Weather Station Project in Grenada – I am writing this blog post beside the pool at our hotel. The sun is setting over the palm forest behind me and a warm breeze is blowing through the luscious flower bushes lining the road. I can hear exotic birds chirping all around. The hotel itself is a pleasant collection of white buildings nestled at the base of a verdant hill, dotted with fruit trees and flowering plants. From the balcony outside my room I can see the wonderful beach stretching along the coast, the mist-caped mountains plunging their green roots into the ocean, and the barely perceptible line between water and sky at the edge of the world. There is a reason they call this place “The Jewel of the Caribbean”.

We spent our first week in Grenada working in an air-conditioned lab at the T.A Marryshow Community College (TAMCC). Our project, a weather station for measuring solar radiation, was nearly completed when we left Halifax and we used this lab time to make sure it was operating flawlessly before installation.

Our second week will be spent collaborating with the local power utility, Grenlec, in order to find suitable locations for, and install, our project. They will hopefully be able to use this device to determine the effect of solar farms on the Grenadian power grid, which will allow them to make optimal use of their new green energy.

All in all, it has been a wonderful experience so far to be able to work with the students of TAMCC, and I look forward to the completion of this project. I have hope that our efforts will live on far longer than our short stay in the beautiful country of Grenada.

Luc Couillard

Electronic Engineering Technology Student

NSCC Waterfront Campus