Name: Delos Reyes, Jason Date: April 6, 2021

Magtibay, John Denielle

Nagum, Carl Joseph, B.

Course/Section: EE 026-EE32S1 Group Assignment Instructor: Engr. Roulluqui

Topic1: Plants Generating Electricity due to cycle of Photosynthesis.

1.) Description of the problem.

Fossil fuels are non-renewable fuels that is used to provide electricity. It has various negative impacts both in the
health of the environment and humans. Specifically, the Philippines is one of several countries which are highly dependent
on coal as a source for electricity generation which is one of the major types of fossil fuels alongside with oil and natural
gasses. According to an article by Nunes (2019), in 2017 coal power plants generated 46.8 megawatts/hour which is 53.6%
of the country’s power generation mix while natural gasses occupied 21.8%. In power generation, fossil fuels are burned them
releases greenhouse gasses that is entrap in Earth’s atmosphere which is the primary contributor for global warming and
climate change.

In addition, lack of electricity access is much greater in rural areas than in urban areas because normally rural areas
are far from the power grid system and construction of substations is not feasible. Based on the data of the Philippine Institute
for development studies in 2018, the Philippines has a total electrification rate of 94.9 % wherein the electrification rate for
urban areas and rural areas are 97.5 % and 92.5 %, respectively. As mentioned above construction of substations will never
be an option to increase the electrification rate in rural areas unless the demand will increase. The demand for electricity is a
substantial factor for distribution utilities because it gives insight if that area can give them the return of investment.

2.) Background of the problem (scenario involving the problem).

In the current energy industries, fossil fuel power generators are still prevalent and still the main source of electricity
in the Philippines. Fossil fuel power poses many problems such as air pollution, water pollution, and has a direct effect on
global warming through airborne toxic and pollutants, coal ashes falling down to lakes, ponds, etc., and carbon emission
towards the ozone. Alternative energy sources are being applied to counteract the negative consequence and to lessen the
dependence of fossil fuel. Alternative energy sources serve as a means to provide reliable power supply and diversify the
sources of fuel. It could also directly lessen the consumption of natural resources through minimizing the activity and the
damages towards nature when mining for coal, and directly be an alternative solution for global warming. These alternative
sources are renewable where the resources are naturally replenished such as solar, wind, geothermal heat, etc.

In addition, rural areas in the Philippines lacks access to electricity due to a low demand, low accessibility, and low
economic activity for a substation to be built upon. People in rural areas depend on batteries to power up their radio that
serves as their basic source of information, lamp light as their light source. In addition, rural areas in the Philippines lacks
access to electricity due to a low demand, low accessibility, and low economic activity for a substation to be built upon. People
in rural areas depend on batteries to power up their radio that serves as their basic source of information, lamp light as their
light source. Alternative solution is to apply off-grid solutions as it is the most cost-effective way to provide energy access to
the last 10% of population who lives without electricity in rural areas. In the Philippines, electricity is considered to be a crucial
component of the everyday lives of people. As such workers in rural areas often encounter electricity problems that could
impede their works by inefficient means, such as instead of having machine-operated equipment, they would resort to manual
ways to do work. The inefficiency would result in a loss of opportunity to grow as a business.
3.) Assumption for the solution of the problem.

Hypothesis: Plant generator would produce a significant amount of electricity to fully charge a 10 kW/7.5 kW power bank.

4.) Solutions that are available including the technology.

As for the solutions available for the problem of improving electrification rate in rural areas, the following are listed;

→Application of renewable sources – the plant generating electricity can is a project that uses conductors (copper) to store
the light energy absorbed by the plants through the process of Photosynthesis. To maximize energy, produce by plants, a
large area embedded by plants would be efficient and reliable enough to power light bulbs and electric fans.

→Installation of substations – this would be the greatest solution to the problem in lack of electricity access in rural areas,
unfortunately installation of substation would not be feasible because of low demand, low accessibility, and low economic
activity to get the return of investment.

→Application of solar panel – this would also be a great application in rural areas to have an electricity that can power light
bulbs and electric fans; however, the price is costly which is approximately at 128,500 pesos.

