SOLAR SPLASH

The World Championship of Intercollegiate Solar Boating

SOLAR SPLASH is the World Championship of Solar/Electric boating. It is an international intercollegiate competition that takes place over five days. Technical Inspections are done on the first day, and the remainder of the time is occupied by five on-the-water competitive events. Points are earned in 7 categories starting with Technical reports that are submitted at the beginning of May. On-site competitions include Visual Displays and Workmanship. On-the-water events begin with a Sprint and a Maneuverability qualifier. This is followed by an event called the Solar Slalom, which is a combination of speed and maneuverability. The final days are spent in the Sprint and Endurance events.

Over the years, SOLAR SPLASH has taken place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, due to its central location and proximity to Marquette University, which hosted the event. In 2000 it moved to New Orleans to cater to southern interests, and then it moved to Buffalo, New York. The Buffalo site is excellent and within 500 miles of many of the participating schools. The local community strongly supports the Splash.

SOLAR SPLASH is a practical educational experience, which helps to develop teamwork and inter-disciplinary skills. In recent years a few highly qualified High School teams have joined the Event as a natural educational path from secondary school to college. The Event combines the fun of competition with education in a way that is not a major disruption to the student's academic schedule. An entry can typically be pulled together in one school year at a cost of about $5,000.

7.4 Power - Sunlight is the only power source that shall be used for propulsion. Wind and human power are not allowed. The sunlight may be direct (received onboard during the Event using energy conversion devices) or may be stored in batteries or in other approved energy storage devices. Batteries can be charged only from the inspected energy conversion devices and may not have a one sun output greater than 480 watts. At no time during the Event may competition batteries be charge with any source other than the approved solar panels.