Question 1: Develop a storyline for your mid-semester presentations. 

The storyline for the presentation is that the supply of renewable energy, especially solar energy, is too low to diminish the adverse effects of climate change. These negative consequences affect us all because of deleterious health, wellbeing, and economic outcomes. For those who own solar panels in areas such as the Lehigh Valley and the other regions of the country that are seeing continued rising temperatures, their solar energy output diminishes during days over 77 degrees Fahrenheit, which are becoming more numerous. The decreased efficiency of their systems results from basic principles of thermodynamics that found increased heat of electronic equipment reduces their power output.

A simple, effective, and low-cost engineering solution to increase the amount of solar energy during days over 77 degrees Fahrenheit is to adhere calcium chloride hexahydrate as a phase change material (PCM) to the back of a solar panel. The PCM will thermally manage the temperature to an ideal and consistent temperature, thereby stemming losses of the efficiency of the solar panel.

Therefore, the mid-semester presentation slides should follow the following sequence as outlined in the rubric the judges use to evaluate our presentation:

• Clarify the problem from the big picture or the macro view.
  • We can use the pie chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on the breakdown of energy consumed from renewable and non-renewable sources.
  • We can explain how this is tied to our Campus Sustainable Impact Fellowship goals.
• Explain the problem from a micro perspective and how it explicitly impacts the Lehigh University community.
  • We can focus on making the matter relatable and how the impact of a warming planet affects all of us, but then hone in on why it matters precisely here at Lehigh University.
    • We will elaborate on Lehigh’s sustainability goals and how we help advance their goal on climate change and reaching 100% renewable energy consumption by 2024.
      • We will describe Lehigh’s current plans for installing solar and how our project can benefit the university by increasing energy output, which has associated economic benefits.
    • Explain our approach and how it works. This is essentially our value proposition and our underlying magic.
      • We will have pictures and mockups of how this is intended to look.
    • Describe the more extensive context/system where our project exists. We will illustrate how the various constituent sub-systems work together and how the system interacts with external systems.
      • We will elaborate on stakeholders and how we interact with them.
      • We will also thank our donors and collaborators.
    • Describe the work we have done so far based on the results of literature reviews, prototyping, and experimentation.
      • We will include design thinking principles including the learnings thus far, such as:
        • PCM:
          • Cost improvements by using commercial grade. It is sufficient, and we do not need it to be lab grade to work, making it more economically feasible.
        • Thermal testing:
          • Describe our experiments on the appropriate placement of thermal couples and other equipment.
        • Design of the PCM container and preliminary power output calculations:
          • Elaborate on preliminary results using NREL’s PV Watts calculator and System Advisory Model (SAM). Also mention preliminary results from Ansys Fluent, a fluid simulation software.
        • Meetings and consultations with key experts in the field.
• Identify the research and design challenges and detailed plans to address them.
  • We will note the remaining questions such as:
    • The ideal thickness of the box housing the PCM, whether there should be PCM tubes, and how to attach fins on the back to cool the PCM.
  • Testing scope and schedule. We believe we will engage in Phase One of testing this spring in an Energy Research Center lab but, through a partnership with the Stonehouse Group, we will be allowed to test the prototype at the Flat-Iron Building near campus as Phase Two. Phase Three is adhering them onto the panels at Goodman Campus.
    • We will mention our thoughts on scalability.
  • Cost considerations such as:
    • A viable business model, including going to market,  which we are still pondering.

• Next steps with associated timelines.
• References slide with links to additional information we will use during the Q&A portion of the presentation.

Question 2: What supporting evidence will you provide for each point? 

We have supporting data for each point we make in the presentation. They include:

• Regarding the macro view, we will include data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration depicting the percentage of energy consumed by non-renewable versus renewable sources.
• For the micro view, we will reference Lehigh University’s Sustainability Plan 2020-2030; Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection to demonstrate the impact of climate change on individuals; and data on cooling days for Bethlehem that illustrate a trend in rising temperature.
• Our project
  • We will mention key articles used for our literature review.
  • We will also include data collected by the team and others at the Energy Research Center, including images of the PCM and latent heat of fusion through charts, figures, and time-lapse pictures.
  • We will describe findings from interviews/meetings with key stakeholders.
  • We will add calculations on photovoltaics’ annual solar energy output in Bethlehem, PA, and our hypothesis for energy output from adhering PCM.
• Stakeholders
  • Logos of donors and critical offices supporting our project.

Question 3: How will you boost your credibility every step of the way?

David S. Rose’s TED Talk, shown in our last class, elaborated on ten main ways to demonstrate credibility during a pitch. His suggestions below include specific actions we will take:

1.     Integrity by crediting past researchers who influenced our project, thanking our supporters, making eye contact, making good gestures, and staying upbeat.
2.     Passion by describing our interest in the project and the macro and micro views of the problem it is intended to help.
3.     Experience by showing all the research we have done thus far.
4.     Skill by how we have marketed the project to stakeholders and built up our technical abilities.
5.     Leadership through connecting with stakeholders, donors, and other external parties who have provided feedback on the project.
6.     Knowledge of how solar energy from photovoltaics (PV) works, laws of thermodynamics, and ways to improve the efficiency of PVs.
7.     Commitment by each team member to being prepared for the presentation and ready to answer questions.
8.     Vision by connecting our project to sustainability goals at Lehigh and beyond.
9.     Realism through being transparent on the challenges and research questions that remain.
10.    Coachability by discussing our support from Dr. Romero, grad students at the Energy Research Center, and other stakeholders.