Competition Elements
Every wind and solar team competing in the World KidWind Challenge will participate in several competition elements, including either wind turbine or solar home testing, a presentation for a panel of judges, two Instant Challenges, and the Quizbowl.
The judging, Instant Challenge, and Quizbowl components of Worlds will be scheduled for each team. Wind turbine and solar structure testing will be self directed in between the other Competition Elements during Worlds.
Bonus Points! There are 3 bonus points available that teams can earn BEFORE coming to Worlds. These must be completed by May 2nd in order to receive the extra points.
- Complete your Team Profile with a working video (1 point)
- Submit ALL Attendee Forms for people joining your team for Worlds (students, coaches, and chaperones) with Liability & Media Release Forms (2 points).
Learn what to expect and important rules for each element by clicking on the buttons below.
Competition Elements with a * next to them will be scheduled at a specific time for each team.
Wind and Solar teams will be scheduled for a judging session to present their structure to a panel of judges, discuss their project, and answer questions.
We will have more than one judging room going at a time, so multiple teams will be scheduled for the same session.
We encourage all teams to prepare a formal presentation and share supplementary materials which may include photos, data tables, notebooks, and/or project iterations. For teams that prepare a digital presentation like a PowerPoint, we will have a small screen similar in size to a desktop monitor, and a variety of dongle options to connect your device in order to present.
What to bring to your judging session:
- Your physical turbine or solar home. Plan accordingly to move your device from the staging area to the judging rooms. Wind teams - Be sure to save any turbine-busting tunnel time until after your judging session.
- Wind Teams Only: Executive Summary, required for Middle School & High School teams, recommended for Elementary School teams.
- Solar Teams Only: Documentation outlined below and on Rules page
- A formal presentation prepared for the judges. This may include a poster board, physical items for the judges to view like design iterations and data logs, or digital slides that detail your process.
- Any setup and takedown required of your device should be thought out ahead of time to minimize eating into your timeframe with the judges.
Each wind team will be scheduled for a 15-minute wind turbine judging session with a panel of judges. During this session, the team will have up to 10 minutes to present their turbine design to the judges. The judges will have the remaining time to discuss the project, ask questions, and evaluate the students' knowledge.
Why is the presentation important?
The purpose of the presentation is to provide the judges a better understanding of the process the students went through as they designed and tested their turbine. Teams should be prepared to discuss and defend the choices incorporated into their design. This is also the team’s opportunity to share their documentation of resources and past design iterations, as well as their understanding of wind and energy in general. Judges may identify qualities during this time that can elevate the consideration of a team in the running for a recognition award outside of scoring criteria.
What are the judges evaluating during the presentation?
Judges will ask questions to better their understanding based on what is presented using a wide range of criteria as a guideline when evaluating teams on their presentation and turbine design:
- Blades
- Drivetrain
- Generator
- Innovation (Inspiration and Creativity)
- Independence
- Overall Appearance and Material Selection (Aesthetics)
- Documentation
- Depth, Complexity, and Clarity (Understanding)
- Delivery and Preparedness
Each solar team will be scheduled for a 30-minute solar home judging session with a panel of judges. During this session, the team will have up to 10 minutes to present their design to the judges. The judges will have up to 10 minutes to assess the performance of the solar home under a solar array. The judges will have the remaining time to discuss the project, ask questions, and evaluate the students' knowledge.
Why is the presentation important?
The purpose of the presentation is to provide the judges a better understanding of the process the students went through as they designed and tested their solar home. Teams should be prepared to discuss and defend the choices incorporated into their design. This is also the team’s opportunity to share their documentation of resources and past design iterations, as well as their understanding of solar and energy in general. Judges may identify qualities during this time that can elevate the consideration of a team in the running for a recognition award outside of scoring criteria.
What are the judges evaluating during the presentation?
Judges will ask questions to better their understanding based on what is presented using a wide range of criteria as a guideline when evaluating teams on their presentation and solar home design:
- Theme and Purpose
- Design and Functionality
- Solar Arrays and Circuits
- Loads and Switches
- Power Storage (if applicable)
- Microcontroller (if applicable)
- Required Documents
- Solar Panel Schematics
- Wiring Diagram
- Report
- Materials List
- Programming Code (if applicable)
- Inspiration and Creativity (Innovation)
- Independence
- Aesthetics and Material Selection (Overall Appearance)
- Documentation
- Depth, Complexity, and Clarity (Understanding)
- Delivery and Preparedness
Each team competing in the Wind Challenge will need to run their wind turbine through multiple distinct tunnels at the World KidWind Challenge, each with their own unique focus. All tunnels draw wind through the tunnel creating a much cleaner and more stable airflow. The size of the wind tunnel testing space is 48” x 48” x 48”. Keep in mind, though, that the walls move in a bit when the tunnel is running so teams should account for at least a 4” buffer of safe space between blades and tunnel sides to account for shrinkage. Hitting/damaging the tunnel’s vinyl shroud, may result in “0”.
Each team must find time to test their wind turbines in the wind tunnels during Worlds when they are not participating in the other scheduled Competition Elements.
Tunnel Specifics
We will have 4 wind tunnel types, with 2 tunnels of each type. All grade division teams test under the same wind conditions, including Yaw Test.
