Students to Compete in 2024 World KidWind Challenge

Nearly 400 students making up 100 teams will strive to design the best wind turbine or solar-powered structure and have the most knowledge about renewable energy at the 2024 World KidWind Challenge. Hosted by KidWind, an international leader in clean energy education, the hands-on engineering competition will take place in the Minneapolis Convention Center during the Collegiate Wind Competition and the American Clean Power (ACP) CLEANPOWER 2024 Conference from May 5-8, 2024.

“As KidWind celebrates its 20^th anniversary, we are excited to host our biggest KidWind Challenge to date,” said Michael Arquin, founder of KidWind. “The teams always find new ways to impress us and we can’t wait to see what students come up with this year to demonstrate their knowledge of renewable energy.”

How the Competition Works
KidWind Worlds will have two competitions: the World Wind Turbine Challenge and the World Solar Challenge. Participating teams qualified for KidWind Worlds by placing at the top in competitions during this year’s state, regional, and online KidWind Challenges.

Both challenges will have three grade-level divisions this year: the 4^th-5^th grade division, 6^th-8^th grade division, and the 9^th-12^th grade division. Teams will bring their small-scale wind turbines and solar structures to compete in their grade-level division. A panel of expert judges will determine the teams’ scores over the course of two days based on the following categories:

• Performance: Teams will test their wind turbines in a series of three wind tunnels, including this year’s all new Super Tunnel that will modulate from 0-10 m/s over a two-minute testing window. Solar teams will test their solar structures and devices under a one-meter solar array called “Solar Blast.”
• Presentation: Teams will present their wind turbine and solar structure designs to a panel of judges to showcase their process and demonstrate their understanding.
• Clean Energy Quizbowl: Teams will compete in a Quizbowl that will test their understanding of clean energy topics.
• Instant Challenges: Teams will compete in two to three on-the-spot instant challenges where they must demonstrate their clean energy knowledge while testing their design, problem-solving, and analysis skills, as well as their teamwork.

Teams with the highest scores in each grade-level division will be recognized as the World KidWind Challenge champions. Additional honors will be awarded for the Rookies of the Year, Most Innovative Design, special Judge’s Awards for stellar presentations, and the annual Spirit of KidWind Award for teams that demonstrate generosity, resilience, and grace over the competition.

The competition officially kicks off on Monday, May 6, 2024 at 9 a.m. with the bulk of the action taking place all day on Monday and Tuesday. Winners will be announced Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 1:30 p.m.

During the three days of the competition, students will also get to experience the Blattner Community Trailer, where they can test their human power against the output of a wind turbine and solar panel in a hands-on kinetic energy demonstration. Additionally, teams will get to enjoy local events, including a celebration at Can Can Wonderland on Monday evening and a Minnesota Twins game on Tuesday evening.

KidWind’s Impact
Since the first competition in 2009, the KidWind Challenge and its partners have successfully implemented events in 42 states, with roughly 50,000 students competing in 400 events across the country. This year’s World KidWind Challenge was made possible with the help of many volunteers and through generous contributions from national sponsors ACP, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Invenergy, and Mortenson. Additional sponsors that supported this year’s event include Pattern Energy, EDP Renewables North America, APEX Clean Energy, Vernier Science Education, Trane, RWE, Onward Energy, ENEL, Blattner, and Tuescher.

For more information about the KidWind challenge, visit www.kidwind.org/challenge.

About the KidWind Challenge:
The KidWind Challenge is the ultimate clean energy learning experience. Students discover the promise and limitations of clean energy technology while designing, building, and testing a functional wind turbines and solar structures, and competing with their peers in a supportive environment. The KidWind Challenge was developed in 2009 by the KidWind Project, an international leader in clean energy education, and has been embraced and supported by leading energy industry companies since its start. For information on how to get involved, go to www.kidwind.org/challenge.

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