- Apply design thinking to analyse a real-world clean energy challenge and develop a feasible, user‑centred solution.
- Build and test a functional prototype using digital fabrication tools, electronics, or modelling techniques to demonstrate their idea.
- Evaluate the environmental, technical, and ethical implications of different energy generation and storage systems across diverse contexts (urban, remote, planetary).
- Communicate their innovation effectively through a professional pitch tailored to stakeholders such as government, industry, or community groups.
The world is shifting faster than ever toward renewable energy — but clean energy comes with complex challenges. How do we store it? How do we scale it? How do we build systems that protect the environment instead of harming it?
The Clean Energy Enterprise Program invites students to step into the roles of engineers, designers, and innovators working on problems that real governments, industries, and scientists are tackling right now.
In just three days, students collaborate, prototype, test, fail, improve, and ultimately pitch a solution they are proud of.
Students investigate real-world energy challenges on Earth, in remote communities, and even in space. They examine questions such as:
- How do we store renewable energy safely, affordably, and at massive scale?
- How do we generate clean power without harming ecosystems and communities?
- What do we do with millions of solar panels reaching end‑of‑life?
- How do you power a Mars colony where failure means no oxygen, no water, and no survival?
- How can remote and Indigenous communities move away from expensive diesel systems?
Students quickly discover that these are not textbook problems — they are high‑stakes decisions with real consequences.
Details
Available: Term 1-4
Levels: 9-10
Duration: 3 days
Capacity: 50-100 Students
- Science
- Design & Technologies
- Digital Technologies
- Critical & Creative Thinking Capability
- Ethical Capability
- Personal & Social Capability
- Renewable Energy Sector: Students engage with problems faced by solar, wind, hydro, and battery storage industries — including scalability, efficiency, waste management, and environmental impact.
- Engineering & Infrastructure: Direct alignment with careers in electrical engineering, systems engineering, energy grid design, and remote power solutions.
- Government & Policy: Mirrors real state and federal energy priorities (transition to renewables, reliability, community impact, decarbonisation), helping students understand how innovation influences policy and public investment.
- Environmental Science & Sustainability: Links to circular economy challenges, lifecycle analysis of technologies, and the environmental consequences of energy choices.
- Space & Aerospace Industries: Connects to emerging careers in off‑Earth infrastructure, space systems engineering, and planetary energy solutions (e.g., Mars and lunar habitats).
- Technology & Innovation Startups: Students practice pitching, prototyping and validating ideas — aligning with skills valued in tech startups, clean‑tech companies, and R&D labs.
- Download Risk Assessment
