Advanced Affordable Solar Water Heater

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Organization's mission:

The Low Cost Solar Water Heater team aims to develop a solar water heater for use in low-income Guatemalan households. By reducing the need for traditional energy sources, solar water heating can reduce energy costs for Guatemalan households and reduce global environmental impacts. Based on the prototype developed last spring, the group seeks support for detailed field tests to determine its effectiveness at reaching the team’s various economic and environmental goals. Partnering with a development infrastructure non-governmental organization (NGO) in Guatemala, the group will produce an implementation plan that will allow the NGO to manufacture these heaters locally, providing jobs to local community members. The team is an interdisciplinary group of eight current and former graduate students at UC-Berkeley. The student team is supported by several professors and engineers with backgrounds in technology development and business ventures in developing countries. By developing a product and implementation plan that is easily replicable throughout the developing world, this project has the potential to have an enormous impact on low-income households and the global environment.

Current executive board:

Merwan Benhabib
Sara Al-Beaini
Adam Langton
Arvind Chari
Alissa Johnson
Kenneth Armijo
Ernesto Rodriguez