Li-On Solar Tech

Using the concept of circular economy and empowerment through education and local entrepreneurship, the project seeks to recycle lithium ion batteries, old UPS units and other electronic parts to create battery packs for  DIY powerwalls and also incorporate 3D printing. This project would involve education module to teach the community how to use this technology. Adding solar panels to the battery packs would enable the poor in rural and urban areas have access to renewable energy.  Also the project seeks to create a solution for small boats used in jungle river communities to run on solar and be created, maintained and repaired by them. In Honduras has a lot of issues with its electrical grid specially in areas far from big urban areas and also jungle regions where rivers are the only roads available. Such issues are common in Central America making the project repicable in the region.

• Recycling of Lithium Batteries
• Improvement of Jobs in the recycling Plant
• Access to education on new technologies such as lithium battery packs and 3D printing
• Giving Technical Education to people working in recycling plants or in dissadvantaged areas will improve their skill sets 
• Teaching DIY solutions and 3D printing would give communities the chance to learn and eventually create their own solutions
• Create Local workshops to serve as job and educational centers
• Access to renewable energy in areas where the local utility is not present or in mountain areas or coastal communities
• Help rural health services or schools have access to renewable energy
• Access to clean water through solar powered water pumps and filtering facilities
• Create Solar adaptation shipyard for river boats used in coastal areas specially the Mosquitia region where the battery packs can power electric boat motors.

Recycle Lithium Batteries:

• Collect or through local recycle centers
• Charge and Test Batteries
• Safely Discharge discarted batteries
• Classify batteries according to charge level

Create Battery Packs

• According to the size needed for the solution (12v, 24v,36v, 48v) create the battey packs
• This would involve usage of a locally desgined and made 3D printed case 
• Test Charge Packs 
• Quality Control Process

Education

• create and educational center where the workshop would be located in order to give workers a chance to learn new skills and applied to real life solutions. Topics would include:
• Safety on the Job
• Basic Electricity and Soldering
• DIY battery pack creation
• Basic Solar power technology including panel installation
• Use of open source hardware such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi
• Promote the creation of locally produced technological innovations

Energy Access for low income families, Rural Areas

• Honduras has a lot of coverage and quality issues with the electrical grid not to mention lack of access in rural areas
• With this solution we seek to provide both solar power and battery backup to this areas specially low income families, local health services, schools
• Teach the local community on this technology so they can do basic installation, troubleshooting and repair

The solution seeks to serve several groups of people:

• workers of existing recycling facilities
• low income and youth in high risk urban areas of San Pedro Sula and/or Tegucigalpa where recycling facilities are usually located
• Maker and engineering community willing to support this initiative as collaborators,teachers, etc.
• Population from Rural Areas or areas with diffculty in accessing  renewable energy at affordable prices
• Healthcare workers and school teachers in rural areas where the solution can be used to power fridges, small medical equipment, lighting, communications or computers.
• Coastal and Mosquitia population with the electric river boat adaptation module of the project
• Any application need of energy in rural areas such as small water pumps, irrigation, IoT used in agriculture, agriculture for example coffee farms

The solutions seeks to solve several problems in an integral solution with several modules also scalable as it grows and repicable in other Central American countries.

Among the problems addressed:

• Education for youth or any worker in DIY techniques, 3D printing, electronics, computer hardware, solar power. The fact that people will be both learning and working in creating self sustainable energy source and 3D printing will give the skill sets to both apply better jobs or create their own community based entrepreneurship.

• Access to renewable energy for low income and rural areas including application for river transportation in coastal areas

The concept of DIY Powerwall from recycled lithium batteries has been around for quite some time, setting aside TESLA's powerwall system, I have done work myself based on Micah Toll and Jehu Garcia, but seeing the necessities in Honduras and also on my personal experience in the coffee farming and agricultural communities and when I have gone to recycling facilities to collect the batteries, my concept tries to bring an integral solution to give people a chance to have better practical technical education to provide skill sets for them to start not only reaching sustainable energy but also creating their own technological solutions taking advantage of open source hardware and 3D printing technology. Also bring together the maker and engineering community locally which has very few incentives in such a disadvantaged country. Also I've seen the success of Kara Solar in Ecuador and I'm certain that this solution can branch out to create a small entrepreneurship to adapt solar river boats in jungle areas such as the Mosquitia which the battery pack project can supply and also replicate in those abandoned communities this educational workshop which will help them reduce their dependency of receiving solutions from big cities and where possible create it themselves.

