Senior Design Team 9-Sunergy

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxgjprMS7u78dHNLU3NWX0pBejQ

Project Overview

The SEAS Rwanda Gashora Program at the University of Pennsylvania was established to help the Gashora Girls Academy explore the usage of solar energy and information communication technology. Many students from Penn have travelled to Rwanda to conduct field work and develop new means for sustainable energy. Our team set out to continue this purpose.

At the University of Pennsylvania, many students take the unlimited availability of electricity for granted. Students are accustomed to using their laptops and desktop computers in the libraries and buildings without having to worry about power outage. However, this is not the case for students at the Gashora Girls Academy in Rwanda. These students have to endure frequent power interruptions everyday from their unreliable utility power source.

The academy has two computer labs, the first of which contains servers, network equipment, and desktop computers whereas the second room contains laptop computers. Both rooms experience frequent power loss and a significant delay before the backup generator can activate. Power cuts can occur 10-20 times per day and losses can last up to 4 hours at worst.

Our plan is to specify a solution for a battery-backed, solar-supplemented power supply that would be connected to loads to provide backup power. The combined battery and solar capacity of the system should allow offline usage for at least 4 hours to cover their blackouts. There is about 10kW worth of equipment to power at the school, which we plan to tackle in a modular fashion by many supplying small power units rather than one large system.

The system will satisfy the school’s computer requirements and be capable of surviving the blackout conditions they experience. Thus, allowing an uninterrupted computer experience for all of the students looking to advance their education, as well as uninterrupted web and email services provided using the school servers. Temporary power cuts will no longer affect schedules and learning activities of Gashora Girls Academy students.

Our project goes hand in hand with the goals that the administration at the Gashora Girls Academy have set for themselves. After speaking with several stakeholders, the school in Gashora has specified the following goals, which may be solved all at once with one grand product, or as described later, in pieces with a smaller, scalable solution.

Protect 25 desktop PCs, 20 laptops, 20 OLPC’s, and their school servers. There should be room for accessories (cooling equipment, fans, printers, copiers). Outages can be very short power cuts or blackouts lasting 3-4 hours. Power dropouts can occur up to 10-20 times per day. All computers need to be usable at the same time by students in class from 7AM to 9PM.