Team Name: Remote-at-Sea Power UCSB

University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California

Team deliverables

Why this competition?

The team originally began as a senior capstone project for UCSB mechanical engineers. We found that the U.S. Department of Energy Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) aligns very closely with the goals of our capstone. We entered the competition because we feel that the resources the MECC provides are extremely valuable, and it will provide a great opportunity for us to learn from industry professionals.

Project description, including application in the blue economy

The goal of this project is to develop a self-contained device that can generate electricity for applications and sensors at sea for an extended period of time.

Historically, sensors and devices on the seafloor have been powered by batteries and must be serviced relatively often. These servicing costs add up quickly and are wasteful in the context of labor, emissions, and expenses. If our group can successfully develop a solution to this problem, researchers, as well as environmental and government agencies, can save millions of dollars per year.

The global renewable energy market was valued at $928 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2025. This potential growth in the market uniquely positions our group to develop a product to fill an untapped niche.

Game plan

Our game plan is to develop a multitude of concepts and choose one to pursue. We will develop a viable product prototype and will write a business plan describing the viability of marketing and selling the product.

Team strengths

We have strong technical skills, thanks to our five senior mechanical engineer teammates. Our team members from UCSB’s economics department offer solid business skills and will assist with the development of the business plans.

Team hurdles

Electrical portions of the project will be more difficult for us, as we have no electrical engineers on our team. With limited access to campus, the team is also unable to use the machine shop. As such, we must use vendors to secure custom parts.

Competition objectives

To develop a method to integrate ocean energy into an application in the blue economy that can be powered remotely at sea for an extended period of time
To develop a business plan that accurately describes the market potential for this type of product and technology.

This portal is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) under Contract Number DE- AC36-08GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Contract Number DE-AC05-76RL01830 with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Contract Number DE-NA0003525 with Sandia National Laboratories, as part of the MHK Data Communities project. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

MECC 2021 University of California Santa Barbara