Student Projects or Other Information

Some selected past projects for consideration and comparison.

Link Power

One 2003 team project was to evaluate the Link Building for a rooftop photovoltaic power system that would offset energy purchases. The students applied for a grant from the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) and received a $25,000 award. Unfortunately, we could not raise enough funding for installation (opening the roof, welding on supports, and sealing the roof) in time and had to return the award. (Also, see Olin Engineering Building PV Array)

Subsequently, Dr. Sharaf-Eldeen of the Mechanical Engineering Department received an FSEC award and has installed a 4 kW Astropower photovoltaic (PV) array of forty panels on the Olin Engineering Building. This system uses strong aluminum clamps to attach the solar modules to the roof ribs and doesn't require roof penetration like the flat Link Building roof would have required. The system is tied to the utility grid by "Sunny Boy" invertors that convert the direct current from the array to 120 volt, 60 hertz power. Of course, PV electrons aren't distinguishable from coal or nuclear electrons, but likely are used within the building.

Campus Sustainability Project

The team assessed various aspects of the Florida Tech campus and how changes might be made to increase energy efficiency, etc.

Project 3

Project 4

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CourseRE/MiscClass/studentprojects.htm updated 090409