solar power

After many failed initial attempts at using the solar panel to power a number of objects, I realized the output was too low to power even a tiny LED. After experimenting with a few other solar panels, I realized I had the wiring correct because the larger panel would illuminate the bulb, but the small panel did not. So I combined the larger and smaller panel to create a circuit with enough energy to power a low voltage object. I first tried a small mp3 player that ran on one AAA battery, but no music played. There should have been enough energy output in the panels combined, so I imagine I wired it incorrectly. Then I tried something simpler. I attached a small fan I bought from Ax-man to the circuit. At first nothing happened, but then the sunlight came out from behind thin clouds and I gave it a couple spins manually. Then it kept spinning for about 30 seconds with the power supplied by the solar panels and it stopped spinning as the sun went behind clouds again. So even three panels combined need direct sunlight to supply power. My idea for application of this solar fan is to, on the small scale, use it in vehicles as an alternative to air conditioning and reduce greenhouse gases emitted by current vehicles. Small steps like this are something consumers can grasp and embrace without being overwhelmed. 

Combining Techniques: Solar into Water

Dan, Jake, and Laura

As hard as we may try, it will take some tweating with this one. However showing small signs of progress froma ll angles suggests that tightening all the small experiements to create a large one will actually be better to incorporate a variety of alternative energy sources. The experiment is as follows: How do you get Solar Energy to become purified water. It's a bold one. But shopping around 'Axeman' gave Jake, Dan and Myself the inspiration of many alternative sources.

First we already know a couple different ways that definitely work to purify water. The hankerchief one seemed to work best. Now to get solar energy to purify the water for us could be a great combination of our discovered sources. We decided that the best way to make the initial connection between the 2 power sources would be to use the easiest of the old and go from there. We know that boiling water turns it into steam, and allows the water to purify via heat. We also know that if you hook up solar power to either a generator or rechargable batteries, that it generates electrical power.

By revamping rechargable batteries with the solar panels, the small amount of energy has a chance to store, and then be used for a larger solution. The batteries are then attached to a conductor-wrapped heat plate. We found this to work on a beyond pathetic scale. This is due to everything from the wire-connecting job, to the ill-proportioned scale of devices. But the possibilities are endless from a power source that's well-built and scaled to fit the project. In theory the batteries heat the plate which on a large scale, could become an ongoing, powerful heat source. This makes the boiling experiment possible.

Solar: The Experiment

THE SOLAR PROJECT:

September 7, 2008
The basis of solar power in my experimental case is this: why would we need to conserve electricity? Well now that I know I’ll share it. Electricity is produced via coal or oil, both of which produce many toxic chemicals that deplete our environment, (Beck). The idea with making anything sustainable is to not emit anything harmful into the environment, waste no resources, and recycle any resources used. With this in mind the goal for solar power in my experiment is to create battery power from the sun. This will save electricity because rechargeable batteries, one step in the right direction, need to be recharged using electricity. I want to use less of it dammit! Therefore, the experiment in progress is to deplete my purchased rechargeable batteries, and attempt to recharge them using a small solar panel containing a positive and negative wire.
What this has the potential to do is give me a model to demonstrate the power of this practice on a much larger scale. This scale could then be put into use for the developing sustainability practices of the continent I am studying; Africa (sub-Saharan).

Product Design

Here are some links to my weekly reports on product design. If you click each week they should open up, it may be slow, but be patient. Im still planning on printing off a set of books for the year. It will be more of documentation of the year. I cant decided between a box-set of just one long book with chapters. 

Week 1 Knoll

Week 2 Water Bottles

Week 3 Chrome Bags

RobotLove

And robot love is a document Lauren Baier and I created for our solar collector. We had some troubles, but had fun with it. So check it out.