Throw Out the Hotspot

             So, I'll be the one to say that I personally hate the idea. I love the cause and whom it is addressed towards, but the method of action I despise. As someone who has frequently dealt with homeless people in life, I feel that I can say that I hate the idea.

            The hotspot for the homeless has several flaws in it in my mind, some include: funding; feasibility; hazardous conditions; and locality issues.

            One of my biggest concerns is funding this idea. To supply just one heat tower would have to be insanely expensive.  The proposed solar panels would not be enough to keep the energy demands satisfied, the battery that is supposed to go along with the device will have to be huge and may need to be recycled on an annual basis. The solar panels are also expensive just by themselves. Normally, heating takes a decent amount of energy to heat something; the problem with the device is that it is proposed to be outside in the cold. Normally heat sources are used to heat individual spaces, not "outside." Any heat that is generated will be blown away in just a second, so the device will have to be fully functioning for extended periods at a time. This will quickly drain the battery, probably in a day or two, and to juice a battery that size takes a decent amount of time, and for perspective a small solar paneled home uses all its stored juice on a daily basis. So funding would be my biggest critique of this idea, no one would want to fund it. Especially if we tap the heater into the city's electricity. Besides that, usually ideas that are proposed that are only effective during certain seasons are thrown out. 

            For hazardous conditions: the heat radiating from the device would melt falling snow in an area, but at the same time, the ground usually stays colder even when heat it applies. Basically, I feel that ice would form due to the device, and the homeless people would be standing on ice sheets. If someone says that the ground will get heated up to where there will be no ice, then we have an issue of too much heat being emitted, but who cares about hazardous conditions.

            It would be much cheaper to build a small hut to house the device to lower the annual price for it, but if we do that, it would be an effectively heated shelter, so why not just make more shelters instead of wasting the money on these devices?

I love the effort behind the idea, but critically, I think that it is not effective. On the flip side, one idea gets another rolling, and that's how we solve problems. 

Good Job