Solarise

Team Name: InnovationX

Devpost Account: Anahat

Links:

• GitHub Repository
• Canva Presentation

Inspiration:

The inspiration for Solarise came from our desire to contribute to a sustainable future by promoting the use of renewable energy. Recognizing the increasing urgency of addressing climate change, we aimed to create a platform that educates and empowers individuals and communities to make informed decisions about solar energy. Our goal is to inspire widespread adoption of solar power, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and fostering a greener planet.

What it Does:

Solarise offers a comprehensive set of resources designed to educate and assist users in their journey toward utilizing solar energy. The platform includes:

• Personalization Survey: A brief survey that gathers information about the user’s energy needs, location, budget, and preferences to tailor the Solarise experience to their specific circumstances and goals.
• Google Solar API: An integration with Google's Solar API to provide users with accurate, real-time data on solar potential, sunlight exposure, and energy savings for their specific locations.
• AI-Chatbox: An intelligent chatbot powered by OpenAI that offers instant answers to your questions, provides recommendations, and guides you through the process of adopting solar energy solutions.
• Personalized Results and Logistics: Customized results that identify which solar panels best fit the user’s requirements based on their survey responses and real-time data.
• Educational Games for Children: Fun, interactive games designed to teach children about solar energy and sustainability, making learning about renewable energy engaging and enjoyable for young minds.

How We Built It:

• Frontend: Developed with HTML and CSS ensuring a responsive and user-friendly interface.
• Backend: Utilized Node.js and JavaScript to ensure smooth processing.
• APIs: Integrated APIs such as OpenAI and Google Solar API to provide real-time data on solar irradiance.

Challenges We Ran Into:

• One of the main challenges we faced was time constraints, which led to hard-coding certain parts of the platform.
• Utilizing APIs that we were unfamiliar with and learning them as we implemented them.
• Implementing a grid layout for the game was time-consuming and difficult.

Accomplishments We Are Proud Of:

• Technical Achievement: Developed a seamless integration of various technologies to provide a comprehensive and user-friendly platform; many of which we used for the first time ever!
• Educational Impact: Successfully created engaging tools that make learning about solar energy fun and accessible for all ages.
• Sustainability Awareness: Contributed to raising awareness about renewable energy and empowering users to make sustainable choices.

What We Learned:

• Utilizing new APIs within our code: OpenAI API and Google Solar API.
• Effective Collaboration: The importance of clear communication and teamwork in overcoming obstacles and meeting deadlines.
• User-Centered Design: Gained insights into designing with the end-user in mind, ensuring that our platform is both informative and easy to navigate.

What’s Next?

• Deploy internationally.
• Implement more features and calculations in the Solar API.
• Have OpenAI API store previous chats in storage.
• Creating a mobile application to reach a broader audience and provide on-the-go access to our resources.
• Establishing partnerships with educational institutions and environmental organizations to further promote solar energy awareness and adoption.
• Implementing budgeting guidance for users.
• Continuously improving the platform based on user feedback to better meet the needs and preferences of our community.

Note:

Our OpenAI API had over a 100 folders, mostly of Node modules, so we were unable to upload all of them due to GitHub's limit. All of this was pre-coded through the Terminal. Just a note in case you were wondering why it does not work when you try to implement it.