Cal Poly Engineering Students Bring Green Technology to Salinas

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly engineering students will play a major role in revitalizing a historic Salinas Chinatown neighborhood. The students, in collaboration with peers from CSU Monterey Bay, will develop a renewable energy source for the neighborhood’s community garden. The project is being funded by a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Cal Poly students will design and produce a wind turbine for energy generation and a battery storage system to maintain power overnight. The goal is to provide enough energy to power lights, heaters and power tools, taking the community garden entirely off the city’s power grid by June.

Plans will be drawn up for a “Green Technology Demonstration Park” to be constructed by future students. The park would not only generate sustainable energy for itself, but provide energy to power Dorothy’s Place, a neighboring facility which serves as a multi-purpose center for people who are homeless or in transition.

The Cal Poly team consists of four mechanical and computer engineering seniors - Arya Vigeh, Daniel Hiranandani, Brennan Fay, and Andrew Gossman.

The project is one part of a larger effort to bring a struggling Salinas neighborhood back to life. “It’s the only remaining Chinatown between San Francisco and Los Angeles,” said Lynne Slivovsky, Cal Poly computer engineering professor and project advisor. “This project is a test of keeping culture alive while being able to provide sustainable energy services and opening the area up to business and residential development.”

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