Starting week one, we have lost a team member. This brings us down from seven to six members. This week we have been progressing on the modeling for the electrolyzer and the hydrogen storage tanks. This will allow us to determine how much hydrogen the electrolyzer can output based off of a certain amount of PV energy. In addition, one member of the modeling team is currently taking the Fuel Cell class, which will help with fuel cell modeling. Once the electrolyzer portion is complete, we can move on to the Fuel Cell modeling.

Although we requested $2,500 from UROP, we only received $700. Since we still need more funds for our expenses, we have applied for The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF). TGIF funds projects related to renewable and sustainable energy systems, which fits our project perfectly. After we sent in our application, we received a response and they seem very interested in our project. They had a few questions, which we are currently responding to tonight. Hopefully TGIF will be able to provide us with additional funds. We are also planning to apply for the Senior Design Project (SDP) fund.

Last quarter, one of our members realized that we had never tested the solar panels that were donated to us in the Fall. In order to ensure our panels function properly, we designed a testing circuit that will allow us to view current as we change the voltage. Our team consulted with electrical engineers and other experts to get their input on our circuit design. Now that all parties have approved, we are ready to continue with solar panel testing.

In addition, the team went to Irvine Pipe & Supply to see if they had high temperature water pumps for the fuel cell cooling system. Unfortunately, they did not have what we needed.