Finding Fëanor

Project Overview

The primary drawback of solar panels as a commercially viable energy harvesting application is the high cost per energy harvested. Currently, the best consumer solar modules are able to achieve an efficiency of 24%, meaning that about 24% of incident solar radiation is converted to usable electrical energy. That figure is astounding if one examines previous maximum efficiency in consumer models throughout the technology's development.

This success aside, our group believes that the core issue of high cost per energy harvested is still not being addressed in a practical way, which is the motivation behind our project, Finding Fëanor. A portion of the inefficient energy conversion stems from the changing angle of incident sunlight with the respect to a given solar panel. The closer to 0˚ between the face of the solar panel and path of sunlight, the more optimum the collection is. The problem with current products on the market is that most are static panels that cannot change in response to the changing angle, driving their already low efficiency even lower.

Our solution is to build an Arduino-controlled system that allows for two degrees of freedom of rotation. This would allow a panel in almost any setting or application to be dynamically adjusted to the changing incident angle of light. While doing preliminary research, we came across a project almost identical in motivation and scope. We decided it would be beneficial to replicate this project before we start our own development so we can learn the process of controlling a motor. This will allow us to approach our own design ideas with expectations of what will and will not work.

This project is about proof of concept. With a limited budget ($150) we could not possibly replicate and solve the real problem, as this would entail a high-efficiency solar panel, which, even on our scale, is out of reach. However, there is still value in this project. After all, we believe the issue is the lack of angle-flexibility available in most consumer panels, not their efficiency. If we can achieve accurate response from our system, we will have accomplished our goal.

Team Members

• John Fordice
• Zach Pewitt
• Sam Donaldson
• Will Luer (TA)

Objectives

A successful project will require:

• 1. Replication of the project found on Hackster to see where it can be improved.
• 2. Implementation of phototransistors that allow an Arduino unit to calculate the incidence angle.
  • While the original project used photoresistors, ours will use phototransistors because of their greater sensitivity.
  • The photoresistor unit will be separate from the metal sheet which represents the solar panel, but it will be in a fixed plane with the sheet such that it experiences the same angle of incidence as the sheet, from a sufficiently distant enough light source.
  • The photoresistors will be in a pyramid array, exactly like the array from the hackster project.
• 3. A control algorithm for a double-step motor system based on data taken from the photoresistors and processed by the arduino.
• 4. Power to the system using a wall adapter.
• 5. (Stretch Goal) A scale-able design.
  • The same control algorithm and photo resistor arrangement should be able to work with components of a larger physical size.
  • The extra weight of larger frames and motors will not spoil the design
  • Stretch Goal: With larger size and more weight comes more power consumption. We would need to make sure that power consumption is less than the yeild of a typical consumer panel.

Challenges

Power supply

• Can handle load bearing of panel (more of a challenge in scale).
• Logistics- consuming less power than panel is creating theoretically.

Hardware

• 6"x6" metal sheets need to be light but stable.
• 360 degree rotation (stepwise).

Possible solutions

Power supply

• Theoretically drawing power from the solar panel attached would be ideal but we may try and implement a regular two prong wall plug for convenience and testing. We are also positive that an outlet power source will provide enough power for the tasks we will ask of it.

Hardware

• The ball joint we envision is similar to that of an old ball joint mouse for a computer.

Safety

• Mechanical safety should not be too much of an issue given the relatively small size of our design.Safety regarding moving parts should also not be an issue as this project will be designed to move slowly in order to get accurate readings on the light sensitive photo-resistors.

• Electrical safety may be a larger issue especially if the shell of our device is comprised mostly of metal. Electrical safety will be crucial because we will be utilizing wall plugs which provide a voltage relatively dangerous to humans.

Budget

• Arduino -From lab-
• ITEAD DUAL STEP MOTOR DRIVER SHIELD ($12 + $2.96 shipping)
• Phototransistors ($3.20 + $4.90 shipping)
• Resistors 10 kohm -From Lab-
• 42BYGHW208 stepper motor wire 34mm 12V/0.4A/2600G, CM Motor 2 phase 4 wire ($33.91 + $26.00 shipping)
• Wooden Platform -From Shop-
• Metal Frame to House Sheet (U-Shaped) -From Shop-

Total: $82.97

Gantt Chart