The problem is, things like this, and the circumnavigating solar plane make the non-tech people think "See you naysayers, this will advance like computers, and soon, we will all be flying in solar powered planes and driving solar powered cars that we never have to plug in (solar powered flying cars?)! The renewable energy problems are solved!"
But we won't. The tech is sufficiently advanced and understood. There is no reason other than publicity or "just because" to build a solar plane or solar car. It's pretty easy to model this, and realize that even with the most optimistic advances, a solar plane just isn't going to carry a significant payload. We didn't really learn anything by building one, we already knew it could just barely carry itself and a pilot. And that won't change for planes w/o way, way, way better batteries and better solar panels. A practical car simply doesn't have enough surface area to power itself and passengers, even with 100% efficient, zero mass solar cells and perfect, zero mass batteries.
It's fine as a competition I guess, but people should not read anything into it.