they go so epically fast, how do you not crash?” Slater asked, without overstating the speed. In a good straightaway, solar rollers can reach 28 mph.

Can a reporter deliver his commentary and drive a Solar Roller at the same time? Start at 3:59 if you're in a hurry to find out.

Hands-on learning is best for understanding energy issues, study finds
Education is important for the future of the world's energy challenges, writes Laurie Guevara-Stone. And today's children can learn through hands-on experience, according to a Purdue University study.

Members of the Summit High School tech club designed and built a solar-powered remote-control car that can go 28 mph. The car, one of two built by the tech club’s two teams, won first place for fastest speed at the Solar Rollers competition Saturday, May 17.

Their car was mangled after a competitor crashed into them and they were 40 laps down, working feverishly to get back on the track as other teams’ remote control solar race cars sped past.

And that’s when they had their MacGyver moment.

They replaced a non-replaceable broken king pin with the top of a drill bit and the spring from an ink pen.

“These brave students, teachers and team leaders from the community have really jumped in with both feet to learn about energy here. The effort they’ve put into strategizing, tinkering, experimenting, testing and refining has to be commended. They are already victors at the starting line.” said Davis.

 “The idea is that adults have not been very successful with solving energy problems,” he said, “So let’s give young people the tools they need to make changes as they enter the workforce and become consumers.” Solar Rollers teaches kids how energy systems work because, he explained, energy use is the most important human interaction with the planet. “It’s so easy to convince yourself that you’re maintaining an interaction with the planet by hiking up Castle Creek but it’s also about energy use in your car or in your home,” he explained.

Kenny Vargas,17, solders interconnecting ribbons to a solar cell as part of the Technology Student Association’s Solar Rollers’ project Wednesday at Battle Mountain High School. The team will race their car in the Solar Rollers Trophy Race against other Colorado high schools on May 17.

Tony Seba explains on video why PV, lithium batteries, and electric vehicles are changing everything - and quickly.

Racing is not just about number-crunching engineering. It's about creativity and testing what can and cannot be done in the real world.

Solar Rollers will be running a special exhibit racetrack at the Intersolar conference and meeting with sponsors and supporters in the bay area. 

Colorado teams came together for trophy racing twice this year. Their cars are improving in speed, power and durability, with top speed records falling. Thankfully their driving skills are also improving and the on-track racing is also reaching new heights. 

The public is invited to Roaring Fork High School to watch the racing and learn a thing or two about energy from 10 am - 3 pm. The Main Circuit Race starts at solar noon - 1:05 PM Colorado time. Booths/displays from Aspen Science Center, Solar Energy International and Rifle Remote Control park.

What could cause a lifelong musclecar tinkerer to obsessively experiment with electric motors, controllers, chargers and batteries? 1500 horsepower, that's what.

The Solar Rollers program allows students to really push the envelope without pushing the physical limits of a human being inside the car. Faster acceleration than a Tesla. Faster scale top speed than a Bugatti Veyron. And they're getting faster every year...

As future consumers and professionals, young people need to know more about energy and engineering . Nepris effectively connects them to industry professionals like you so you can share your perspective and knowledge. 

Many thanks to the SunPower corporation for providing their exceptional PV cells, and to SunPower Foundation for vital support of Energetics Education and the Solar Rollers program.

Come to Beaver Creek for the 2015 Vail Global Energy Forum and see the energy industry's biggest players attempt to keep a Solar Roller under control.

It really is a dynamic event that is showcasing upcoming policy, upcoming innovation, upcoming technology...

Solar Rollers look pretty good when you line them up against full-size electric and solar electric vehicles...

The Aspen Science Center intends to turn the old Aspen Art Museum into a world class STEM discovery center - working with other area nonprofits like Energetics Education. Please sign the online petition if you live in the area and you happen to know a kid that likes liquid nitrogen ice cream parties!

A speedy note of thanks to the many supporters who made our summer event tour possible.

The Carbondale Culture Club meets Wednesdays at noon to discuss things of great import. Like art, music and Solar Rollers.

We would like to thank AREDAY for inviting us to be a part of this incredible gathering this year and we hope to be a part of it again in the future. 

The first ever experiential STEM teaching conference was held in Denver and Energetics Education was proud to be a part of it. 

Solar Rollers will be at the Circuit of the Americas outside Austin Texas to run a demonstration race as part of the Formula Sun Grand Prix/American Solar Challenge event. The demo race will be run at solar noon on July 19 - the final day of the Formula Sun Grand Prix and the public day at the track.