5.) Objectives of the research.

→This researcher aims to generate electricity from plants.

→Research aims to provide alternative renewable source of electricity in rural areas.

References:

Gloria, M. (2018, July 07). Philippines' power generation sources (BY PLANT type). Retrieved April 06, 2021, from
https://www.bworldonline.com/philippines-power-generation-sources-by-plant-type/

Gonzales, I. (2017, November 25). 16-M pinoys do not have access to electricity – study. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from
https://www.philstar.com/business/2013/11/25/1260424/16-m-pinoys-do-not-have-access-electricity-study

Nunez, C. (2021, February 10). Fossil fuels. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/fossil-fuels

Boyce, S. (2020, December 08). Improving electricity in the Philippines. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from
https://borgenproject.org/electricity-in-the-philippines/
TOPIC 2: Home Energy Monitoring and Control System

1.) Description of the problem

Monthly bills are just one of the main components where we spend our monthly salaries on. It consists of the water
bill, energy bill, loans, etc. Energy and water consumption are the essential things that we consume continuously, even if the
prices on these things increase, we could not still avoid consuming them. According to IBON’s survey, 64% of Filipinos find it
hard to pay for their electricity in recent months. Which is why energy-saving techniques must be studied in order to do it as
effective and efficient as possible to reduce energy bill cost. The problem is that consumers could reduce their energy
consumption and just hope that the next energy bill will be lower than usual without any clarification on what appliances do
really contributed to the total power consumed. Consumers sometimes question their local energy provider if there may be
some overlooked mistakes or unknown charges included on their bills. One of the main focuses of the Filipinos is to reduce
their energy bill. Unfortunately, monitoring of the power consumption is limited to the monthly bills that they are receiving.

2.) Background of the problem (scenario involving the problem)

We all know that electricity cost here in the Philippines is high. In fact, electricity prices in the Philippines are amongst
the highest in Southeast Asia which cost about 8.7479 per kWh to 8.67893 per kWh this February. According to the Philippine
daily inquirer, about 4.5 million Filipinos have lost their jobs this year due to the covid-19 pandemic which caused lockdowns
and working limitations. Many of the Filipinos’ income had stopped but electricity and water use are continuous which caused
Filipinos to focus on saving energy to at least reduce monthly bills. There is an issue where many Filipinos experienced “bill
shock” due to the high total amount due given by the Meralco, leading to complaints of the consumers on the questionable
prices that they received on their electricity bills. The problem is that consumers could only obtain the total energy usage of
the entire residence which does not determine what individual appliances consume most of the percentage of their usage. In
order to save energy effectively, different techniques must be used and applied. The development of energy-efficient
appliances is continuous but it is not a considerable solution to this problem because it requires changing the existing
appliances which are costly so researchers should suggest different solutions to this problem that could be easily adapted by
the Filipinos.

3.) Assumption for the solution of the problem

Hypothesis: If a household use energy monitoring and control system, the average cost if the monthly energy bill will be
reduced at least 10%.

4.) Solutions that are available including the technology

As for the solutions available for the problem of reducing energy bill cost, the following are listed;

→Use of renewable energy generation – it may be costly to purchase technologies such as solar panels or wind turbines that
are applicable for home use but it is a long-term investment as it will save you more the longer you use it.

→Use of load scheduling system– it will allow the consumers to control certain up/down times of specific appliances to reduce
the energy consumption especially when not in use.

→Use of energy usage monitoring system – it will allow the consumers to monitor what appliances consumes energy most
and how much energy it consumes. By monitoring the power usage of the specific appliances, consumers are aware of what
to use less in order to reduce energy bill cost.
5.) Objectives of the research

The research generally aims to determine power usage of specific devices found at home and control its
up/downtimes. This research allows the consumers to have a monitoring device and control the desired energy consuming
devices that affects the energy bill cost. It allows the consumers to schedule certain loads at a certain time and at the same
time have awareness of what appliances consumes the most. The goal of this research is to reduce energy bill cost by
applying different energy saving techniques and also to promote saving energy to prevent energy shortages.