Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
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Greetings. I teach a 5/6 grade class. I want to teach my kids about solar power. I'm looking for some sort of photovoltaic setup that will demonstrate some of its potential. There's a foundation in our district that gives teachers grants of up to $1000, so that's the budget I'm looking at. Our classroom has an electric pencil sharpener, a dorm-size refrigerator, a microwave oven, a drip coffee maker, and a desk lamp on my desk, which I use to work when the lights are out for showing videos. The overhead lighting is 4-foot flourescent tubes, and I don't think I'll be allowed to mess with them (aside from turning them on or off.) We have 4 Compaq computers, but again, I don't think our IT people will allow me to mess with them.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Comments
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Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
bbt,
unfortunately that $1000 will not go very far for photovoltaic (pv) applications. even if your budget was larger you would need a large closeby area outside to mount the pvs. moreover, you don't want them to be accessed easy enough that they could be easy to steal. it may be possible for you to demonstrate the general principles on a smaller scale. you won't be grid-tied as that is for bigger budget systems so that takes some cost out of the equation, but there may be provision for further available monies depending on your location. check your location on www.dsireusa.org some items are sensitive to modified sinewave inverters such as some chargers, wall worts (wall adaptors), and anything with an electric motor, but you don't have to have 120vac for everything so if you can have 12v items to run on this, this greatly reduces costs even more as you will eliminate the inverter's needs.
the pv costs can be great and a solar controller (regulator) and a battery will be needed to run most things. here is the link to more info and the store for the forum's host northern arizona wind & sun.
http://www.solar-electric.com/
there you can see the costs involved just getting together a fairly basic system. i did not mention some of the other items needed such as the pv mounts, the wiring, fuses or breakers, disconnects if applicable, combiners if applicable, and an ammeter and voltmeter (some controllers have this built in) to show voltage relationships at various stages and that a charge or load current is flowing depending on its placement in the general circuit. if you have a electrical or electronics class in the school or the school district, you may wish to consult with those teachers as well on this subject depending on how far you'll go with it and to have somebody right there with electrical knowledge. i hope i'm not overlooking anything, but i'm quite sure if i do that others will have my back. here is an outline of the simplest system in a simple form:
mounted pv(s)>wiring>combiner + fuses or breakers and disconnects>solar controller>wiring>fuses or breakers>deep cycle battery(s)>fuses or breakers and disconnect>wiring>to either the 12vdc loads or the inverter to run 120vac loads.
i do recommend reading up in this forum for your own education on the subject particulars, but you will not learn all aspects in time for class to begin so this may need to be sped up somewhat and have somebody with electrical knowledge around to help with some particulars in order to avoid some time consuming back and forth correspondance or oversights as we can't see what you see.
i hope this gets you started at least in a general sense with more particulars to come after your further questions and feedback to us for sure. -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
As a kid, I always liked things that moved...
A "solar house" science kit
Fuel Cell Car science kit
Some of the more "hands on" types would include a solar oven made from cardboard and aluminum foil.
Homemade Pizza Box solar oven
There are "solar showers" which are black plastic bags laid out in the sun to warm, then hung up for a hot shower while camping.
Wood burning/fire starting with large magnifying glasses.
I always have been amazed by Stirling engines--and eventhough I am an engineer--have a difficult time believing that the can even run... But, Stirling engines are one of the new/old technologies that may be used in new solar projects. (SCE is working to develop 25 kW Stirling powered generators mounted on large parabolic reflectors). So, for something that kids of today have never seen (of course, they probably have never seen a steam engine either)--there are models like these (I know nothing about this vendor) around--scroll down, and you will see a ~1/2 watt Stirling engine mounted in a parabolic reflector.- August 9, 2005 - Major New Solar Energy Project Announced By Southern California Edison and Stirling Energy Systems, Inc.
