Loi Chae Han (FoE), Nicolette Chua Shwu Shyan (FASS), Sakhardande Pradnya Govind (FASS), Sng Jia Long, Benjamin (FoE), Soh Wei Siang Jonathan (FoE)
Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin
Industry Advisor: Dr. Tay En Rong, Stephen (SERIS) & Mr. Loi Jiew Liang (Third Wave Power)
Fossil fuels such as oil and natural gases are finite resources that are not only rapidly depleted, but burning fossil fuels is also detrimental to the environment. As such, there is urgency to switch from fossil fuels to renewable alternative energies. Among the various renewable energies, solar energy is deemed the most promising solution in Singapore, given the island’s tropical climate and small land space. However, renewable energy usage in Singapore is not widespread due the perception of high cost and greater inconvenience. In line with RVRC’s theme of environmental sustainability, our group intends to test these perceptions by studying the actual feasibility, in terms of cost and site’s suitability, of using solar energy within the college. Our project will evaluate the cost and site suitability of replacing existing conventional halogen light bulbs along RVRC walkways with solar-powered light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs. Given cost limitations, our team will focus on small-scale implementations, targeting the replacement of a single light bulb with solar lamps, and measure the savings in cost and energy. We would then extrapolate the results to college-scale implementation. To evaluate the site suitability for solar panel installations, we intend to model the amount of sunlight exposure in different areas of RVRC using SketchUp, a software widely used in electrical industries and recommended by our industry advisor from SERIS.
Keywords: Energy, Built Environment and Green Infrastructure, solar energy, renewable energy, SketchUp modelling, sensors