The West Basin Municipal Water District has chosen Environmental Charter High School to receive a sponsorship and a place to compete in their 10th Annual Solar Cup Competition. ECHS is proud and excited to be one out of four schools West Basin will sponsor.
The Solar Cup is a boat-building/boat-racing/water conservation program hosted by the Municipal Water District, the over-arching agency for all water districts in Southern California and the agency that provides water to our South Bay Area. Over the course of seven months, teams from more than 40 high schools in southern California will attend technical, electrical, and construction workshops hosted by the MWD, and will then take that knowledge back to their classrooms and apply it to their boat.
This is serious (seriously fun!) business!
Each team must: build a 16-foot single-passenger wooden boat, install a motor and solar panels, create a PSA video promoting water conservation, write multiple engine/tech reports, maximize efficiency, follow strict safety guidelines, attend weekend workshops, and pass all technical inspections. Students are in charge of every single aspect of boat construction: from hammering each nail on the boat to designing an effective circuit board for the engine and solar panel installation.
Wow! That's impressive.
The program culminates in a weekend-long camping trip to Lake Skinner where all teams compete in multiple rounds of speed and endurance races. The Solar Cup will take place Friday, May 17th – Sunday, May 19th.
This is the fourth year that the West Basin has chosen to sponsor ECHS. As a veteran team, West Basin has given ECHS $2,500 for boat construction supplies. Our West Basin representative, Darryl Ramos-Young also provides media coverage updates and tons of positive energy and support. Alfonso Morales is the teacher of the Solar Boat program at ECHS, along with the help of Fabian Ponciano. The class meets after school and the students are very engaged in working on their boat.
