About

Renewable energy is energy that is obtained from a resource that is abundant and will not run out, such as solar energy, wind power, hydropower, and geothermal energy. Most renewable energy is converted into electricity that makes the energy useful to industry and the home. But a renewable energy source can be used directly without being converted into electricity, for example, wind and hydropower continue to be used to power mills and pumps for water wells. Anything that uses electricity can be powered by renewable energy. However, some devices benefit significantly from renewable energy: a solar panel is ideal to power remote devices, such as weather stations, wildlife tracking collars, motorway emergency telephones; wind power is perfect to pump water into a well for livestock on a farm; and water power can be used to power machines in remote areas.
 

Your task

Design a renewable energy-powered device that does something useful for your community at the home, office, school, or farm. You may use any type of renewable energy, including solar, wind, wave, and so forth. Your device may replace an existing machine, or it may be something completely new, but it must be useful, beneficial, safe, and not harmful at all. Do not use a non-sustainable renewable resource like wood, unless you have good reasons, because combustion releases pollution and greenhouse gases. Build a working model to test your renewable energy-powered device. Work on this project in a small team with a group of your classmates.
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The design thinking stages

Follow the five design thinking stages to ensure that you think of everything and do everything necessary in order to succeed in your design project. First, you must UNDERSTAND the design topic and the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DECIDE what is important to your design solution and what is not so important. Then you CREATE to come up with ideas and improve them. Then you BUILD your chosen design idea in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Finally, you TEST your built design idea to get the opinions of users. ​​​​​​​Use the methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you follow the design thinking stages.
 

Note for teachers

​​​​​​​Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the BUILD Stage for Level III to safely supervise this design project.