The University of Calgary's solar car will be one of 17 vehicles leaving Texas on Sunday bound for Calgary.
The Schulich 1 was the fourth vehicle to qualify for the North American Solar Challenge.
"We're all tired but we're also really excited because we've done really well so far and we are now really looking forward to hitting the open road," said team operations manager Darshni Pillay
The race will span 4 thousand kilometers, crossing through five state lines and three provinces.
University and college students from the United States, Canada and Europe set-up shop outside of Ft. Worth on Monday for a rigorous five-day qualifier.
They were put through an extensive series of safety checks and drivers were put to the test in a 60 lap circuit.
As they navigated the curvy race track, they had to maintain a minimum speed of 40 kilometers an hour.
Race officials say the tests ensure the teams can safely travel on public roadways.
"This gives a really good indication that during the 24 hundred miles from Plano to Calgary they'll be able to keep moving, be reliable and not have to trailer or stop for long periods of time," said race official Gail Leuck.
In Texas, temperatures are hitting close to 40C, so getting enough power from the sun hasn't been a problem.
For some teams though, the circuit became an exercise in troubleshooting.
Students from Germany's Bochum University of Applied Sciences were stuck off track for several hours when their battery protection system stopped working.
Nearly all of the teams faced some kind of small technical problem but by Friday afternoon, 17 teams were qualified for race day.
Among them are four Canadian schools, Maintoba's Red River College, Queen's University, The University of Waterloo and the University of Calgary.
