Solar Car Teams Race to the Finish Line - come clouds or shine

The rain held off and the races were heated as 245 elementary and middle school teams competed in the 29th annual Texas Solar Race Car Event at Gus Stadium today. Congrats to the 1,000 participants, their coaches, and their supportive parents. It was a great day of teamwork, sportsmanship, and collaboration.  After preliminary heats, semifinals, and a final race, awards were handed out to champions in the elementary and middle school divisions.

The races are a culminating event for students who have been working for weeks designing and building miniature solar-powered cars. Though these are solar car races, there are no worries if the sun doesn’t shine—the cars also have battery power as a backup.

A total of 245 elementary and middle school teams, with just under 1,000 students, competed. Each team is composed of two to four students each. Approximately 37 elementary schools and 11 middle schools participated this year.

After preliminary heats, semifinals, and a final race, awards were handed out to champions in the elementary and middle school divisions.

The Solar Car program is a non-tuition-based afterschool science program for fourth through eighth graders. Students are provided with a solar panel, gearbox, and axle rods, but they design the rest of the car themselves. In addition to learning about teamwork, students also develop their engineering skills through the design and testing process.

The first Solar Car Races were held in 1996 and included just 16 students from Rayburn MS. The competition included three categories: team presentation, team poster design, and race results. As the event grew in size, the presentation component was no longer possible. Now, teams are only judged on the races.