A lot of this depends on how/what you want to teach... You can go with the basic electricity, then show ways of generating it (fuel, hydro, solar, etc.)... You can show that solar comes in many forms (biodigesters->methane, bio-diesel, alcohol, thermal, electrical).
As Niel has said, solar PV panels and systems are not cheap--and if they are running correctly, not very exciting (solar panel in sun charging a storage battery). Nothing moving, smoking, sparking, or making noise.
Probably, most kids have no idea about electrical units (volts, amps, watts, horse power, etc.). Setting up a small hand or petal generator (some places setup demos in museums and moving exhibits with human powered generators) and a 100 watt light bulb for the kids to operate would be an eye opener (how much work it takes to run a 100 watt bulb and to run it for 1 hour we pay the electric company $0.01). If you can swing buying a used or "second" ~170 watt solar panel and connect a 100 watt bulb to it--no work, lots of power, no moving parts.
You can go on and use the power from the solar cell (or a kid winding a generator) to run a electrolysis cell (hydrogen/oxygen from water), charge a battery, run a fan, have kids build their own motors, use meters to measure volts and current, calculate power. Try 12 volt lights, 120 volt lights, etc...
Smaller cells can run a little transistor radio, small lights, motors, and such (less money).
Where do you want to go from here?
-BillNear San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
you're quite right bill as there are other ways to collect solar energy and the thermal panels they can see results with too. even a coffee can painted flat black in the sun will heat water quite well and thermometers are cheap, but the infrared thermometers are really easy to use and avoids any possible burns. many do say the sun is in the winds and waters as it is their initial driving force, but we do talk of it as a different source only because of collecting that energy is radically different enough to warrant it.
you did spark a few school memories for me as my science teacher in jr. high did have a homemade hand generator. i remember cranking it to keep a 60w bulb lit. it's hard work. even the physical therapy i did (and still need to do excepting travel and cost woes) had a machine that was hand cranked and it contained a generator and i would suppose a resistive load inside and gave a digital readout in watts of the power produced. turning that thing for 8 minutes while maintaining 100w or better is alot tougher than many people think. i wish i had that machine as my battery would be the new load for it and give me more incentive for a therapeutic workout.8) -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
BBT,
Sounds like an interesting project! I seem to recall similar efforts in local classrooms, but I can’t remember exactly what, where, or when.
To effectively demonstrate a photovoltaic energy generator that converts solar energy into electrical energy, you’ll probable need these basic components:
1) A “12 V” PV module (~125 W STC)
2) A solar charge controller (12 V x 10 A)
3) A storage battery (12 V x ~120 Ah)
4) A sine wave inverter (~125 W; converts DC power to AC power)
5) Miscellaneous hardware, wiring, and safety components
Anyway, I think your potential $1,000 budget would give you plenty with which to work. You should be able to build a system that could operate the pencil sharpener, some compact fluorescent lamps (CFL’s), a laptop computer, and /or some other light loads. I suspect a system that could operate the fridge, microwave, or coffee maker would bust your budget.
Note that the typical 12 V lead-acid battery used in such systems is potentially dangerous. However, a sealed lead-acid battery (SLA; AGM or gel) like those used on electric wheelchairs should be OK if handled and stored properly.
Please let us know if you’d like more details.
HTH,
Jim / crewzer -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
I gave a presentation in a local elementary school this May.
A lot of the material was just getting the students acquainted with energy in general. That included "What can you do with 1 kWh?" (power your iPod for 2 months, ride 100 miles on an electric bicycle, ...), "How much power is there in sunlight (about 1 kW per square meter, bright sunlight), "How much does 1 kWh cost from the power company?" (fill in your number, the cheapness is likely to surprise them).
I shared a little of how our family installed our own photovoltaics (depending on your community, you might find someone nearby who did this. Most owners are eager to talk about their systems.)
