Making a difference
Folly Mountain native helps Debert-based Kohltech with innovative solar project
DARTMOUTH - For Cole Gregory, working with Debert-based Kohltech Windows and Entrance Systems was kind of like returning home to do a project.
The Folly Mountain native, a 2015 Cobequid Educational Centre graduate, is a research associate in the Nova Scotia Community College’s (NSCC) Applied Energy Research Lab (AERLAB) and recently lead a project tasked to create a functional prototype to determine if Kohltech’s residential windows could function as solar panels.
“Developing new clean energy solutions for customers who want to reduce their carbon footprint is essential to fighting climate change,” Gregory said.
“This project is unique to Kohltech. This (was) their first attempt at developing a solar photovoltaic window that could be used in residential homes. The goal is that the end-user would be able to wire multiple windows together – the same as a regular system – to power electrical loads in their home and store the excess energy for later use.”
Gregory, in talking to the Saltwire Network, said the project was a success and Kohltech has a prototype at their location which they use for demonstration purposes.
“They have a light source they can take to different places and show that the panel is producing power,” he said.
Gregory was chosen for the project because of his talent for mechanical design and knowledge of electrical circuits. He talked about always having an interest in technology and taking pretty much every elective at CEC where he could explore that interest and further develop his skills.
“I took electronics there for two years, I took programming when it started up, woodworking as an elective and I did a lot of multi-media courses there too,” he said. “I’ve always loved technology and science in general.”
He continued his studies at the NSCC Ivany Campus in Dartmouth where he graduated from the Electronic Engineering Technology program and then stayed at the campus to work in the AERLAB.
“I’ve worked as a research associate for about five years now,” Gregory said. “I graduated from the electronics program here at the college and started in the lab pretty much right after that. I definitely love working in the research lab here; (we’re) always working on new and different projects throughout the years which keeps you on your toes.”
Gregory said, for him, this project with Kohltech certainly falls into the ‘new and different’ category.
“It’s something I hadn’t done before; I personally don’t do too much with solar projects,” he said. “I have taken electronics, so I’ve developed into doing a lot of mechanical CAD (computeraided design) work, even though it’s, kind of, outside of my program.”
Gregory described creating the functional solar-powered windows as “cool.”
“I essentially was able to model and design the frame in CAD and then we thought, ‘how we were going to wire it up?’ We went through a bunch of different ideas of what that might be. We thought of, maybe, putting the battery in the frame and making it sort of like a smart device where you could charge your phone on the windowsill … like a wireless charger.
“We also thought of having a USB port where people could plug in different things but then moved away from those ideas to, sort of, just make it a regular solar panel that you could hook up into a solar system for a fuller array where you buy an actual power-point tracker and maximize the power output of it. Put it into charging some batteries and have an inverter on it so you could charge some AC loads – maybe your fridge or things like that to have backup power.
“Basically using the windows in the same way you would do with any traditional solar panel system.”
Gregory said they may be working with Kohltech again in the future but with whatever they are working on, he knows he could be part of making a positive change in people’s everyday lives.
“It’s always a good feeling to work on a project to implement or develop a new technology,” he said. “So often, jobs have you repairing existing systems or building premade circuits whereas, in the AERLAB, we’re given the freedom to come up with new approaches.”