Tracking Reflector Models Improve the Efficiency of Solar Panels

Hello, my name is Shreyas Ghare, and the title of my project is the Methods to Improve the Efficiency of Solar Panels.

Ever since 6th grade I have loved participating in Science Fair presentations where we would present research which we conducted throughout the year. This process allowed me to develop my speaking and presenting skills and allow me to build up my confidence. I loved the fair as it was a place where we could share our research openly and it also allowed me to see what interesting research my peers were conducting as well.

I started participating in the KAS program when I was in the 8th grade and I have continued since then.

For the past years I have been researching in many different categories, and for the last two years, I have been doing engineering projects as Covid impacting many option choices for me to conduct research out of a home testing environment.

This year, I was fortunate enough that my involvement in KAS allowed me to come and present here at AJAS.

This idea process started at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic when everyone was working from home and my school was even virtual.

I read the news about many regions which seemed to improve air quality during the lockdown, and this made me understand how much pollution people generate from just everyday activities.

So my research began which lead me to electricity production and current solar panel limitations. This then led me to the development of my models.

Additionally, I presented this research in the 2021 Kentucky Junior Academy of Science program where I placed as a finalist and allowed me to become inducted as an AJAS Fellow and participate in this program to share my research here as well.

Hello, my name is Shreyas Ghare and the title of my project is the Methods to Improve the Efficiency of Solar Panels.

Rationale/Introduction

Due to the pandemic, most people are working from home. This on one hand has reduced air pollution but on the other hand, has increased the electricity consumption and energy bills per household. In the US. 63% of electricity comes from burning fossil fuels. This also creates greenhouse gases such as CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide. These factors not only affect human life but also our planet. Currently, Solar energy is one of the most sustainable, easily available, clean energy sources. Only 1.8% of the US’s energy was generated from solar power. The amount of energy generated by solar panels is not consistent because most solar panels are static panels. Hence the main goal of this project is to create multiple models and designs to enhance the power generation by a solar panel.

Experimental Design

For each model, multiple designs were created until a final design was made.

The static solar panel mode remains flat at a fixed position and acts as the control for my project based on current solar panel installations.

The tracking model is dynamic and can track the moving light source. The tracking solar panel model was more difficult to design and construct because it had more electrical components and moving parts.

The reflector module is an add-on to the main models. It will rest on top of the solar panels with the mirrors at a 120-degree angle. The diagram on the right shows how the reflector module uses the mirrors to bounce(reflect) light onto the solar panel.

The main purpose of the project is to compare the efficiency of the models, and my hypothesis is that the tracking solar panel model with the reflector module will generate more power than the other models.

Methods

For my procedure, I placed each model outside in the sunlight and used a Multimeter to measure voltage and current outputs. I used a laptop to do my programming and used a pen and paper to record my results.

Results

The readings were taken at 5 different time points from 9 am to 5 pm on multiple days and put into a table format. The x-axis of both graphs, which is the independent variable is the Time Intervals. The y axis which is the dependent variable is voltage for the left side graph and current for the right-side graph. These graphs show the average volts, current, and watts produced by each model throughout the day. The table shows the percentage change in the models compared to the static model. The tracking solar panel + reflector module is 5% more efficient in generating voltage, 173% more efficient in generating current, and 188% more efficient in generating watts compared to the static model. Next, I wanted to know how to use this information in a real-world application. I used a 2000 mAh Rechargeable battery as a typical household rechargeable battery. Based on the equation from the internet I calculated the amount of time required to charge this battery. The calculation is for 80% efficiency of a regular charger. As you can see, the flat sp model required about 11h, the flat sp+ref model required about 16h, the tracking model required about 6.5h and the tracker sp+ref model only required about 4h.

Discussion,

As you can see from both graphs on slide 7, during the day, a similar trend is visible that during the time frame of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. all models increased their power generation. The main reason for this is that the sun is at its highest point during this time frame. When I conducted a statistical analysis, it showed that the Tracking SP Model + the Reflector module is more statistically efficient than all of the other models. In conclusion, my hypothesis proved to be true, the tracking model with the reflector module generated the maximum power output. It generated the greatest amount of voltage and current output throughout all of the models. On average the tracking model with the reflector module generated 6.2 volts and 600 milliamps per time interval and required the least amount of time to fully charge one rechargeable battery compared to the other models.

References,

These are my references on slide 11.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my parents for their help and financial support in my project. Additionally, I would like to thank my teachers and the school for their guidance and the opportunity to participate in this event.

Hello. My name is Shreyas Ghare and I live in Louisville Kentucky. I am in the Math Science Technology Program at DuPont Manual High School.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, many people are still working from home. This on one hand has reduced air pollution but on the other hand, has increased the electricity consumption and energy bills per household.

Now you might be wondering why we should care how our electricity is being produced? Well, in the United States, 63 percent of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels which include coal and natural gas.

Now, this process creates the electricity that we use, but it also has devastating consequences on our planet. This process pollutes the air, land, and water which we need to survive. These consequences impact our planet, but also impact our lives and the lives of all plants and animals on Earth as well as future generations to come.

This made me think about renewable energy sources such as wind energy, solar energy, and hydroelectricity. These renewable energy sources would be able to produce electricity through safe and clean methods rather than pollution. In my opinion, solar energy was the most interesting but also included possibilities for improvement. This idea led me to the development of my models.

Thank You.

This is the Tracker Model. Since it is a Dual-Axis model it can rotate horizontally and vertically. As you can see, whenever the light moves vertically, the tracking model uses the servo motors to make the solar panel always face the light. As the light moves to a new position horizontally the Tracking model also turns to face towards the light. In this demonstration I have used a flashlight, I needed to use a flashlight in order to show the movement of the tracker model. With the sun, there wouldn’t be any movement because the tracker would point to the sun and take a long time to move due to the sun’s slow movement(Earth's slow rotation but the sun's visual path along the sky).