I also brought in a full-size photovoltaic panel intended for grid tie. I had connected a 24-volt fan to it, so they could see the effect on fan speed if they shaded the panel. It also sparked their imagination that this one panel would be enough to make an electric bicycle with unlimited range, "you could go all the way to the other coast, as long as the sun was shining". Panels are expensive, but you could find a small 3-watt or 10-watt panel to do a demonstration, and just show pictures of larger ones.
Others have already mentioned solar heating examples. A fun thing to do might be to bake soft cookies in a solar oven.
You might even work in electrolysis of water somehow. -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?A fun thing to do might be to bake soft cookies in a solar oven.
You might even work in electrolysis of water somehow.
ohhhh... both of those sound pretty dangerous. What if peanuts were used in the oven before, somebody allergic might get sick.
electrolysis - that might make something explode from all that hydrogen.
ARGHH students might learn something, inadvertently. Be very careful - notes to parents and such - Billy caught the solar bug today at school, and wants a solar power scooter!
So if you are feeling really lucky, you might look at this as a project, but you have to get the wood shop involved to do some wood work.
Simple Idea, take a PV panel, 12V battery, and a moving dolly. Strap them all together, hang a sinewave inverter on it somewhere, and park in the sun for a couple of days.
http://tinyurl.com/2nytcb : solar monolith photo
http://www.ae-zone.org/Designs/monolith/monolith.html DIY instructions involving pointy screws, and Power Tools Should be less than $500
( I used a UniSolar 64 watt semi-flexible panel http://www.uni-solar.com/interior.asp?id=100 )
Now linked to my facebook page, which is open access to this album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074858&id=1196643274&l=7e66e96c3cPowerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister , -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
BBT,
It might be worth buying and downloading issue #097 from Home Power magazine (www.homepower.com). In the "Recipe for Independence" article on page 88, Mr. Robbins describes his small system and his classroom demos.
HTH,
Jim / crewzer -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
I've always felt that the work of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), is about the best application of PV technology I can imagine. SELF is a non-profit charitable organization founded to promote, develop, and facilitate solar rural electrification and energy self-sufficiency in developing countries. A small system, perhaps using the components listed in Jim's response above, would roughly simulate the kind of system SELF installs in rural homes. You could explain how such a system improves health, safety, and the overall quality of life, especially for the children, where these systems are installed. That's what I would do anyway. For more info about SELF: www.self.org
John -
Re: Advice for Solar Classroom Project?
How about a "this or that" demonstration? Maybe set up a small water pump (use one of those battery powered indoor meditation fountain pumps), a light bulb, and maybe a small millstone or some other work piece. The three items should be easily managed by a very small, project sized solar panel. Also set up a very small traditional power system, maybe a small wood fired boiler that will drive a small project-sized generator, that is strong enough to run these things. The whole thing would fit on a desk in a display box. You could fire up the boiler and show how traditional power is made, and let the kids smell the smoke (maybe use some of that wood that has a nasty smell to it), put a filter over the smoke stack to collect a sample of what the wood fired boiler is emitting, and show pictures of boiler explosions, and show the ash that is left over after the fuel is burned. You could also set up a small hydro or maybe a small wind generation setup, and show how a combination of wind, sun and hydro can provide clean power as opposed to the polluting sources. This would show in real life the stark differences between clean and dirty energy, in a way the little buggers can understand. It's one thing to talk about it, quite another to see a clean filter get dirty and see the debris that remains. Using miniature, project sized components would likely get the whole thing in under 1000 bucks. Best of all, a PV panel can run off the light from a standard flourescent light bulb, so you'd not need to worry about being near the sun. Might have to get a larger panel than you'd need to actually make it work in sunlight, but it'll work.
EDIT - Found another possibility at this site on evacuated tubes. The last item on that page is a test setup for 150 bucks, designed for salesmen to demonstrate how evac tubes work. Would also work for a classroom, but this one would require being outside to work, unless you could somehow simulate actual sunlight in the classroom. Don't know if a light bulb would work on this one or not.
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