February, 2016

We have a new project until April 29th. We will use what we have been learning to solve/work on a solution to a global challenge. This project will be a great way for me to learn even more about the design process. I want to create a program with Pi and X-Bee that collects and compiles data from solar panels. This could benefit poor communities.

Here is my original through process about this project.

	Choice A
Global Challenge of Interest?	Impoverished Communities “How can education make humanity more intelligent, knowledgeable, and wise enough to address its global challenges?” How can education help people get out of poverty? Lack of efficient renewable energy/lack of use of renewable energy, that is in turn leading to Climate Change
Hot Areas Being Researched?	Development of Efficient Solar Panels and Storage Methods Education (#1, when all people have access to free education) X-Prize will develop an open source and scalable software for children to teach themselves. attempt to make education universally available
Skills and Tools you could develop expertise with.	programming > getting a wireless connection with the XBee to transmit a raspberry pi’s data from the installed solar panels to another, accessible place camera for raspberry pi could be another source of data to collect
Local Organizations Addressing the Challenge	Green Mountain Power Renewable Energy Vermont
Possible Ideas/Importance	If existing solar panel installations, possibly implemented into impoverished communities or communities with optimal sun exposure, were collecting and transmitting data, this data could be used to calculate the energy production capabilities in nearby areas for business/homes. This data could be used to educate, while energy is being produced to allow for production or lighting in a community. How the energy is used could also benefit the education within the community or the wealth of the community.