Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

Helena Frudit ’25
MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE
ENGINEERING
PROJECT TITLE
Estimating Solar Rooftop
Potential and Investigating
Small-scale Generation in
the United States
ORGANIZATION(S)
Climate Central
LOCATION(S)
Princeton, New Jersey
MENTOR(S)
Jennifer Brady,
Manager of Analysis and
Production, Climate
Central; Eric Larson,
Senior Research Engineer,
Andlinger Center for
Energy and the
Environment, Princeton
University
I worked at Climate Central on WeatherPower, a
platform that estimates solar and wind electricity
generation based on installed capacity and the
weather forecast. My objectives were twofold: to
improve the reporting of small-scale facilities
and to design a tool to convey the intrinsic value
of solar energy. For my first goal, I identified
datasets that included solar photovoltaic
installations with a capacity below one megawatt
and adjusted the current methodology. For the
second goal, I planned to create a platform that
could estimate the solar rooftop potential in
various geographic resolutions and translate
that potential into metrics such as monetary
values. I studied the feasibility of creating such
a tool, developed a methodology and created a
proof of concept. I gained significant technical
experience with the software ArcGIS Pro and
improved my programming knowledge in
Python. This internship also exposed me to
the nonprofit world and to research outside of
universities. It was fascinating to work with
people from different academic backgrounds
toward the goal of communicating the realities of
climate change. This experience has reinforced
my desire to generate a positive impact in
the renewable energy field and convey the
unprecedented pace and scale of the energy
transition.
INNOVATION AND A
NEW ENERGY FUTURE
73