It's been a long time since we did one, and to be honest we almost forgot, but now it's time to use the 2000 mirrors that I have been hiding.

Group 4 Project 2022

The Solar farm

Background

You are going to explore  3 ways that energy from the sun can be used on Earth, using it to heat water directly, converting it to electrical energy and using it to grow plants that can be used as fuel.

The mission

Your mission is to design a solar farm covering 1000m2 situated on a floating platform in the fjord here in Flekke that will collect as much energy as possible from 11:45 to 12:15 on June 21st  2023.

You are going to build a 1:100 scale model that has 3 elements.

1.     An array of mirrors that focus the light onto a central container ( a Nespresso Capsule) of water. Note: the used capsules have holes in them, these have been filled with silicon sealer.

2.     An array of photovoltaic cells.

3.     Plants, these could be trees, bushes, grass or algae.

You have a 31 cm x 31 cm base plate and a box of materials and tools. The base plate has an arrow indicating which direction north will be when floating in the fjord.

Each team of 6 includes students who take biology, chemistry and physics. Taking these subjects has given you different knowledge and skills that can be used in the design of the solar farm but this does not mean that only biology students can work on the utilisation of plants or that only physics students know that mirrors reflect light. You are a team, work together to solve the problems.

Tasks

1.     Using the internet find out the position of the sun next June at 12:00. (Azimuth and elevation).

2.     Decide on how to utilise the area of the floating solar farm.

3.     Build an array of mirrors to focus the sun onto the water container positioned in a tower.

4.     Using the method found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZK7niUtvjI construct as many photovoltaic cell as possible, position them on the base plate and connect them so the voltage is maximum.

5.     Do some research on the way plants convert light into material that can be burnt or eaten and plan how these could be  grown on the platform. Make model plants and install them on the base plate. These models should have leaves that are similar to the real plant but do not have to be the correct scale (grasses and algaes can be represented by areas or tanks made of green paper). Estimate the area of green and write it on your model. Label each area of plant with plant name.

The competition

During the afternoon each group will take their model to the Høegh where it will be put under a light positioned at the same angle as the sun for 30 minutes. You will be scored on voltage, temp change, leaf area and aesthetics. (Voltsx10 + degrees + leaf area/10 + aesthetic score out of 5)

Clearing up

Before you leave take apart your model. Remove glue from the mirrors. Put all paper and card into paper recycling and the photodiodes and Nespresso capsules in the trash.

Materials

1 chipboard base

200 mirrors

1 laser pointer

1 pack of straws

10 sheets green of paper

8 connecting wires

14 croc clips

1 voltmeter

12 microscope slides

1pc copper gauze

1pc graphene

1pc Al foil

1 paper hand towel

Salt

Rubber bands

1 nespresso capsule

1 thermometer

2 paper glue sticks

10 glue gun sticks

1 glue gun

2 pr scissors

1 roll of tape