The race started on June 20 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and proceeded through checkpoints in cities scattered across the region. Some stops included Topeka, Kansas, Rolla, Missouri and Normal, Illinois, while the race concluded in Naperville, Illinois.
Other top finishers in the solar challenge were the University of Minnesota team, which finished in second place, and Germany's Hochschule Bochum team, which finished third.
The Solar Challenge features vehicles that are mostly covered with photovoltaic panels, which offers a glimpse of the future applications that solar energy technology could be used for. Increasingly light and efficient photovoltaic materials are making such advances possible.
Elsewhere in the world of solar-powered transportation, a Swiss team has developed an airplane that is largely covered with photovoltaic panels and which is currently being prepared for an attempted flight around the world in 2012.
