Envrella

Inspiration

This project has been in my mind since 8th grade when I wanted to participate in Google Sciene Fair but I did not submit anything because I could not find a way to make a digital 3d model of the project. However, now after finding out about The Envirothon, I decided to make something out of this project.

What it does

Envrella is a prototype which harvests rainwater as well as solar energy which helps us work towards sustainable development throughout the year. It has an elegant and modern design which makes it perfect to be installed at business parks, public parks, outdoor restaurants,etc.

How we built it

Envrella has an upside-down umbrella-like structure on it's top which has monocrystalline solar panels attached to it's sky facing side. The solar panels will be customised as per the size and shape required to be well-fitted onto the structure, by the manufacturer. The umbrella-like top has a small hollow centre to fit a hollow pipe in it. The rainwater that will fall on the top will be transferred through the hollow pipe which will connect to an underground pipe which will ultimately lead to the desired location which could be a water tank or something else. The Envrella may or may not have an attached table to it as per the request of the buyer.

Challenges we ran into

One of the key challenges in this project was to decide what type of solar panel will be best suited for this. After thorough research, the decision of choosing monocrystalline solar panels was made for the time-being because due to the limited space available to install the solar panels on the top of the structure, it seemed best to choose the most-efficient type of solar panel even if it has a higher cost compared to the less-efficient ones.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud to have achieved numerous achievements in the design, structure and planning in this project. These achievements will help with the further development of this project.

What we learned

The main thing we learned from the project was how to innovate multiple solutions to a problem into one. Both rainwater harvesting and solar energy have been increasingly used by numerous institutions and households but it has never been innovated into one solution. Another thing we learned from this project was about the different types of solar panels and why different types of solar panels or different solutions are best for different situations.

What's next for Envrella

As the different technologies are developed and integrated further, monocrystalline solar panels could be replaced in this project with thin film solar panels as their efficiency increase with development and research. Envrella could further be implemented better into the society with the help of fedreal and private grants.

Built With

• tinkercad