Two Michigan universities are taking part in the North American Solar Challenge, a 10-day, 2,400-mile race of solar cars from Dallas, Texas to Calgary, Alberta that begins July 13.

The University of Michigan and Western Michigan University have arrived in Dallas to begin preparation and inspection for the race. The Michigan State University team has decided to drop out, according to a posting at www.egr.msu.edu/solar/.

The UM team seems farthest along in its inspections, according to a chart at http://americansolarchallenge.org/event/asc2008/scrutineering.html.

UM is defending its national title in the race, but the weather could be a fierce rival, team members said.
 
Compared with the World Solar Challenge that cut across the Australian desert in October, the clouds and storms of the American Midwest can pose problems for vehicles that need sunlight to run.
 
"The weather is a lot more challenging in the North American race," said Julia Hawley, a business major who is the UM team's business manager. "In Australia, it's pretty much sunny the whole time."
 
Already in the mock race, cars lost several hours when they had to seek cover during a hail storm. But the UM team is prepared. It's a job of the strategy division, which includes a meteorologist, to study the weather and decide whether the team should push though a storm, wait it out, or even just slow down and let it pass.
 
UM's Team Continuum, named after this generation of the car itself, is one of 24 teams competing in this race. Continuum finished seventh in its division in the World Solar Challenge in 2007 after an early crash set it back. The students had built a special "solar concentrator system" to track the sun and intensify it. But they're not allowed to use it in the North American race. They've replaced the concentrator system with traditional solar cells and made other modifications to the car.
 
"We're confident that the vehicle will be competitive," Hawley said.
 
The UM team has finished first in four of the eight North American Solar Challenges it has entered. It has finished third in the World Solar Challenge three times.
 
With more than 100 members, it is one of the largest student organizations on campus, including students from the College of Engineering, the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the Ross School of Business, the School of Art & Design, and the School of Education.
 
More on the UM team at www.engin.umich.edu/solarcar/blog or www.engin.umich.edu/solarcar. More on the WMU team at www.cs.wmich.edu/~sunseeker/news.php.

For a podcast on UM's part in the race, visit www.ns.umich.edu/podcast/audio.php?id=371.