Competition for the Iowa State solar car team is starting to flare up.

With hopes to qualify the solar car — ExCYtor — for the Sunrayce 97, Team PrISUm left Tuesday for Mesa, Ariz., to gather on the General Motors testing grounds with 20 other teams.

Sunrayce 97 is a biannual cross-country solar-car race that lasts 10 days. Qualifiers start in Indianapolis and race to Colorado Springs.

Joined by advisers James Hill and Teddi Barron, half of Team PrISUm’s 50 members will participate in the Mesa qualifying round. Jeff Etringer, a junior in industrial engineering, said part of the team left with the car on Tuesday. for a presentation banquet and a showing on Thursday.

Another group will follow today, just in time for the qualifiers on Friday. The team will return to Ames on April 29.

The solar cars must maintain a speed of 25 miles per hour for two hours.

Etringer has been involved with Team PrISUm for three years. “We hope to qualify our car and qualify in the top 10,” he said.

If they qualify, Team PrISUm will take off for the 1,200-mile competition beginning June 19.

To prove they’ve got what it takes, prospective teams go through a process called “scrutineering.”

“Scrutineering is mechanically going over every nut and bolt to find out if it is mechanically and electrically sound,” Etringer said.

The same standard will judge all 50 cars trying to qualify. Ten cars will be cut from the competition because the Sunrayce 97 track only allows 40 cars.

“Some of the teams have dropped out already because they haven’t finished their cars yet. We’ve had our car done for a couple months now, but we’ve been taking it apart a little at a time to improve it before we take it out on the road to make sure we’re optimized,” Etringer said.

Team PrISUm is driven by a force of members who work in six different teams: general, electrical, mechanical, solar ray, business and strategy.

Of the members involved in the Sunrayce 97 qualifiers from Team PrISUm, five are vying for a chance to drive.

The team soon will do a test run to determine who are its most efficient drivers.

Etringer said the motor and the weight of the car are two of the most important factors.

“Basically, every team has the same limitations. You have to use lead acid batteries, terrestrial-grade solar cells which have 14 percent efficiency and a brushless DC motor,” Etringer said.

Team PrISUm was rated third in aerodynamics in a technical report released after Sunrayce 95. The team has used the same technical principles again this year.

“We won third place in aerodynamics because of the shape and we’re the largest car you can make. We did that so we could maximize the sun power and input 1200 watts. That will enable you to charge the batteries constantly and go faster longer,” Etringer said. “Sixty-three [mph] is our top speed on our car, but it’ll probably be faster this year. That’s what we’ll test at the proving grounds.”

As a fund-raiser, Team PrISUm has an “Adopt-a-Solar Cell Program.” For $50, donors can adopt a cell on the solar car.

Donors receive a quarterly newsletter, The Sundial, and a map that details where on the car their cell is located.