Five teams of elementary, middle and high school students from Wisconsin will get to test their clean energy knowledge and engineering skills on the national stage after qualifying to compete in the World KidWind Challenge on March 1.
The seventh annual competition hosted by the Wisconsin Energy Institute featured 28 teams of 115 students from across Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
Budding engineers designed and built model wind turbines and put them to the test in wind tunnels, where sensors measured the energy output, while teams in the solar competition presented their creations to a panel of judges under halogen lamps.
The energy outputs were measured in joules rather than megawatts, but the competition provided real-world lessons on engineering.
“The tiniest changes can make the biggest difference,” said one competitor from Onalaska High School.
Competitors also faced instant engineering challenges and tests designed to test teamwork, problem solving, and knowledge of clean energy.
Solar applications ranged from the practical — including desalination and irrigation devices — to the whimsical.
Ella Tippet, a middle schooler from Sugar Maple Nature School in Saukville, was part of a team that built a solar-powered device that turns brine into clean drinking water. Tippet, who participated in the wind division in 2024, said she found the solar competition more engaging.
“It’s more trial and error problem solving,” she said.
Top prize in the elementary solar division went to a replica of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that included a working doorbell, flashing lights, flying owls, and a haunted bathroom complete with a water-spewing sink.
The architects, a pair of siblings from Stoddard, Wis., will return to defend their title at the World KidWind Challenge on May 18-21 in Phoenix, Arizona.
In addition, teams from Darlington, Mauston, and Saukville qualified for Worlds.
Win or lose, participants said the competition was energizing.
“My favorite thing about kidwind is the thrill of the unknown,” said Isaac Fahrenkrug, a middle schooler from Sugar Maple School. “Anything can happen at any point.”
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