They're hoping for sunshine at the Texas Motor Speedway outside of Ft. Worth today, because a different kind of race will be taking to the track, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The annual Solar Car Challenge will pit solar powered vehicles built by students at 181 high schools from 36 states, as well as from Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and the Bahamas in a competition that students at San Antonio's charter School of Science and Technolgy have been planning for for a year.
Resul Aslan, who is the STEM Coordinator at the school, says solar powered cars work pretty much the same way other cars work, but with solar generated electricity rather than internal combustion powering the engine.
"The sun is giving electricity to solar panels, solar panels to the batteries, and the battery runs the motor," he said.
Aslan says the winning car will be judged on range, speed, and the ability to continue to drive using power stored in the battery when the sun is not shining.
Aslan says regardless of the winner of the competition, his students are already winners, because creating the solar powered car has given them a love and appreciation for STEM related fields, which will be where the high paying growth jobs will be during their working lives.
"They know about the advantages, and they apply their knowledge here," he said. "They have also taken physics classes, geometry, and math."
He says every one of the six students who make up the SST Solar Car team plans to go on into a STEM field in college.
LOGO COURTEYY: SOLAR CAR CHALLENGE