Hans Tholstrup and Larry Perkins were the first solar car racers to drive successfully from Perth to Sydney in a solar car in 1983.
Today, many universities and car manufacturers are making breakthroughs in developing creative as well as utilitarian cars that run on solar energy.Here's a look at some of the best solar cars listed by Ecofriend.com...
1. Sunswift Ivy
Sunswift Ivy finds a place in the Guiness Book of World Records for the highest speed for a solar-powered vehicle.
The car raced to create history in January, 2011. It clocked an average speed of 88.8 kph on 1500 watts.
Designed and built by a team of engineering students from Sydney's University of New South Wales, the car has an array of 400 silicon cells.
The car weighs about 1/10th of a conventional car.
12 stunning solar cars from students
The futuristic car designed by Osaka Sangyo University solar car team won the 2010 Dream Cup Solar Car Race Suzuka, held at Suzuka, Japan, during July-August 2010.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Tokai Challenger car was designed and tested in collaboration with students from Tokai University and Japanese automobile companies.
The Tokai Challenger won the World Solar Challenge in 2009. The Tokai Challenger covered the 2,998 kilometres in 29 hours 49 minutes.
The Tokai Challenger also became a winner of the 2010 South African Solar Challenge.
12 stunning solar cars from students
This car is designed by students from the University of Michigan. It is a light weight car weighing 600-pounds.
It is the most successful solar car team in North America. It has won the North American Solar Challenge (NASC) six times.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Students and teachers from the University of Applied Sciences Bochum in North America joined hands to build this car.
The car has an average speed of 73km/hr with a top speed of 120 km/hr. It stood fourth in the World Solar Challenge held in Australia and won the award for the Best Challenge Class Design.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Designed by engineering students from Da Nang University of Technology, the Solar Car C4 has a maximum speed of 30 kph.
The car can run for 30 kilometres on single charge. The 350 kg vehicle can also run on liquefied natural gas.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Advay II is India's pride. A team of 16 engineering students from the Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology designed this car.
The car is only five metres long and weighs 380 kg. It won the third position in the South-African Solar Challenge.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Palestine's first solar electric car, TMT has been designed by engineering students from the Palestine Polytechnic University.
The car which resembles a golf cart has12 batteries.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Students from Cambridge University designed this solar powered racing car called Bethany.
Bethany can run 60 miles per hour and weighs 170 kilograms. Its highlights are an energy-efficient hub motor and an energy generating braking system.
12 stunning solar cars from students
The car was developed as joint initiative of Siemens, and the American University of Sharjah.
Eight students designed this as a part of their undergraduate project. It can run up to a speed of 100 kilometres per hour.
12 stunning solar cars from students
The Waterloo Collegiate Institute students designed a solar-powered truck modeled on the famous Ford Model-T design.
The vehicle has a 'suicide switch' that stops automatically incase the driver falls off in an accident. The car has a speed of 50km/hr.
12 stunning solar cars from students
Apollo's Chariot is the Arab world's first solar-powered vehicle. A team of engineering students and their professor at the American University in Beirut built this car.
It weighs about 700 kilograms.
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