The team’s objective for this project was to create a detailed Solidworks model of our design and fabricate a functioning solar-powered AC unit that could operate in low-income housing in Nottingham, England.
Sponsor
SEDTAPP
Team Members
Ridge Bachman | Amanda Hildenbrand | Hudson Wagner | Kevin Chin | Marah McCauley | Michael Khoury | Sun (Vic) Jiadong | Tianlun Zhang | | | |
Project Poster
Click on any image to enlarge.
Project Video
Project Summary PDF
Project Summary
Overview
The team’s sponsor, Dr. Esther Obonyo, presented the problem of a lack of an affordable system of cooling in low-income housing areas in Nottingham, England. Dr. Obonyo wanted the team to design a low-cost, solar-powered cooling system that could effectively be used in this location. The sponsor also stressed that the end product should be portable so the user could bring it from room to room to increase its usability in small living spaces.
Objectives
– Create a detailed Solidworks model of our solar powered AC unit
– Fabricate a functioning solar-powered AC unit for operation in low-income housing in Nottingham, England
– Conduct a solar feasibility plan based on the Nottingham, England area
Approach
– Met with Dr. Obonyo to discuss priority customer needs from the product
– Used Pugh and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Matrices to rank customer needs and benchmark design ideas
– Conducted background research on existing solar-powered cooling units as well as the climate and income of the Nottingham, England
– Created ANSYS models to determine the feasibility of initial prototypes
– Analyzed System Advisor Models (SAM) to determine solar resource feasibility in Nottingham, England
– Designed SolidWorks models of both the air conditioning unit itself as well as a frame to support the solar panels was created
– Fabricated Beta and Final Prototypes based on the SolidWorks models
– Tested the temperature drop and airflow from the Beta and Final prototype with a smart probe
– Generated a graph of the temperature drop and the air velocity exiting the unit
Outcomes
– The air conditioning unit cools the air in the user’s immediate vicinity by 7.5°C
– The results from the smart probe aligned with a temperature and airflow analysis in ANSYS
– The end-user will incur no additional electrical costs from the electricity use of the unit because the off grid-solar panels provide power to the pump and rechargeable fan in the air conditioning unit
– The cost of the system will be $258.00 (ÂŁ185.44) before economies of scale, making the product affordable for low-income housing compared to a central cooling system
– Water is used in place of a refrigerant, which is harmful to the environment, making this product more environmentally friendly than a central cooling system