It’s Hammer Time: 17th annual Solar Cup™ launches

Saws will be whizzing, drills will be buzzing and sawdust will be flying this Saturday (Nov. 3) as more than 400 students from high schools across five Southern California counties transform boxes of marine-grade plywood into 16-foot canoe-like hulls, kicking off the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s 17^th annual Solar Cup™ competition.

The nation’s largest contest of its kind, Solar Cup is a seven-month program in which high school teams use problem-solving, creativity, collaboration and engineering skills to build solar-powered boats and then test their speed and endurance. This year’s challenge officially launches with a boat-building workshop Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Three Valleys Municipal Water District, 1021 E. Miramar Ave. in Claremont.

Solar Cup culminates with races May 17-19, 2019 at Metropolitan’s Lake Skinner in the Temecula Valley in Riverside County. The competition, which is open to the public, promotes learning about Southern California’s water resources, resource management, conservation and alternative energy development.

The boat-building event is part of a series of workshops and activities throughout Solar Cup season. Students, some handling tools for the first time, will use Metropolitan-provided boat hull kits, building instructions, saws, nails, screws, sandpaper, paintbrushes and epoxy to build hulls, with the help of their teachers and Metropolitan’s education program leaders.

Then the competitive work begins. In the months ahead, teams will dedicate countless hours, working together to apply math, physics and engineering skills to equip the boats with steering, solar panels, batteries and sun-driven motors producing up to 320 watts. The maximum weight of the boats, including the skipper, is 450 pounds.

Solar Cup began in 2002 with eight schools and 100 students. Although Saturday’s workshop is limited to 12 students from each team, about 850 total students from 42 high schools in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties are participating in this year’s competition (list of participating schools attached).

In May, teams will gather and compete against each other in two races – a 200-meter sprint race, in which boats reach up to 15 miles per hour, and an endurance race, which is won by the boat that circles a 1.6-kilometer course the most times during two 90-minute heats.

As part of the competition, students also accumulate points through the submission of two technical reports and a water conservation public service announcement.

While Metropolitan provides the teams with the boat kits and tools, local member agencies and retailers financially sponsor them, providing $4,000 to new teams and $2,500 to returning teams to fully build and equip their boats.

More information, event videos and photos from past Solar Cup events can be found at mwdh2o.com/inthecommunity.

Note to editors: Digital photographs and video of the boat-building workshop will be available.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, serves nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.