Perhaps this last module might seem ambitious or far fetched but I believe that education and doing things yourself is a powerful enabler of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship opening new opportunities to the gifted minds that otherwise fall in the cracks of our marginalized populations

This project has several core technologies that are intended to work together in order to give recipients access to clean energy, technological education, broaden skillsets and promote enterpenuership through creativity and this new skillsets:

• Lithium Ion Recycled Battery Packs

This technology is the basis of the project, using the circular economy concept of recycling, testing and making of DIY Li-Ion battery packs

• Solar Power

This another important aspect, the point is to charge the battery packs with solar panels and that people learn how to install their own renewable energy solutions

• Open Source Hardware

Using Arduino and other open source hardware platforms plus circular economy in making DIY CNC and 3D printing machines from as much recycled parts as possible

• 3D Printing / CNC

After creating own 3D and CNC platforms, not only learning the techonology but better hands on approach for eventual troubleshooting or even improvements, learning this technology opens a wide range of possibilities to apply to the project itself and also expanding creativity

This project can Grow to include this other technologies as well:

• Marine/Fluvial electrical motor boat conversion

Applying the Battery packs and solar panels to River boats 

• IOT

To measure remotely with sensors climate conditions, battery voltages, etc.

• Web / Android App development

Comes in hand with the IOT, being able to give an interactive access to the data collected by the IOT sensors.

• Lithium Ion Battery Packs

Commercially Speaking the best known example is Tesla Motors (some patents for example):

AU 2008276398  Battery charging based on cost and life

CA 2608448  Method and apparatus for mounting, cooling, connecting and protecting batteries

CA 2645056  Battery pack and method for protecting batteries

EP 2171824  Method and apparatus for identifying and disconnecting short-circuited battery cells within a battery pack

DIY versions:

Micah Toll battery packs for E-Bikes

Book: "DIY Lithium Batteries: How to Build Your Own Battery Packs "

Jehu Garcia

• DIY POWERWALL

JEHU GARCIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw0maqAGIE4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hejOT7NF72E&t=582s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7V9XQ34chc&list=RDCMUCcMfCkN1juSa49DJFYltOTw&index=8

• Solar Power Using Battery Packs

Jehu Garcia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI132cvpp2U&t=501s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMdn-2Kl_yM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuqzwZ12UTM&t=299s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTZ-529NCOA

• 3D Printing / CNC Applied to DIY Battery Packs and Solar Power Solutions

Javier Camacho from Affibox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR7yOcNXe38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XabFf5UvKPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cw8_6vuM1U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KZl4BKCjpE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDSOIN0egMo

Other users in Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuL_yWKpWx8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rulOD-A_X_A

• Solar Powered River Boats

Kara Solar is a solar-powered river transportation, energy, and community enterprise initiative in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This project was funded by the IDB which they adapt solar panels to power river river boats.

https://karasolar.com/

https://karasolar.com/our-motivations

https://www.losaliados.org/kara-solar

https://www.facebook.com/ajplu...

• Use of IOT and Web/Android Apps in DIY POWERWALLS

HB Powerwall Australia Using Batrium BMS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8u-0SOu1vM

Sense Solar Power Monitor System

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeWkQIRdBlM

IOT Battery Monitor System using Raspberry Pi and Amazon AWS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPahFtCLgc

