Document Type

Restricted Campus Only

Publication Date

4-23-2024

Abstract

This report outlines the process that the Will Power Africa Year 2 team used to design and evaluate a backup power generator for a remote village in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe. Year 1 of this project focused on the design of an electric fence to repel elephants. The original prototype is designed around the use of solar panels for power; however, due to the inconsistencies of solar power, the Year 2 team was tasked with creating a secondary power system to connect to the previous year’s system. We completed four tests that evaluated the major functionality and safety of our sub-systems. Due to the working criteria and requirements set by our sponsor, it was decided that a thermoelectric generator (TEG), fueled by a wood-fired rocket stove, would be ideal for the project. This design consisted of an alarm system which would alert the villagers if the battery passed a minimum threshold, a TEG that would be connected should the solar panel fail to produce the needed power, and a rocket stove to power said generator.

The system is able to produce 12V, however, the 8.31 Watts of power generated during charging is less than the 15 Watt goal for the design. The system does meet the safety requirements for international standards and travel capacity. The final design was tested and can function in a multitude of different weather conditions including high humidity, high winds, cloud cover, sunny, below 50°F and above 90°F.

While the system does effectively charge the battery with an 8.31 Watt power, this is lower than our original requirement. Despite this, the system is capable of charging the lithium ion battery in Tsholotsho. The generator successfully generates enough power to charge the electric fence during normal use, but may not be able to keep up with other high-power demands. Each subsystem has been designed to operate even in suboptimal power generation. The rocket stove heat source is also designed to be recreateable by the villagers in Zimbabwe to meet international air travel weight requirements.

During the completion of this report, it became evident that there was an issue in the TEG data sheet which prevented us from maximizing power output. Future adjustments will include lowering the rocket stove height to approach a more effective operating temperature. Future iterations may also consider a convection-based pump-cooled thermoelectric generator.

Comments

Dr. Mehran Aminian, Team Adviser

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