Researching Power Independence Feasibility in Beaver Island
Why This Project Is Important
Beaver Island is an island about 20 miles off the coast of Charlevoix, Michigan. This community is focused on sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint. Power independence is very important at Beaver Island because they are far from the main land and do not generate their own power.
Project Description
The Alternative Energy Enterprise (AEE) is a multidisciplinary, student-run compnay out of the Chemical Engineering department at Michigan Technological University. AEE allows students to explore their passions relating to sustainability in energy. Our goal is to create or improve technologies to reduce human carbon footprint, create more power independent communities, and improve carbon neutral sources to create a sustainable future.
Our mission as the Solar Consulting Team within the AEE is to provide communities and other interested parties with assistance in the technical design of solar arrays in order to increase the use of solar in local communities. We want to provide recommendations to those who are looking to create a more sustainable future.
We would like to visit Beaver Island so we can get a better analysis of potential solar sites. To provide Beaver Island with an accurate analysis of how they can use solar energy, we must do an on-site analysis of potential solar sites. This on-site analysis will allow us to see some aspects that will need to happen if solar panels are implemented. These aspects include land flattening, tree removal, determining distance from power transmitters, and more. All of these variables add to the cost of implementing solar energy, and is crucial to the analysis of the effectiveness of solar energy in Beaver Island.
Meet the Researchers
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What Your Donation Can Help Us Do:
- To visit Beaver Island to do our on-site analysis, there are a lot of travel costs. Donations will be used to help cover these travel costs. Our on-site analysis will allow us to see what will need to happen if solar panels are implemented to the site. This includes possible land flattening, tree removal, and more.
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