BOSTON – For the third year in a row, a team of University of Maine engineering students ended up in the winner’s circle at the annual Tour de Sol solar vehicle competition that finished Saturday.

The 13th annual Tour de Sol: The Great American Green Transportation Festival is a grueling, 300-mile course from Waterbury, Conn., to Boston that is designed to test the capabilities of three dozen advanced vehicles.

Dozens of awards and trophies highlight top-placing teams.

The Solar Black Bear, a converted Chevy S-10 pickup truck, took first place in the solar-electric category.

The Tour de Sol is the largest and most widely diversified competition and showcase for advanced, cleaner vehicle technologies in the world. Vehicles compete in eight categories and are evaluated on performance, consumer acceptability and environmental impact as well as categories based on type of vehicle and the energy source (solar, batteries, hybrid, renewable fuel, etc.) used to power the vehicle.

Major sponsors of the Tour de Sol include the U.S. Department of Energy, American Honda Motor Co., the Connecticut Department of Transportation, ENSCO Inc. and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, among others.

The Tour de Sol is organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, the nation’s leading regional association involved in promoting awareness and development of nonpolluting, renewable energy technologies.