Home Products Development at FIT is designed for and by the growing home products industry, and its students are encouraged to think creatively and broadly about solutions to challenges that face the industry and consumers—from toilet paper dispensers to coffee makers to body pillows.
Marc Littlejohn, adjunct instructor in the program, had a framework for the capstone class that focused on a highly creative and collaborative approach for developing products that meet consumers’ ever-changing needs, while also satisfying the growing demand for job candidates with the specific skills that make the program’s graduates excellent hires in the industry.
In this year’s senior capstone class, Annie Hassan, Home Products Development ’24, put the framework to use when she developed her final project, Solariscape (see diagram above). Solariscape uses window curtains with thin-film photovoltaic (PV) cells to convert sunlight into electricity that can power a single-family home. The PV cells are glued onto the back of a curtain with an attached 650W microinverter. The solar cells weigh 100 times less than a traditional solar panel and can generate 18 times more power/kg. The idea, Hassan said, came from the fact that only 5% of single-family homes in the United States utilize solar power; and since her assignment was to develop a product that was not yet in the market, Hassan saw an opportunity.