Product Design Specification (Dieter & Schmidt, 2009)

ENERGY GENERATION AND INDEPENDENCY IN THE INDIVIDUAL HOMES OF THE CARIBEAN

COAST OF COLOMBIA.

1. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

A. Project’s Name: Energy generation and independency in the individual homes of the
Caribbean coast of Colombia
B. Solution’s basic functions (functional requirements, what is the solution’s expected
results?):
a. Keep a constant and daily energy supply to the building in a reliable and safe
manner.
b. Low cost of manufacture, acquisition, or implementation.
C. Operational conditions:
a. Easy maintenance: Given that the maintenance of the solution will be
relegated to the end user, the solution should be easy to maintain with
minimum or no technical/legal/environmental training.
b. Intuitive: Given that the end user is in his majority illiterate or possess little to
no formal education, the solution should require little or no input from the
end user or -if input is required- be easy to understand for the end user.
c. Resistant: Must contain as little as possible fragile pieces, critical tasks or
requirements that could cause malfunction, or ineffectiveness of the solution
in any form.
d. Cultural-friendly: Given that the end user could be part of an indigenous
community, the solution must not cause a cultural shock with the end user.

2. MARKET IDENTIFICATION

A. Target market and size identification

B. Current Solutions