Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) students have designed, developed and built a solar-powered car. Called ‘Aagneya’, this Car was developed by Team Agnirath from the Centre for Innovation (CFI), which is the largest student body in India
Team Agnirath is all set to take part in Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2025, the world’s foremost innovation challenge in solar technology that features a 3,000-kilometre drive from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia. It is scheduled to be held from 24th to 31st August 2025.
Held once every two years, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge has welcomed the greatest minds from around the world to Australia to push the limits of technological innovation and travel the outback in an energy-efficient electric vehicle designed, engineered, and built by them and powered through solar energy.
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, unveiled ‘Aagneya’ Solar Powered Vehicle at the campus today (13th July 2025) in the presence of Prof. Sathyanarayana N. Gummadi, Dean (Students), IIT Madras, Prof. MS Sivakumar, Faculty Advisor, Team Agnirath, CFI-IIT Madras, Team Agnirath Students, CFI Staff and other stakeholders including Team Sponsors.
Expressing confidence in the technology developed by Team Agnirath, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “I am sure this team will succeed. For this car to go to Australia, we need resources. We need to grow the Institute, all of your start-ups to flourish and we want all of you to give back to the Institute so that we can encourage more start-ups.”
Prof. V. Kamakoti added, “We are coming out with a very robust mechanism to support start-ups and take you to the next level. We had incubated more than 100 start-ups and filed more than 470 patents in the last financial year alone. We had the first IPO recently from an IIT Madras-incubated start-up. We plough the money that comes back into other start-ups. The students must have the confidence that if they are part of start-up from IIT Madras, it will lead to an unicorn.”
Further, Faculty Advisor, Team Agnirath, CFI-IIT Madras, said, “It is an incredibly proud moment for me. All the members of the team approached the challenge of building Aagneya (the solar car) with tireless dedication. I am a witness to the dynamic adaptation and relentless pursuit of their objective, like the ants gathering every ‘grain of mud’ and ‘food’ to bring their vision to life – the anthill. Truly inspiring. We are all absolutely thrilled to unveil the marvel they have created. It is a testament to their tenacity and capability.”
TEAM AGNIRATH
What began in 2021 with just six passionate individuals grew into a multidisciplinary team of 38 eight dedicated students from diverse disciplines, pushing the boundaries to engineer solar race cars to represent India in various solar challenges against teams from renowned universities worldwide.
Sharing his enthusiasm about this upcoming global content, Mr. Sairam J., Business Module Lead, Team Agnirath and a third year Biological Science student, IIT Madras, said, “The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is far more than just a race. It’s recognized as the most demanding engineering competition in the world—stretching over 3,000 kilometers from Darwin to Adelaide through the unforgiving Australian outback. Daytime temperatures soar above 50°C and drop below 5°C at night. Crosswinds often exceed 60 km/h, challenging vehicle stability and aerodynamics.”
Mr. Sairam J. added, “This year, we are proud to introduce Aagneya. After carefully analyzing performance data and taking valuable lessons from the previous race, we reimagined every element of our car’s design, performance, and efficiency. One of the most significant upgrades in Aagneya is a drastic weight reduction, which is made possible by transitioning entirely to a carbon fiber body, making it one of the largest hand layup processes ever performed by a student team in India. All these innovations result from over 15,000 hours of effort—spent brainstorming, prototyping, testing, and refining. We are deeply grateful to all our sponsors, mentors, and partners who helped bring Aagneya to life.”
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Team Agnirath’s journey would not have been possible without the incredible support of its sponsors, especially Game Change Solar, Billion Mobility, Charge Zone, and COEZET. Their belief in Team Agnirath’s vision helped the students to build a high-quality infrastructure, procure the best materials, and conduct rigorous testing to ensure that the vehicle met international standards.
The students have also upgraded the solar panel efficiency from 19% to 24%, allowing them to harness more energy even under variable conditions. Battery pack was also optimized and reduced from 5.5 kWh to 3 kWh, cutting down weight without compromising performance, thanks to refined energy management and control strategies.
The Students have integrated a machine learning-based strategy module that makes real-time decisions during the race, factoring in weather, solar irradiance, and terrain, among other factors. This allows the students to optimize speed and energy usage dynamically, making Aagneya one of the circuit’s most data-driven student solar cars today.
To support this, the vehicle telemetry system offers live access to diagnostic and performance data, ensuring that Team Agnirath’s pit crew is always in sync with what is happening with the vehicle on the road.
