Support Us
Building a solar car doesn’t happen for free.
Solar Car Team at UVA depends on external funding to keep the wheels rolling. Please consider supporting us if you believe in what we do. Funds are allocated to buying parts for the car, traveling to races, and various auxiliary costs, such as the development of this website.
Your tax-deductible contribution enables students to develop their engineering, project management, and business skills while they innovate, create, and learn in an entirely student-led team.
Why Support Us?
Why Support Us?
1.
We give students first-hand experience.
Paired with the elite education from the 4th top public university in the United States, the Solar Car team at UVA provides the unique experience of students applying their skills beyond the classroom. As an Experimental Learning Program under the School of Engineering, students can join the team with no experience and work on projects directly affecting the development of our solar cars.
2.
We prepare students for the real world.
During their time on the team, students develop skills needed to build a solar car under strict deadlines and schedules. Students become leaders and manage the team’s structure, finances, and organization identity. Upon graduating, students have earned jobs at SpaceX, Ford, Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, and more.
3.
We provide students with community.
With over 80 active members on the team, we provide students with the support needed to navigate through their years in college. We are a tight-knit group and we all learn and grow together while doing what we love: building solar cars.
Ways to Support Us
Sponsorships
We accept both monetary and in-kind donations in order to expand our efforts and capabilities in building our future solar cars. For monetary and in-kind donations that you may be able to provide by you or your company, please contact us and we can discuss how you are able to support us!
Donations
We provide a fast and easy way to donate directly to the team! We are partnered with UVA Fund, a financial service provided by the University of Virginia Alumni Association.
Please look below and see the various methods to donate to us. For all methods, please denote your donation to “Solar Car Team at UVA”. Thank you for your contribution!
If you have any questions or you need assistance in donating, please contact us at contact@solarcaratuva.com.
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Donate here for a quick and seamless way to donate to the Solar Car Team at UVA. We accept all major credit cards, Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp. You may also set up reoccurring donations as well. You will receive a receipt once the donation is completed.
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You are able to mail a check to UVA Fund by completing this form and mailing it along with your check to:
UVA Alumni Association
PO BOX 400314
Charlottesville, VA 22904Please make out the check to “UVA Fund” and write “Solar Car Team at UVA” on the memo line so that your check will be directed towards the team.
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Transfer your donation directly and securely to UVA Fund by following the instructions here. When you have transferred funds.
Please contact Melissa Gormes (email in the instructions) after donating to notify that your transfer is directed towards “Solar Car Team at UVA”. -
If you would like to donate with another method not listed, please see this UVA Fund page and see how you can contribute.
Services
Throughout the year, we rely on services that we cannot do in-house. This can range from brand printing (t-shirts, labels, stickers, posters), advanced machining and fabrication, food, media, transportation, and more. If you and/or your organization/company are able to provide services at a free or reduced price, please contact us!
Mentorships
The Solar Car Team at UVA gives a chance for students to gain experience in many fields of discipline. However, we are still very inexperienced by professional standards. In order to maintain a high-performing standard, we seek help from mentors to lead us toward being a more capable team. We need help in many areas such as mechanical, electrical, programming, CAD media, outreach, fundraising, and more. If you and/or your organization/company are willing to be mentors, please contact us!