Solar Panel Array and Lighting – School/Community Center La Victoire, Haiti

Overview

La Victoire is a community in Haiti with limited to no access to reliable electricity. Their school and community center buildings are currently without lighting and power outlets, restricting student’s ability to study to daylight hours and making it difficult for them to use electronic devices. Our team, sponsored by Engineering for Hope, has designed a low-cost solar array system capable of providing the classrooms and community center with adequate lighting and access to power outlets. The goal of our design is to improve the educational environment in La Victoire by enabling students to study outside of daylight hours and access materials through cellphones, tablets, or monitors. Additionally, research has shown that education promotes economic growth by providing skills which increase employment opportunities. Our project is unique in that it not only provides a more productive educational environment for eventual economic growth, but it supports the immediate employment of trained individuals in the community to construct and maintain the system themselves using the installation and maintenance manual provided by our team. Further, we recognize the school and community center compound as a central hub for the community to host guests, events, and other recreational activities. By helping to provide access to electricity, our design will further strengthen the sense of community already present in La Victoire.

To assess the feasibility of a small-scale solar array for the school and community center compound in LaVictoire, we conducted preliminary research on the configuration of the compound, the layout of the interior of the school and community center respectively, and the exterior condition of each building. The team then consulted with our client, Engineering for Hope (EFH), to gain a cursory understanding for what the community wants out of the system and then set up several semi-structured interviews with community members to verify and expand on this information. 

With an understanding of the problem and its solution goals, the team went through several design iterations. The first iteration was primarily pricing for electrical components to gain a sense for what could be accomplished within the given budget. At this iteration we provided three options: a) extreme low load, b) low load, and c) high load, each with a corresponding power output given electrical component selections for solar panels, battery type, charge controller, etc. The second iteration consisted of refining the high load option to fit budgetary constraints while still delivering adequate lighting and power. Here the team used software such as Revit and Helioscope to model electrical performance, and AutoCAD and Solidworks to model the proposed panel mounting system. The team conducted a risk analysis for the integrated system at this iteration as well. The third iteration was spent verifying system calculations by several technical advisors and implementing feedback from EFH and community members.