The World Solar Challenge held its 30th anniversary event on October 8–15, 2017. The objective of this competition is to promote research on solar-powered cars. Teams from universities and enterprises participate. In 2015, 43 teams from 23 countries competed in the race. Efficient balancing of power resources and power consumption is the key to success during the race. At any moment in time the optimal driving speed depends on the weather forecast and the remaining capacity of the batteries. The team members in the escort cars will continuously remotely retrieve data from the solar car about its condition and use these data as input for prior developed computer programs to work out the best driving strategy. It is equally important to charge the batteries as much as possible in periods of daylight when the car is not racing. To capture as much solar energy as possible, the solar panels are generally directed such that these are perpendicular to the incident sun rays. Sometimes the whole solar array is tilted for this purpose. The idea for the competition originates from Danish-born adventurer Hans Tholstrup. He was the first to circumnavigate the Australian continent in a open boat. At a later stage in his life he became involved in various competitions with fuel saving cars and trucks. Already in the 1980s, he became aware of the necessity to explore sustainable energy as a replacement for the limited available fossil fuel. Sponsored by BP, he designed the world's first solar car, called The Quiet Achiever, and traversed the between Sydney, New South Wales and Perth, Western Australia in 20 days. That was the precursor of the World Solar Challenge. After the 4th race, he sold the rights to the state of South Australia and leadership of the race was assumed by Chris Selwood. The race was held every three years until 1999 when it was switched to every two years. The first edition of the World Solar Challenge was run in 1987 when the winning entry, GM's Sunraycer won with an average speed of . Ford Australia's "Sunchaser" came in second. The "Solar Resource", which came in 7th overall, was first in the Private Entry category. The 1990 World Solar Challenge was won by the "Spirit of Biel", built by Biel School of Engineering and Architecture in Switzerland followed by Honda in second place. Video coverage here. The 1993 World Solar Challenge was won by the Honda "Dream", and Biel School of Engineering and Architecture took second. Video coverage here. In the 1996 World Solar Challenge, the Honda "Dream" and Biel School of Engineering and Architecture once again placed first and second overall, respectively.