SOlar Hot water Heating  (in progress)

The purpose of this project is to help remote Indigenous communities in Manitoba and Ontario grow fresh produce using a sustainable energy source, while allowing them to be self-sufficient within their own community. We are working with a University of Manitoba research team led by Dr. Zhang (Professor, Department of Biosystems Engineering) to implement a solar hot water system to heat a growth chamber for tomato plants.

Our group’s project scope is to test the temperature of the soil and air of the growth chamber at various outdoor weather conditions to determine the effectiveness of using a solar absorption system to heat up the soil in the shipping container. We are currently developing a testing plan and building temperature sensors that will be used to measure the effectiveness of the solar hot water heating system and verify that it can be practically implemented for community use.

 ELa Heatloss Study  (complete)

We performed a heat loss study for the Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) facility, with the project scope being the hot water pipes for one of the cabins. The objective of this project was to quantify the heat loss in the cabin’s hot water pipes and compare insulation options to increase the energy efficiency. We compared multiple insulation types using heat loss calculations, performed at a variety of outdoor temperatures based on local weather data. The final deliverable for this project was a heat loss report that was submitted to ELA with our calculation results, insulation recommendation, and a cost analysis.

ELA Electrical analysis  (complete)

Our mission was to support IISD-ELA through their diesel generator replacement. We aim to provide the necessary information for ELA to evaluate investing in clean power infrastructure to mitigate climate change and potentially reduce energy costs. Working remotely, we analyzed the historical performance of ELA's solar photovoltaic and battery storage system to draw conclusions about the cost and benefit of installing additional solar and storage capacity to displace diesel generation.​ We did this by reporting electricity use and making recommendations for feasible integration of renewable generation to meet future demand and reduce emissions.