TUNNEL TYPES
- Low Speed: 2-4 m/s
- Efficiency Test: 3.5-5 m/s
- Medium Speed & Yaw Test: 3.5-5 m/s
- High Speed: At least 5.5 m/s
Please note: These are just estimates. Onsite variables may result in a different wind speed. Measured speeds will be posted at each tunnel.
There will be a timer at each tunnel, each team will need to be out of the tunnel in 5 minutes from set up to testing.
Each tunnel is worth 10 points!
Yawing Restrictions
Wind turbines should be able to turn freely within the wind tunnel, and vases should fit on a 41” diameter plate. The tunnel is raised to accommodate height of Yaw table.
The yaw table’s maximum turbine weight is 70 pounds. This weight includes your turbines + any weights (if needed)
There is no reduction to the interior dimensions of the wind tunnel.
Tunnel Testing Protocol
During tunnel testing, teams must run their turbines through each tunnel. Each team will receive a set number of tokens at check-in that they must trade-in to test their turbine in the wind tunnel.
Each tunnel will use a different color token and one tunnel run requires one token. You can assume that you will receive 2-3 tokens per tunnel, meaning 2-3 active runs per tunnel. Once the number of teams attending Worlds has been confirmed, we will finalize the number of tokens to be distributed.
Each tunnel will have a visible timer. Each team will have just 4 minutes to get their turbine set-up in the tunnel and complete their test. Tunnel judges can add additional time to the timer at their discretion.
- TOKEN: Hand 1 tunnel token to the tunnel judge. Be sure the color of the token corresponds to the color of the tunnel.
- TURBINE SET-UP: Place your turbine in the tunnel and connect the wires to the data logging hardware.
- FANS START: The tunnel judge will turn on the fan and let the tunnel and turbine get up to speed. This will take about 30 seconds.
- GO/NO GO CALL: At the 30 second mark, the tunnel judge will ask if you want to run a trial. You can say YES or NO.
- DATA COLLECTION:
- If you say NO (you do not want to run a trial): Remove the turbine, collect back your token, make any adjustments and go to the back of the line.
- If you say YES: The 30 second trial begins. The only way that a test can be redone is if judges determine that there has been a Catastrophic Failure because your turbine has failed and/or your output has dropped to ZERO.
During the solar judging session, we will test each solar home in a solar testing rig., which is a bank of lights approximately 1 meter square positioned 1 meter off the table.
Students will place their solar home under the solar testing rig to an optimal position. Students will be able to turn on any switches, microcontrollers, or other controls that are part of their solar project during the judging session to demonstrate performance.
Your solar home will be tested during your 30-minute judging session. Teams can expect to be evaluated on the following criteria: circuit design, functionality, inspiration, creativity, aesthetics, materials, and knowledge about solar power.
Solar Testing Array Specifics
For Worlds, the Solar Blast is the testing array that will be used. This is a static bank of lights that will result in 300-400 W/m2 as the energy source for solar panels - for reference the light output by the Sun is equivalent to 1000 W/m2. Solar devices will need to fit within a 2’ wide by 2’ long by 1’ high space. There will be a 4” buffer of safe space between the maximum height of the solar device and the hot halogen lights.
The Solar Theme for this year is Solar Homes for the Elementary and Middle School Divisions, and Solar Smart Homes for the High School Division.
Teams will need to plan ahead for their judging session to ensure the proper balance. of time to allow for setup, demonstration, presentation, judges questions and removal of themselves with their device.
Solar Testing Protocol
During solar testing, teams must demonstrate the functionality of each circuit and capability of their solar device.
- SOLAR DEVICE SET-UP: Place your device in the testing array and make any adjustments that need to be made. NOTE: Judges may ask the team to give their presentation before starting the demonstration.
- SOLAR ARRAY START: A solar judge will turn on the lights and let the team activate the device.
- DEMONSTRATION: Teams will complete the demonstration portion of their scheduled time with the judges, and indicate when the testing array may be shut off. The judges will ask questions during and after the demonstration.
SOLAR DEVICE REMOVAL: After the demonstration and presentation have been completed, the team will be excused by one of the judges and expected to quickly disassemble their device as needed to return to the staging area and clear the room to allow judges to prepare for the next team.
Instant Challenges are an on-the-spot test of knowledge, skills, problem-solving, and teamwork. These Challenges will be included on each teams' individual Worlds schedule on Monday or Tuesday. They will not require any preparation prior to arriving at Worlds and all materials needed to complete each Challenge will be provided. All team members must participate in each Instant Challenge, and the results will be a part of each team's overall score at Worlds. Each grade division has their own set of Instant Challenges.
This year all age divisions (Elementary, Middle School, and High School) will have 2 Instant Challenges! High School teams will be scheduled for 45 minutes for each Challenge. Elementary and Middle School teams will be scheduled for 30 minute sessions.
Teams will be scheduled to participate in a Quizbowl to evaluate their general understanding of clean energy. The 2025 Quizbowl will be a pen and paper format and teams will complete the quiz together at the same time as the other teams in their age division during a 1-hour scheduled session on Monday. This element will likely have questions projected on a screen and read aloud.
To prepare, teams can consult our 10 Big Questions About Energy resource to frame their learning.
Thanks to our Sponsors!
