fairfolio
Saved Projects

Fresnel Lens and Temperature vs. Solar Panel Output

CSEF · 2018 Alternative Energy (Junior Division Only)

Aditya S. Kakarla · Warren (Earl) Junior High School, Bakersfield, Kern County

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to figure out if I can increase the electricity you can receive with a solar panel by increasing/decreasing the temperature and using a Fresnel lens. Methods/Materials A Fresnel lens and a infrared thermometer probe were used, so I could see the temperature of the solar panel and the effect of the Fresnel lens on the solar panel. I would check the voltage of the solar panel with and without the Fresnel lens, and I would use my thermometer to check the temperature. I would change the temperature by using plastic bags with hot or cold water in it. This would help to simulate a warm or cold environment. Results The results of this project showed that cooler temperature would increase the voltage by around 0.217 volts per degree Fahrenheit, and the Fresnel lens would increase the voltage by around 1.7%. These results mean that having a colder surface temperature for the solar panel, and using a Fresnel lens both increased the amount of electricity that would be produced by the solar panel. My lowest temperature, 53 degrees Fahrenheit, had around 23% more voltage than my recording with the highest temperature, 116.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Conclusions/Discussion Providing a colder environment and using a Fresnel lens will increase energy output of a solar panel. This project could help us learn more in better utilization of solar panels, and therefore finding new applications such as cars or even airplanes

Summary statement

use of Fresnel lens and cooler temperature helped improve output of solar cell

Help received

I received help from my parents in procuring Materials for my project and I learned concept of solar cell energy production from my Dad and online

Competition history

  • CSEF 2018 Alternative Energy (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0209

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google