Solar Energy 2024

Today we took a trip to AIL Research and Princeton University to visit Dr. Eric Teitelbaum MFS class of 2008 and learn about his research on radiant heating, cooling, and heat pumps. He showed us a model of a heat pump system (shown above) and discussed how it works. The electronics in the system...

Today we built the solar charging circuit by connecting the solar panels in parallel so that the amperage output would increase. We then soldered the wires together and connected them to a buck converter. The buck converter will take the energy coming out of the solar panels and make sure it outputs to only...

Today we spent the first 30 minutes doing math to calculate the equation of a parabola so that its focus would be 18 inches above its vertex. We then spent four hours building a physical parabola one foot wide and almost six feet long out of plywood, 2 x 4s and mirror tiles. The...

Construction continued on the solar box ovens. Once they were complete, we learned about Arduino microprocessors. We are using the Arduinos to make a thermocouple circuit so we know the temperature inside our ovens. After a lot of difficulty trying to connect the Arduinos to a Windows computer, a Mac, and a Chromebook, the...