Summary RENEWABLE ENERGY : SOLAR PANELS

Cost Results Cost evaluation the prototype includes; the cost of production and material used in making in implementing the preliminary design. The cost of preliminary design solar is tabulated below Table 1: cost details of a solar panel prototype S.no Material description Budgeted cost Actual cost 1. Solar panel + 20ft wires 100 129 2. 2 motors 250 300 3. 3 wheels Donated Donated 4. Shaft 50 50 5. 2 Roller blades Donated Donated 6. Rails 50 50 7. Wattage Sensor 100 100 Totals $ 550 $ 629 2.10 Commercialization Plan Summary In order to deliver the product to the market, one has to use the following strategies: a. Plan for effective marketing Most of the small companies fail in this department because they are understaffed. There proper planning need to be given priority when doing the marketing of the product. Assign enough people to work on executable strategies on getting as many clients as possible. Finances to do this activity should be enough. Marketing outlets include; physical involvement such as road shows and media e.g. newspapers, Radio stations, social networks – Facebook, Myspace, twitter, linked in etc. b. Take time to analyze Marketing involves giving what you have for the users of the product to respond. Start by doing market research of the current customers of the product. Tools to be used in the survey are Zoomerang and Survey M. After proper and effective marketing one has to look at the fed back of the inputs. Using closed loop analysis, amendments of marketing channels has to be made whenever necessary. Do compare the different types of marketing used and concentrate on the one that tends to yield a substantial output. While maintaining the rest of the channels active. c. Identify your market cycle. Marketing should be a continuous process. It doesn’t matter the season. All tools used in marketing like internet blogs should always be active when other channels are affected by weather conditions. Campaigns about product adoption should help a great deal in self-establishing in the natural marketing cycle. d. Set budgets and calendars A 12-month marketing calendar should put in place to aid in consistency of marketing. To maintain that, the planner has to put some consideration on his personal timeline to enable an effective marketing plan. In marketing campaigns proper budgeting should be done to ensure adequate financing of each marketing strategy. Also plan for any odd happenings. For example if the government or any sensitive department is campaigning for the use of renewables, be part of team to help deliver information to the customers. Patience is key because the response of a marketing campaign cannot be felt directly. Some locations can be chosen randomly in a systematic manner and marketing strategy is implemented thrice a month. An estimate budget of a one day marketing strategy is shown below Table 2: proposed marketing budget Item/Activity Quantity Unit cost Amount ($) Materials - 60 60 Personnel Expenditure details. Travelling 5 100 500 Lunch expenses 5 100 500 Miscellaneous expenses - 200 Total $1260 Proposed time schedule. Table 3: Time schedule. Activity April 3wk May 1&2wk May 3&4wk June 2wk July 1wk July 2wk July 3wk July 4wk Aug. 1&2 Aug. 3&4 Sept. 1&2 Marketing proposal X X X Research proposal approval X Literature review X X X Methodology designing X X Contacting organizations and respondents X Data collection X Data entry X Data analysis X Compilation of research paper X e. Tracking of results As previously stated, a feedback should be sought in marketing undertaking. The same way a client has a file, every marketing strategy / activity should be treated separately for purposes of accountability. Questions like how many sales were realized? What average time was taken in from beginning to the end of the campaign? Etc. By so doing. One knows the improvements that have to be made on each strategy. 3.2 Project plan Overview Solar panels are devices that trap solar energy for industrial and substantial use. Despite its functionality aspect, the solar panel experience inefficiency in trapping the solar energy due to deposits of dirt on the surface. Therefore there is need to clean this surface. A device that performs the task was designed and its operation parameters were optimized. The same was achieved through a series of brainstorming of various aspects involved in design, cost and functionality. FEA analysis was performed to test the reliability of the device component parts. 3.2.2 Key Issues The three main issues associated with the design were; i. The product to have premium reliable lifespan ii. Benefit should by far outweigh the cost. iii. The device should maintain the original texture surface of the solar panel. 3.2.2 Project Strategy and Approach The problem that was associated with solar panels was dirt. This hinder the effective performance of the solar and hence output. The proposed solution was by designing a device that does the cleaning without damaging the solar panel. Preliminary design was first implemented and the resulting in adequacies provide a base for coming up with a more detailed and working design. Functional Component Block The design of this system consists of three parts, the power source, the control system, and the mechanical system. The power source will consist of a battery which will power the system. The control system has a sensor that will detect when the solar panel has read a certain low point output in which the system will turn on and begin its cleaning process. The mechanical system is the rotation brush design that will effectively clean all debris from the solar panel in order to maximize its output.