A Makersmiths KidWind Solar Team Comes Home World Champions

Makersmiths’ Middle School solar team called Error 404: Team Not Found competed in the KidWind World Challenge from May 17-20 in Madison, Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin.

The team won the Middle School solar division, naming them the KidWind Middle School World Solar Champions. This event had 125 elementary, middle school and high school student teams from 21 U.S. states, Estonia, Taiwan, and Thailand competing in wind and solar events.

During this Kidwind World Challenge, teams completed a knowledge test, two “Instant Challenges” meant to test teams’ problem-solving skills and team work, and the students had to explain their project design, their manufacturing and testing processes to a panel of judges from renewable energy industries and education fields.

In the solar division, teams showcased their designs under a solar testing rig, with the judges evaluating how their projects generate energy to make something happen on their projects.

This year the theme was making a house powered by solar. The Makersmiths’ Middle School solar team created a laser cut home and 3D printed water wheel powered by solar panels that generate energy to power a water pump and a UV light for water filtration.

The filtered water is pumped to a water tower during the day, and then released at night to turn the water wheel, which powers a generator. The generator lights an LED in the house, and the tower provides water to the house’s shower.

When asked about their KidWind experiences, team member Liam Ro (grade seven) said, “I learned how to create models in Fusion and 3D printed them. I also learned how to change torque and speed in different water wheel designs to improve efficiency.”

Nick Burrus (grade eight) explained his involvement, “For KidWind this year, I designed and built the water reservoir, house, and scenery for our solar pumped hydro-storage project. I learned how to use a laser cutter and design software to make the parts, running several test prints to get the settings right. I was also in charge of sealing everything with silicone and
aquarium glue to make it watertight.

Since our project had to run completely off-grid, I learned a lot about renewable energy, specifically that solar power is actually pretty cheap, but also that energy is the expensive part.

Most importantly, I learned how to collaborate with a team and how to keep pushing forward even when things didn’t work right away.”

To learn more about the KidWind Worlds Challenge event and other winning teams, visit https://kidwind.org/worlds/2026-2/.