Solar GeomeTREE

Overview

This project was done with the intention to see if arranging solar panels to resemble nature would be more efficient when it came to harnessing solar energy than just having a flat array. The flat array is a standard geometrical arrangement for solar cells, but there is only one way that those solar cells can be placed. Given that sunlight moves both longitudinally and latitudinally over the course of a year, in the one orientation of the flat array of solar panels the absorption of power from the sun cannot always be completely optimal. The question that I tried to answer with this project was: What is the best solar panel array for harvesting energy from the sun? My hypothesis was that the solar arrays that mimicked nature would produce more power. To see if this was true I built three arrays: a succulent plant with its leaves replaced with solar cells, a tree branch with its leaves replaced with solar cells, and a flat array. Overall the flat array was the most consistent during the trials, but the succulent plant array was competing with that array throughout the whole project. On the last day both the tree branch array and the succulent array did better than the flat array. Therefore, my hypothesis was partially supported, but also inconclusive.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Physics & Astronomy (Junior Division) · Entry J-17-04

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