Hover Energy × LDE UTC · Student Competition
LDE UTC · Royal Docks, London
For Year 10 · Individuals & teams
Make the invisible visible.
Hover Energy is installing a microgrid on the roof of LDE UTC. Wind turbines, solar panels, battery storage and a smart energy management system will generate clean power for the college, every day.
People will see the silent turbines on the roof, but they won’t see how they connect to something bigger, or what the system is achieving, unless we show them. Your challenge: design the public display that explains it to everyone who uses or walks past the building. You decide what matters, how it looks, and where and how big it should be.
Starting points, not rules.
We want to see what you think should be shown, not what we think. What’s relevant to you, and to the people who walk past every day?
Energy visualisations
Show live production minute by minute. How should the figures look so anyone walking past gets it?
Interactive dashboards
Daily, weekly and monthly progress toward Net Zero, and how LDE UTC compares with other buildings.
System diagrams
How the turbines, solar panels, battery and energy management system work together.
Storytelling
What the energy means in everyday terms: laptops charged, lights powered, loads of laundry. You choose the conversions.
Digital twin concept
Model the space beneath the turbine canopy and how people would use and experience it.
Launch campaign
Plan how the screen launches, starting somewhere visible like the dockside boardwalk, maybe with its own landing page.
Six steps from idea to installation.
- 01
Register
Sign up on your own or as a team by 13 November.
- 02
Explore
Get the downloads: the brief, the data and the CGI imagery.
- 03
Develop
Work out the numbers, design your display and ask Hover questions.
- 04
Submit
Share a link to your entry by 6pm on 30 November.
- 05
Pitch
Finalists pitch their ideas to the Hover and LDE UTC panel.
- 06
Win
Winners announced, and the best idea could become a real display.
Key dates.
- 9 NovLaunch
Competition launch at LDE UTC, 8.50–9.40. Registration opens.
- 13 NovRegistration closes
Register by 6pm UK time, Friday 13 November.
- 16–30 NovDevelop
Work on your entry, use the data and ask the Hover team questions.
- 30 NovSubmission deadline
Submit your entry by 6pm UK time, Monday 30 November.
- 1–3 DecJudging
A panel from Hover Energy and LDE UTC reviews every entry. Finalists announced 3 December.
- 7 DecFinalist pitches & winners
Monday 7 December. Pitch session 8.50–9.40, winners announced and prizes presented around 10.50.
Everything you need to start.
Rather than being told what the system produces, you’ll work it out. Start with the brief and the data, then look at how other people make data easy to read.
The brief
The challenge, what to submit, key dates and how entries are judged, on one page.
Simulated data: Celsius
Simulated output for the LDE UTC system. Opens as a spreadsheet, so you can make a copy and work with the numbers.
CGI imagery
Hover’s CGI visuals of the microgrid at LDE UTC.
More Hover renders
Four more renders of the microgrid at LDE UTC: aerial, street level, at night and across the campus.
Launch session with Chris Griffin
Hover’s CEO and Founder explains what the system will do for LDE UTC, how it works and how to calculate its output.
Data Viz Project
A catalogue of chart types and data display ideas.
Design by Soap
Data design studio named in the brief.
Data Labs
Data storytelling examples named in the brief.
Bike counters were built to help city planners. Making them public encouraged more people to cycle.
All you need to know is whether they have your order and when it’s coming. Is the screen always clear, readable and in the right place?
Built for people who already know the terms. Great for engineers, not for someone walking past on their way to a lesson.
- 9 Nov 2026Power the Future is live
Registration is open until 6pm on Friday 13 November. Register on your own or as a team.
Prizes for every finalist.
Plus the chance to see your concept developed into a live dashboard at LDE UTC, credited to you.
Every finalist pitches to the Hover and LDE UTC panel.
A panel from Hover Energy and LDE UTC judges every entry on three things.
- 01Clarity
How clearly the design explains what the system does.
- 02Engagement
How engaging it is for students, staff and visitors.
- 03Originality & ambition
How original and ambitious the idea is.
Ask the Hover team.
Ask the Hover team anything about the brief, the technology or the data. All questions and answers will be published for every entrant to see, without names, so everyone has the same information.
Ask the first one. Every answer appears here for all entrants, without names.
