3rd to 7th - Weekend of Energy challenge, Research and Calls
The weekend was a busy one. From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, a few hours each day was spent with some students and professors conducting a challenge revolving around energy data which was collected from SteamaCo data collecting agency.
Day 1 consisted of a meet and greet, and an explanation of the challenges in hand. 3 were positioned to us:
1. How can we create more value for energy users from data collected?
2. How can data on energy consumption be made valuable to the users?
3. How can IoT (internet of things) offer value?
Challenge 2 suited me best as it drew me in.
having some points down and understanding the question we digested the challenge into; How to visualise the data to show relation to their use and consumption - thus increase value to user and provider.
Day 2
As a team we decided it was ideal to make info graphics - visually displaying data or information AND providing some sort of visual or haptic feedback to the user.
This came down to developing concepts for âproductsâ which could be used in the field.
Day 3
After working on building prototypes for the products we had decided to explore, the remaining hrs in the day was presentations. Here you see Lucas presenting our trump card type card game which provides users in a household a deck of cards representing their appliances IoT data and also some useful myth busters - size does not represent power draw.
We made a flag to share the status of the battery with the community which are using it, Top level being full-high capacity and then when its low, signifies the system is at a high load, perhaps a warning system to show the system could fail if no action is taken.
These âpuzzle piecesâ or toy blocks would represent the power consumption rate of an appliance through physical volume.
Monday to Wednesday consisted of looking into a some inverter and voltage regulators for a small battery+inverter unit concept, seems there are many options but what the demand of the unit is, is the main question for me.
A friend sent me over an image of the battery and inverter which was installed in his house for a backup power system.Â
This was about $1200 USD for 4.8kWh. Question becomes, how can we match that with the incorporation of Li-ion batteries? Size will decrease naturally, however there will also be an increase in price. The balance between output of the inverter - and its cost + the capacity of battery - and its cost...how this will turn out?
Yesterday was spent on the phone with various Smoothtel people looking to utilise the SolarEnabler for their projects. Some for a offgrid radio sites, some for a newly built building.Â
The conversations were friendly and indepth, which I felt strengthened the relationship and we plan on meeting face to face when possible to discuss more. Following up, is important~











