This is the first time such a race has been held in Vietnam to promote solar energy research, training and applications in colleges, research centres, businesses, and communities.

“We want to raise community awareness of saving power and improve the creativity of young Vietnamese people,” said Dr Le Hoai Quoc, Head of HCM City’s hi-tech zone management board. “We also target businesses and encourage them to use more optimal, energy saving technologies.”

Teams will compete in three rounds of races on an enclosed 3km racetrack with barriers. There are no size or weight limits for participating vehicles, but they must be powered by the solar cells provided by the organizers.