Personnel

FSEC faculty, staff and students have, time and again, volunteered in disaster relief efforts both far and near. William Young, project manager of the PV Disaster Training Program, has been a disaster relief volunteer since 1988 and has completed various Federal Emergency Management Agency training courses.

FSEC personnel also have extensive experience in all areas of PV technology research, development, testing, training and implementation. (See PV Personnel for an index of researchers in the division, along with a summary of their qualifications and experience.)

Projects

Many documents are available in the Publications section, describing in detail both past and current projects. Various kinds of technical activities comprise FSEC activities related to disaster relief, including system development, feasibility studies, system testing, application demonstrations, equipment specifications, data analysis and training. Projects have addressed disaster response, recovery and mitigation efforts.

Past and current projects include the following:

• Designed and deployed stand-alone 1200-watt PV systems to power medical clinics.
• Conducted feasibility study on the application of PV-powered traffic control equipment for disaster relief.
• Compiled an energy needs assessment of various disaster relief organizations' operations.
• Research and development of new PV-powered equipment for disaster relief applications.
• Test and evaluate the viability of applying various PV systems in disaster response situations.
• Conduct workshops to train disaster relief organizations on photovoltaics.

Facilities

Education is a major emphasis at FSEC, with state-of-the-art distance learning facilities and on-site training capabilities. Highly instrumented laboratories and field test sites provide a wealth of experimental data from broad-based analytical research. FSEC's capability to perform technology feasibility demonstrations in-house validates system analysis and analytical model studies, while enhancing the Center's technology transfer activities. Complete in-house publishing capabilities and the Internet effectively round out facilities that allow FSEC to disseminate, research and demonstration results to both national and international audiences.