PLANO, TX -- It seems high gas prices aren't going away, but a group of college students are using one natural resource we have plenty of to power their cars: the sun.

"Just rolling on the energy from the sun, that is powerful.”

Getting cars to run exclusively on solar power was the name of the game on Sunday. By morning the sun was already beating down on Plano, the starting point. It’s perfect conditions for these spaceship-like vehicles.

"It was a lot of work, and now it's time to test our car," says Armin Nestler, of the German team.

Nestler is no stranger to the North American Solar Challenge. The car they are using is actually the team's second solar car, with better performance than the last one. It can reach 70 mph. Race director Dan Eberle says efficiency is most important in these pod-like cars.

"Performance is not what they strive for, efficiency is what they strive for. These guys, the top vehicles will be driving with the energy efficiency of driving across the US. on a gallon of gasoline," Eberle says.

The teams are traveling from Plano to Canada on something Mother Nature provides for free: sunshine. The teams come from universities across the nation and the Atlantic. The cars in this challenge were brought to life; start to finish, from each student's creativity, hard work, and a lot of solar cells. Dark, geometric pieces cover the vehicles, harnessing the sun's energy to power the car rain or shine. The energy is stored in batteries to keep the cars going in any weather.

"It's been a lot of work. I mean we've all learned a lot, we've had to do a lot of composites work, all the composites, the frame, and um, just had to get it to work basically," says Justin Geffre, a member of the Oregon State University team.

Eberle says all the hard work will help the students, and all of us in the long run.

"We've seeded the industry, we've seeded every place else where all these engineers are going, so the people who know how to optimize, to know how to make it efficient, and know how to take a little bit and make a lot out of it, that's going to impact all of our lives," he says.

The race is scheduled to last ten days, but these inventors hope this technology will last much longer. Team members say while they have enjoyed the experience, they say the race is to highlight solar power capacity. Solar power is used now for many uses at homes and businesses, but say solar powered cars are unrealistic for daily use now.