IOT Solar Power Monitoring System using Arduino

https://nevonprojects.com/iot-solar-power-monitoring-system/

The theory of change on the impact this project aims is the following

• The problem we are trying to solve is:
  • Access to technical skillsets so people suffering from lack of opportunites can seek better paying jobs
  • Promote technological innovation enterpenuership
  • Access to affordable renewable electricity
  • Recycling of Lithium Batteries
• Our Key Audience will be:
  • Excluded urban population
  • Rural Communities
  • Maker Community
  • Recycling Company personnel
• Entry points:
  • Educational Workshops
  • Social media platforms
  • Website
  • Recycling Companies that collect the Lithium cells
  • Enterpenuership promotion or educational organizations
• Steps to bring about change:
  • Create a modular design for lithium battery packs and solar charge control units so it can be easily assembled, scalable, and as low cost as possible
  • Create a teaching method to teach people how to assemble the battery packs and solar power system
  • Create a design for a locally manufactured CNC and 3D printing platform using as much recycled material as possible and open source hardware such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi
  • Create the workshops and social media content to educate people on this technologies and also include basic  computer science so that they can handle the CNC and 3D printing
• Measurable effects
  • amount and size of workshops created
  • traffic in social media platforms
  • how many people succesfully finish the course
  • follow up assesments after people finish the course
  • how many units produced and installed
  • how many rural families receive solar power battery packs
• Wider Benefits
  • Recipients of workshops will be eligible for better paying jobs or set up their own enterpenuership
  • give people a chance to access renewable energy
  • promote technological innovation and manufacturing
• Long term benefits
  • Access to electricity in rural areas
  • better income opportunities
  • better access to clean water
  • creation of e boats for river side communities specially in the Mosquitia Region which for decades have been left out
  • the possibility of new businesses stemming from the technologies teached at the project
  • expansion to the Centalamerican region or even the rest of the Carribean and Latin America

Current number: none

this is still in concept stage, but as to illustrate the impact area the population in San Pedro Sula where most of the recycling companies are located as in 2018 was of 778 thousand people of which according to the Central Bank of Honduras statistical report over half of them are economically active and most of the young population are females.

Within the next year my goal is to further my solar power Li On battery Pack solution from locally sourced batteries and also try to get some funding for this educational project.

In 5 Years if all goes well my goal is to have the solar power workshops and havig the structure for the solar powered riverboats and probably be expanding in the Central American Region at very least to Guatemala.

• Lack of access to materials (The local commerce in Honduras you can find solar panels but most accesories needed are either too expensive or solar power merchandise distributors refuse to sell unless its a turnkey solution which is the opposite concept)
• Funding been working with my own savings which is not much 
• High Import taxes and costs
• Honduras has one of the highest import and shipping taxes in the central american region which makes importing what is needed even more expensive as compared to someone in the US that has only to go to Ebay or Amazon-
• Covid 19 Pandemic disrupting supply chains (most electronics come from China)
• People's rejection to new ideas or change. When pitching the idea of not using traditional batteries even to seasoned solar power installers I have faced ludicrous arguments on the contrary to those or even from the recycle companies who collect the raw batteries in hopes to sell them abroad

With enough funding and the backing of a serious and renowned organization such a MIT would be the main points. The other is the technical support from experts, more minds getting together with their knowledge and experience can make a huge difference in perfecting and developing this concept project and setting it to motion. Also having the support of an MIT program could even help attract some of the people mentioned as inspiration for me on working on DIY Solar Power to provide their input and expertise bearing in mind that the main goal is helping people have the technical skillset to apply this technology on the betterment of their own lives in such a econmically destitute and unequal country such as Honduras were young people are forced to flee walking thousands of miles running away from hunger, poverty and violence.

With the proper funding  the barriers imposed by the costs can be overcome since the materials not found locally or too expensive can be imported in larger cuantities, and also properly setting up workshops needed to develop the packs.

Also the funds would be needed to travel from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro Sula which is the city where there is more availability of recycled batteries, and eventually as the project continues to grow to rural areas where the solutions can be applied.

The support from such a renowned institution would help bring on board even possibly development banks or other institutions thus overcoming the rejection of new ideas factor

currently im the only one working on this solution since its only been a concept but I am open to work with a team since this would a big undetaking to say the least

Well besides my background as an engineer I am also DIY maker and have been working on small solar lithium battery pack solution for urban houses so I have a hands-on knowledge of the skillsets required. Also I worked as an educator for 5 years so I know the importance of education for the development of individuals and I believe countries like Honduras need more technical knowledge for developing further not just be mere service and raw material providers and development of this skillsets can provide not only an opportunity of better paid jobs but also open the door for new innovative enterpernuership amongs the population 

currently have not partnered with any organization yet, but the idea would be to partner with local recycling companies in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula and also some Civil Society organizations that promote enterpenuership. Also educational organizations are most welcome

Based on the SOCIAL BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS, the business model would be:

