Energy: Wind Power Cooking Technology by Guiliana Wright

Guiliana Wright

11 Years Old

Tutors Ink

Grade 5

Energy: Wind Power

About AlgoAtWork

AlgoAtWork Robotics Academy is at the forefront of Engineering training for children.

By exposing children to software engineering, product development and prototyping, AlgoAtWork Robotics Academy is preparing and developing the next generation of industrialists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to compete in the ever-changing and demanding global markets.

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We allow juniors to learn from each other across different age groups and backgrounds. They exchange

knowledge and information on a number of areas and subjects to help each other develop their projects.

Project-based learning

Juniors get to develop projects / prototypes to test and apply their knowledge and understanding from time to time to ensure that they are continuously challenging themselves and pushing their limitations.

Practice makes perfect

Given that the Sensor kits belong to them, they can do a lot more at home by dedicating an extra hour or two of self-paced learning and experimentation through additional learning materials.

Prototype Summary

Guiliana seeks to develop a renewable energy device that generates electricity by harnessing the power of the wind for outlying rural areas. The product is a wind turbine that will use the wind to generate power that will be stored in a battery on-site. Two main reasons the product is valid for the community is as follows:

1. Cooking hot meals

2. Ensuring there is sufficient lighting and other general power requirements (e.g., to allow children to do homework, etc.)

The software component of the product is where the battery is housed and will be storing the electricity. The battery has a trip switch for limiting the generating of power when the battery is full. It will restart when the battery reaches certain levels of power (e.g., 50% charged).

The Idea (the stage at where the project is):

• Product development

The idea is at the product development stage as a model type will be developed. The research and development process is estimated to take about 18 months (1 and a half years) until the final product is produced. Most of the time will be devoted to finding the appropriate specifications for the fans and settings for the functionality of the software for the LED lights and LCD screen.

Product Life Cycle

• Start-up

The product is at the start-up phase at it looks to provide stable power supply in South Africa to the rural area. The main aspects of the product development is finding the best fit for a sustainable product that can service the needs of the community.

Why the idea has no external innovation

Wind power is cost effective and can ensure the stable supply of electricity. It is a clean source of energy that is produced domestically. They are best constructed on areas with that have low population density which is in line with the make up of rural areas. Innovation in power generation had been mostly for large scale wind turbine farms. This application seeks to emphasis the small-scale nature of development as being sufficient for single households or homesteads. The work which is currently underway has largely been for developed countries as funding incentives have facilitated it.

Production and Materials

• Technical feasibility

The required materials for the production of the wind power device is as follows:

• Metal pole (at least 1 meter)

• Wind turbine

• Battery

• Interface

  • Keypad

  • LCD screen

  • Wiring

  • On/Off switch

• Separate wiring for transmitting the electricity to the battery

• Screws (nuts and bolts)

• Arduino computer box

The wind powers software component uses Arduino (programme language C++). It collects the data from the sensors and reports if any triggers have been made reported straight to security authorities. The wind power device can be controlled remotely to ensure that any adverse temperature changes can be corrected either manually or by automation.

Business Development

• Financial feasibility

The cost of assembling the device has not been factored in for this application. The purchase price of the product is based on a cost-plus basis. This will ensure that base costs are covered, and that the device will have a smooth roll-out.

Funding considerations also have not been factored in the development of this device.

• Market size

The market for this product is large as it is applicable to all the countries on the African continent. The problem being solved is to ensure the consistent supply of electricity to the rural areas and to ensure they have enough power for cooking and lighting. This is the value which solves for problems that are rife in the country with scheduled power cuts that affect us all.

• Addressable market size

The rural areas in South Africa make up a large part of the working class in informal jobs sector. This mean that the market is a significant one in the current climate of protracted load shedding or power cuts. The product post-development stage will take a period of 5 days to assemble and 18 months to develop completely.

• Early adopters, market education and marketing strategy

Targeted group is the tower operators across the country starting initially with the outlying areas of Richards Bay in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province.

Social Impact of the product and how it affects it target market

The social impact of improved accessing electricity by ensuring that families can be able to cook a home meal and the children can be able to do homework under proper lighting. The out lying areas generally have low degrees of certainty when it comes to electricity and that puts a strain on the early child development of children who cannot do homework under proper lighting alongside the electricity that can be able to cook decent food to meet bare minimum nutrition requirements.

• Commercial viability

The future of the main energy generator which is Eskom remains bleak. This is coupled with the way in which the government is encouraging renewable energy generation. Government incentives promote viability as some of the costs will be covered by them in the form of grant funding, tax breaks, and/or subsidies for development of the products.

• Break even analysis

The pricing strategy will be only considered upon final product post testing phase of the device. The volumes will be derived from the cost base of the research and development and device build. Government incentives are also going to applied for when doing developing strategic objectives for the product going forward.

• Long term planning and projections

The test phase will show how best to approach the build and roll out of the smart cooler bag. Further research and development will be conducted on the smart cooler bag to ensure that the product is market leading and continues to meet the needs of customers and in this case the priority of people’s lives and livelihoods.

Annexure

24-month project build summary: