Princeton Power-in-a-Box team wins national sustainable design competition

Nov. 13, 2012

Check link for complete story.

A multidisciplinary team of students designed, built and tested new technology for shipping a sustainable electric power generator to recovering and off-the-grid communities, serving to replace diesel generators.

The 1 kW system includes a wind turbine that can be transported in a shipping container, and erected to 40 ft in about 45 minutes using only human power. Last weekend the students brought their “Power-in-a-Box” system to Washington DC to compete in the EPA P3 National Sustainable Design EXPO, winning a grant of $90,000. They will use the Phase II grant to further develop the technology and test its deployment in rural communities. Team member Emily Moder ‘13 said “After all the time we had spent on this project, looking at every way it could be improved and examining every design feature from a multidisciplinary perspective, I knew that our project had the potential to make a huge difference in the world - but it was nice to hear it from the judges too!”

The student team was led by Profs. Peters and Bou-Zeid in an EPICS course. A conceptual model by architecture professor Jane Harrison and her associates at ATOPIA was the original inspiration for the Power-in-a-Box design.

Princeton Power-in-a Box Team

Additional information about the project can be found at http://powerbox.princeton.edu/.