ARCATA, Calif. (KIEM) As California looks to further develop solar energy technology Cal Poly Humboldt will play a key role in that effort. Engineering students at Cal Poly Humboldt put on display their solar projects they designed that can be recreated by all. These projects can help during power outages by providing emergency energy for low powered medical equipment, lighting, and air filtration.
Cal Poly Humboldt engineering instructor Lonny Grafman tells us this semester they partnered with an international non-profit called the Appropedia Foundation to bring solar innovations to everyone. He says, “these student teams produced solar innovations people can make at home to take care of their needs during emergencies and power outages, even cool stuff like an apocalypse computer. These are do it yourself solar innovations that use old solar panels or inexpensive parts online to build technologies people really need.”
One of the student teams called team elemental solar, built the emergency photovoltak box to create energy and power during power outages and emergency situations. One of their focuses building the project was to use a repurpused solar panel
“There are a lot of solar panels that still have life in them and are still around. That can be a great way to repurpose something. To have a project that is both useful and sustainable. This can be something sitting around that people can deploy when they need to use it and when they need power. I lived through a wildfire that caused a lot of power outages and that started to become a pattern in california. So, we made this project to hopefully alleviate some stress that comes with power outages and emergency situations.” Said team elental solar.
Another student team, team solinary got their inspiration to build the mahana solar window fan by looking back at pass natural disaters in hot climates, like those that occured in puerto rico and left many without access to electricity. They believe anyone can build their project.
“Our goal was to set out and put this information out there design a system that anybody can repicate with things you can find around your house and things that dont cost alot of money. In reality anybody can build and put together a product that works for them and in this case our project focuses on the hot climates. I would say if you live in a hot climate and are at risk for power outages. This is a great alternative.” Said team solinary.
You can find the students’ projects at www.Appropedia.Org.
