Overview
The Sustainable Energy Systems Portfolio (SESP) Capstone is a 4th year engineering design project for students within the Mechanical & Aerospace department at Carleton University. The SESP team consists of 22 students in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering (SREE). The purpose of the project is to contribute to Ottawa’s net-zero energy profile by 2050 through the design, development, and implementation of a network of renewable energy sources. The SESP team is divided into six sub-teams; wind, solar, nuclear, sustainable buildings, energy storage, and integration. Every sub-team specializes in the research/development of a low-carbon energy resource, emission mitigation, and its integration into the Ottawa environment.
The Rollout
SESP requires funds to design prototypes of solar energy, wind energy, storage systems and a model for sustainable buildings that could be used in Ottawa’s weather conditions. Prototypes require extensive research, simulation, and experimentation. Designing and simulation of the models requires software that are capable of producing useful results. Each sub team – solar, wind, storage, sustainable buildings will use the funds to get materials to experiment the prototype and make sure it works. We will also be conducting surveys to know public opinion on building a small reactor nuclear plant in the outskirts of Ottawa and to know if the public are willing to install sustainable energy systems like solar panels and other new technologies that will reduce the carbon emissions from heating buildings in the winter.