Low Cost Alternative Energy Lab Fall 2011 Meeting of WAPT By Roger Hanke –NTC (Retired)

Goals Provide Hands-on Experience With Solar Power Introduce Students to Basic Terminology Associated with Solar Panels Provide Students with a Lab Experience that Differentiates between Published Data and Real Life Data Provide Students an Outside Lab in Spring

Challenges Cost – Firmly believe in small lab groups (four or less) Storage Space

Solar Panels from Northern Tool Polycrystalline (item #336608) 11 watts 12 volts $99.99 ($79.99) Amorphous (item #121186) 5 watts 12 volts $59.99

Final Lab Setup Polycrystalline Amorphous

Equipment Needed Two Millimeters One 25 ohm power resistor One Polycrystalline Panel Mounted on a Variable Angle Stand One Amorphous Panel Mounted on a Variable Angle Stand One Laminated 2’ x2’ sheet Giving Azimuth Angles Ranging from 90 o to 270 o Sun Angle Chart for That Day Blackboard Protractor

Sun Angles

Sun Angle Chart solardat.uoregon.edu/SunchartProgram.php

Lab Procedure Part 1 – Set Panel Angle to the Complement of Sun Angle for that Time of Day – Take Current and Voltage reading for Azimuth angles 90 o to 270 o in 10 o increments Part 2 – Set Azimuth Angle to the Azimuth Angle for that Time of Day – Take Current and Voltage reading for Panel Angles 0 o to 90 o in 10 o increments

Results-Part 1

Results – Part 2

Challenges/Improvements Hard to Read Computer Screens Outside Cloudless Sky Helps Read Current and Voltage Directly with the Computer using Vernier Probes – Have the Voltage Probe – Need High Current Probe Need to Experiment With Different Size Power Resistors

Low Cost Wind Tunnel