In what is quickly becoming a dynasty the Sundancer solar car won the open division in a tie with the Newburgh Free Academy Solar Racing Team of Newburgh, N.Y. as it sped past the finish line yesterday and clinched the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge championship trophy. This is the seventh consecutive year the team from Houston, Mississippi (population 4,079) has taken home first place honors at the competition. We covered Sundancer’s amazing victory last year, and you can see pictures of last years car and team here.

The Sundancer solar car traveled 689 miles in 17 hours 45 minutes and 13 seconds with an average speed of approximately 40 mph. This year’s nine-day cross country challenge started in Texas and ended in New York. The Sundancer Team had an eight minute lead over its nearest competitor at the end of the race but due to timing tolerances, a tie was awarded to teams whose total miles are the same and total running time is within one percent.

“The competition this year was the best we’ve seen,” said team captain Leigh Springer. “There were some really improved cars. However, our redesign of Sundancer’s body, great teamwork and determination gave us the edge we needed to capture first place again.” Since switching to SCHOTT Solar photovoltaic PV cells in 2001, the Sundancer team has not lost a challenge. (previous coverage of SCHOTT here)

The Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge is the largest solar car competition in the United States. In the challenge, teams of high school students from around nation design, build and race cars powered exclusively by sunlight. Dell, Inc. is the title sponsor of the annual competition. This year’s Sundancer team is comprised of 18 high school students from the Houston Vocational Center in Houston, Mississippi. The school’s Sundancer program allows students to gain valuable engineering and business skills, all within the context of the booming renewable energy industry.

“I’m so proud of the students winning again, I taught the kids’ the technical aspect of engineering, but to see them overcome the obstacles they faced was amazing, you just can’t teach them that,” said team coach Keith Reese. The Dell-Winston Solar Car Challenge has taught more than 3,000 participating students about technology, teamwork, problem-solving and commitment – skills they’ll need to compete in the 21st century economy – and has inspired thousands of others to get involved in long-term science projects.

Powered exclusively by solar energy, this year’s Sundancer weights 359 kg, and is 5 meters long, 1.8 meters wide and 1 meter high. Energy from the 828 SCHOTT PV solar cells feed electricity to an eight horsepower SLC150 New Generation motor. Unused electricity is stored in nine new Power Sonic batteries. The car was built entirely by high school students. Check out more great pictures of the team, and read about the challenges of this years race here.