Thomas H. Colledge

Solar energy for households

There are many homeless in Jamaica and many more whose housing quality is very poor. An organization called Food for the Poor is a major supplier of small homes to the people. On the island, while waiting for a house, it is common practice to gather construction materials for additions to be made on the small huts over the years. The size of the houses grow. During these years of gradual expansion of the houses, there is no electricity available to the homes. Penn State students collaborated with University of Technology students to design a hybrid system (wind and solar) to provide electricity to these small homes while addressing issues related to the costs of such homes.