Key resources:

• Instructors/ Designers
• Tools
• Donor / Support network
• Local recycling companies

Partners:

• MIT SOLVE
• Any develpment related institution willing to fund or support the project
• Maker community
• Educational institutions willing to support the project

Key Activities:

• Education for low tech skilled workers and people working at recycling facilities
• Collection, classification and charging of the Lithium cells
• 3D and CNC manufacturing workshops
• Eneterpenuership guidance 

Type of intervention

• Workshops to educate people on this solution and computing, IOT, CNC and 3D printing
• Creating a circular economy based product such as lithium battery packs 
• Creating a product for rural areas to provide solar power in their homes, coffee mills, water pumps, e-bikes, e-boats, or any other application that can be devised for this solution

Channels

• Website
• Social media platforms
• Local enterpenuership promotion institutions

Cost Structure

• Rent and utilities for workhop locations
• Salaries for staff
• Import of tools and materials not locally sourced

Segments:

• Beneficiary
  • Men and women, no matter if young or old, that either work in local recycling plants or in areas near the location of the workshops 
• Customers
  • NGOs or Non for Profit organizations working to provide access to electricity in both urban and rural areas
  • Development agencies
  • Rural Area Farmers, Agricultural Cooperatives or even Agricultural Industries
  • People wanting to convert their bikes to ebikes
  • People who live in riverside communities 

Surplus

• expand workshops capabilities
• R&D for new solutions

Revenue

• Grants
• Donations
• sales of products
• turn key solutions

Based on the MaRS Social enterprise business models the model for this project would be a mix between Service subsidization which implies its integrated with the resulting non profit organization that would handle the project as this cannot be done alone by myself. Also mixed with Market linkage since it seeks the recipients to find better jobs or access to markets for their own enterpenuerships.

• I am applying to solve because this concept cannot be done on my effort alone and MIT has the weight, knowledge base, know how, experts and connections to help with this undertaking.

• The support network inherent to the SOLVE stucture to help bring projects to fruition

• Also this project needs funding so having the support of MIT and SOLVE can not only help fund the project but also attract other institutions or even investors to it
• This prizes are of a non political nature and instead of a non for profit organization seeking the betterment of fellow men and women in our underdeveloped countries so lack of this sort of bias is most welcome

• Business model : to successfully have the impact this project aims at and be sustainable in the future as well to provide some jobs and enterpenuership market for the target population a spot on business model will come in handy and any support is welcome
• Solution technology : dealing with electricity no matter how simple or complex the solution might be can imply several technical challenges and no doubt that with the support of SOLVE this hurdles can be overcome 
• Product/service distribution: both the backing and the connections implied with the involvement of SOLVE can help create a proper venue for the products that can be developed through this project. 
• Funding and revenue model: this project definitely needs funding and also it has to be a smart and sustainable funding as this recent pandemic has exposed we are really vulnerable to such major disruptions 

• MIT as a partner and sharing knowledge and knowhow plus connections
• Local Engineering Association CIMEQH and IEEE section 
• Local Universities with engineering programs such as UNAH, UTH and UNITEC
• Any development or aid bank or agency willing to add funding to the project. e.g. IDB or BCIE
• Any maker community involved in 3d printing, Arduino, Linux, App develpment, etc. idependently if its local or from abroad
• Enterpenuership Promotion Organizations so the people receiving this new skillsets might have access to markets or job opportunities. This can include NGO's, chambers of commerce, government enterpenuership programs, etc.
• Agricultural or productive cooperatives specially one's run for women in rural areas since they convey a larger impact

• This project does cover all genders and a wide range of ages but theres a couple of facts that makes an impact on local women:
• Most of the young population of Honduras are women
• Most of the people working or trying to improve their lives in the areas targetted are women
• Also this project seeks to reach out to improve lives of rural areas and most households are run by women since most men are not present or migrated to the north

This solution would be qualified for this prize since its main goal is exaclty creating technological skillsets for workers to apply for better paying jobs and to promote innovation so they can create value rhrough their own enterpenuerships considering the rampant unemployment seen in this country that forces people to walk out heading north 

This project is not circumscribed to young people but to anyone willing to learn this new skillsets and also to help workers in the recycling business who are grown adults into a possibility of betterment in their lives