Hunt-Winston School Solar Car Challenge races into Boulder
The compact cars ranged from sleek and sophisticated to more basic models that resemble boxes topped with solar panels. Other than being provided with some materials and examples of cars from years past, students were on their own to research, fund and build their cars.
The team from Choctaw, Miss., came in first overall in the competition. Team captain Trasilla Willis, 18, helped build the car in 2007, getting a head start when the top half was donated by Purdue University. She said it took the students about eight months, working after school and on weekends.
"It just zooms," she said. "Driving it is really fun."
While the car's top speed is 100 mph, the team kept it at a slow pace for most of the trip to conserve energy. On the last day, 17-year-old Kursten Watkins said, she pushed it to 65 mph.
"It was wonderful," she said.
The solar cars are street legal, carry liability insurance and are carefully inspected before the race. Depending on the quality of the car, teams raced in three divisions -- classic, open and advanced.
