The grueling, 630-mile road race where the only fuel is sunlight
Over 85,000 high school students from 39 states and several countries have participated in the Solar Car Challenge since its founding in 1993. This year's 30th anniversary race covers 630 miles from Fort Worth to Fort Stockton, Texas, with dozens of teams building their own solar-powered vehicles.
30th Anniversary Competition
On July 19th, dozens of high school student teams will begin a five-day, 630-mile road race from Fort Worth to Fort Stockton, Texas. This is no ordinary contest – students design and build the cars themselves using off-the-shelf parts and 3D printed materials. The winner is the team that accumulates the most driven miles, and the only fuel allowed is sunlight.
The annual Solar Car Challenge celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1993 by Dr. Lehman Marks, a Texas educator with a long-standing interest in STEM education. Participants learn project management, budgeting, fundraising, and engineering, but the main goal is to build a race-worthy solar vehicle that can cover the entire distance.
New Cruiser Division
This year introduces a new division: cruiser. Teams build four-seater vehicles with solar arrays integrated directly into the bodywork. Marks explains that this division aims to show that solar cars can look like actual automobiles, not just flat aerodynamic vehicles. Previously, many questioned whether solar cars would ever resemble regular cars.
Student Experience
Blake Wood, a 17-year-old rising senior from Benbrook Middle-High School near Fort Worth, is one of the captains of the Old Rip Racing solar car team. His 14-member team includes students from three different schools. Wood says the team began planning about a year before the competition, starting with paper sketches and analyzing successful cars from previous years. They gradually learned computer-aided design (CAD) skills.
Wood is optimistic about the future of solar vehicles, provided educational competitions like the Solar Car Challenge continue exposing students to renewable energy technologies. Marks emphasizes that the goal is not commercial production of solar cars but to build capable students who learn commitment, teamwork, engineering, and battery technology – essentially building a future workforce of engineers.
