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This weekend, spectators will gather on the shore of Lake Riley in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for the 34th annual Solar Boat Regatta.
In this competition, middle and high school students race solar-powered vessels they designed and built themselves.
Weber: “We’ll have a speed race, and then a slalom race, and then an endurance race, which is the students going around a set of buoys for an hour, and whoever gets the most laps, you know, wins that part of the race.”
Mark Weber is with the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society, which runs the event.
He says some teams convert kayaks or canoes. Others build their boats from scratch out of fiberglass or even plywood kept afloat by milk cartons.
He says the teams often get creative. One past entry was built from a Jet Ski, and another looked like a fire boat.
Weber: “And so they would go and squirt water out of it and had a little hose and sirens on it.”
All the vessels are powered by electric motors, with energy generated by solar panels on board.
So he says the event gives students hands-on experience with renewable energy, electrical wiring, and boat design – and in the process, they get to have a lot of fun.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
