What happens when you walk out in the street with your bare feet on a sunny afternoon in August? Your feet cry out in pain as they absorb the heat from the road. What if we could capture this heat and use it to our advantage. We wouldn't have to burn coal and oil to generate electricity, we could just gain it from the Sun!

That is what Team PrISUm is doing along with thousands of other solar energy collection stations throughout the world. Team PrISUm uses this energy to race solar vehicles, but as consumers we could use it to dry our hair, heat our homes, make popcorn, or even run our computers.

Solar energy is collected using solar panels, which are made up out of solar cells. Each solar cell is a small electricity-generating device. The way that a solar cell works can be explained in these simple ways:

1. The sunlight hits the solar cell

2. As the light hits the cell, electrons "jump" from one state to another

3. The electric connectors in the solar cell, captures these electrons and uses them as electricity
    

How many cars does Team PrISUm have?
Team PrISUm began in 1989 and prepared the first ISU solar car for GM Sunrayce USA, also making history as the first solar car from the state of Iowa. Since then, the team has designed, constructed, and raced six other solar cars for a total of seven cars. (See our history page for more information.) Team PrISUm is one of only three teams that have competed in all of the races.

• 1990 with "PrISUm" from Orlando, FL to Warren (Detroit), MI

• 1993 with "PrISUm II" from Dallas, TX to Minneapolis, MN

• 1995 with "PrISUm CYnergy" from Indianapolis, IN to Golden, CO

• 1997 with "PrISUm ExCYtor" from Indianapolis, IN to Colorado Springs, CO

• 1999 with "PrISUm Phoenix" from Washington D.C. to Orlando, FL

• 2001 with "PrISUm Odyssey" from Chicago, IL to Claremont (LA), CA

• 2003 with "PrISUm Spectrum" from Chicago, IL to Claremont (LA), CA

After more than a decade of solar racing, Team PrISUm is still the only solar car team in the state of Iowa.