Save Our Energy!

Save Our Energy! is a web application designed to help homeowners through the process of switching their homes to renewable forms of energy.

Comment

Inspiration:

In our ever-evolving world, the need to address the environmental degradation around us grows each day. The once green and vibrant planet is now cluttered with factories and technology, powered by harmful non-renewable energy sources. Despite this disturbing reality, there stands the choice to change this. Our website, Save Our Energy, hopes to provide a platform that informs individuals about renewable energy alternatives and steps to reduce their carbon footprint. We hope to inform and inspire individuals to make steps towards a more sustainable and greener future.

What it does:

Save Our Energy provides users access to valuable information regarding energy use, particularly renewable energy sources.

Users are greeted by our homepage which includes an interactive map and a slideshow of the various pages of our website. The interactive map showcases each country’s primary energy source and highlights the global reliance on non-renewable and environmentally harmful energy sources, further emphasizing the need for the transition to cleaner alternatives. Users can then navigate to the basic information page where they will find details about various clean renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. Additionally, users can explore the tax rebates pages to discover potential incentives for installing renewable energy systems which could encourage the adoption of sustainable energy.

One feature that stands out is the cost calculator, which enables users to input their energy consumption last month in kWh and expenses. Users will then be prompted to provide their desired renewable energy. Afterward, the cost calculator will calculate the potential savings the user could achieve by making this switch. This tool empowers individuals with the ability to make informed decisions about their energy usage and possibly motivates them to switch to cleaner energy sources.

Beyond renewable energy, users can also find ways to reduce their carbon footprint on the “Be Green” webpage. Providing users with tips and strategies, Save Our Energy aims to inspire individuals to adopt sustainable habits.

How We Built It:

To create our website, we utilized JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and Replit. First, we gathered information regarding renewable energy sources. Second, we utilized a javascript library for a map of the globe, however, there are no libraries for making it interactive. Therefore, we had to gather data on country borders from the internet and transpose it on top of the map. In addition, the data that we used was incomplete, not having the names of the countries, nor the primary energy source, and there was none with that data, so we had to painstakingly hard-code the data for all 200+ countries on the map. Third, we utilized HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to create separate webpages where we put the information we collected, providing a place for people to find information regarding renewable energy sources.

Challenges we ran into:

In creating our website, our team faced countless challenges. One of the major problems we faced was that many of the team lacked programming knowledge in the languages of CSS, Javascript, and HTML. To complete this project, we had to broaden our knowledge and learn new languages to be able to implement things like a slideshow, interactive map, and a calculator widget. In addition, one of our members was sick while another was unavailable due to another event, making communication and coordination very difficult. We had to bear greater responsibility to make up for the lost work.

Accomplishments:

Beginning this challenge, many of us lacked prior experience in web development and a collective lack of knowledge in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. However, through our determination, we were able to learn and utilize these languages effectively to create a fully functional website. Among the many elements that are displayed on our site, one element stands above the rest- the slideshow on our homepage. The slideshow would require us to combine our knowledge in all of the languages and apply our knowledge in a novel way.

Another highlight of our development was the creation of an interactive map, allowing users to explore each country’s primary energy sources. This not only required us to research each country’s primary energy source but as a result of the incomplete data, we had to manually match each country with its name and primary energy source.

What we learned:

Through this project, we learned about the many benefits that renewable energy provides users that extend beyond being environmentally friendly. This includes tax rebates and decreased costs for renewable energy sources for individuals. Moreover, many of our group members learned new languages of Javascript, CSS, and HTML and gained experience in web development to create a visually appealing web page for users to access information regarding renewable energy sources.

What's next for Save our Energy?

In the future, we plan to transform Save Our Energy into a more interactive and encompassing website with more detailed information on the screens. We also plan to improve the quality of our webpage for example more user-friendly interface where users can easily navigate, a personalized user experience where we implement users' profiles to track their energy-saving progress and receive personal recommendations based on the usage, creating a community platform where users can share their experiences, tips and suggestions based on their experiences and lastly a better extensive calculator to overall provide a more descriptive detail of the energy usage.

Share this project:

Updates