Team Members & Role:

Gráinne Flanagan: Team Lead

Cabell DeLong: Analysis Lead

Jeff Yelle: Design Lead

Jake Gottwald: Evaluation Lead

Jacob Carpenter: Fabrication Lead

Abstract: 

Renewable energy is a rapidly growing industry that will play an important role in helping to mitigate the climate crisis. It is crucial that students in grade levels K-12 have exposure to renewable energy technology since they will play a pivotal role in the shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable alternatives. The goal of this project is to design and implement an easily replicable hybrid renewable energy demonstration system at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School to help students learn and interact with solar and wind energy. The school historically provided students with a hands-on module for conducting experiments; however, opportunities for improvement were identified. The proposed design is larger in scale than the equipment the students had previously been using, but it does not sacrifice interactivity. The intention is for the students to be able to interact with the system by changing the blade length of the wind turbine as well as the angle of the solar panel. An LED strip and a water pump system will act as visual aids, promoting student engagement as they see how altering different variables impacts the power output of the system. An electronic monitoring component will allow students to quantify the performance of the system. This system should deepen interest and motivation in this field, while propelling ongoing advancements in renewable energy.