Bethany Kanten ’15 wants to improve solar power systems in developing countries. She got her ES100 final project concept from the startup solar company she interned with last summer. There she learned that aid agencies providing off-grid solar power to rural communities in developing countries currently have no effective way to monitor energy production and use, nor the health of the systems they’ve installed. Bethany’s solution is a power monitoring device that takes advantage of the world-wide mobile communications network (SGM) to text voltage and current information to a central source, where it is uploaded to the web. This virtually real-time data will allow aid agencies to optimize the existing systems, and make repairs proactively. After Commencement, Bethany will be continuing her work on power monitoring with Off Grid Electric and will be moving to Tanzania in July.