There are two major solar car races in the world. They draw some of the best and brightest in their fields and from top universities. The vehicles are state-of-the-art, fast, efficient and sleek in their designs.

While upcoming races are still in the distant future, teams are already gearing up.

CleanEnergyAuthority has made arrangements to follow the University of Michigan’s solar car team through its preparation, providing periodic updates on the team’s progress between now and the World Solar Challenge in October of 2011 and the North American Solar Challenge, expected to take place in the summer of 2012.

The University of Michigan took first place in the last North American Challenge and finished third behind Japan and the Netherlands in the last World Solar Challenge, said student project manage Rachel Kramer, a junior at the University of Michigan.

“The Netherlands has really been the team to beat for the last several years,” Kramer said.

The University of Michigan team is a force to be reckoned with. Its last car, the Quantum, weighed only 540 pounds and ran on three wheels.

The team this year is working to shave almost 200 pounds off the car’s weight, while still maintaining key safety features, Kramer said.

The team has also been perfecting the car’s aerodynamics.

“Aerodynamics is really important with a solar car,” Kramer said. “Actually, it’s important with all cars, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing more aerodynamics improvements in the mainstream.”

She said poor aerodynamic design resulting in heavy drag accounts for almost 70 percent of the standard vehicle’s energy consumption.

The Michigan team, a year into its work on the current solar racecar, is just wrapping up the design phase. Designing the car takes more than half of the two-year cycle for the cars, Kramer said.

While plans are more or less set, there can still be some changes, and there probably will be some when the race regulations are updated, Kramer said.

“Until we do the unveiling in June,” Kramer said. “We’ll probably keep the deign on the down-low. It’s part of being competitive.”

Once the design is completed, the team will get to work on the mechanics of the vehicle, she said.

Students are working all the time on all aspects of the vehicle, she said.

There are about 150 students who get involved with the solar car and about 50 or 60 who become really dedicated to it, she said. They represent all majors from the arts to engineering. Kramer herself is a neuroscience major.

“It’s hard to get a solid estimate of how many student hours go into this project,” Kramer said. “But it’s an immense amount. It’s really incredible how many hours students volunteer.”

The team will show its last car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January. They will have a modest booth compared to those displays put on by the big auto manufacturers, Kramer said.

But the show is an opportunity to educate the public about the solar car technology and give them something to imagine for the future of the auto industry, Kramer said.

CleanEnergyAuthority will next check in with the team for the auto show.

Pictured: University of Michigan's solar car team, last year, at Ford World Headquarters.