1/12 Solar Presentation #3

Nov. 17 Update

The goal of the 1/12th solar team is still and will always be to engineer a fully solarized system with functional and overhead track panels.  And with constant communication and weekly meetings, the small scale solar team has made sufficient progress since the second presentation.  For the most part, we have continued from our plans proposed in the last presentation.  However, some alterations have been made to better suit the project and to create more realistic goals.
In our last presentation, we stressed on manufacturing simple mounts with as minimum of components as possible.  The main reason we emphasised on this, is because we seek to create modular system that is simple to transport and can be assembled and disassembled easily and quickly.  We did however find that are presented mount designs had some problems.  The main problem we saw, was that the mounts would be difficult to reproduce and stay consistent with precision.  We are now designing new mounts that will best suit our requirements and preferences.
Secondly, we are manufacturing a manual solar tracker to test a solar panel.  We are constructing a "effortless" tracker so we can manually test different orientations and positions of a given panel.  With the data collected and aid from Ms. Munshi and Dr. Morki, we will be able distinguish the pros and cons of different installations.  With testing complete, we will decide which orientation and position we find most suitable.  When completing this decision voltage and current requirement, mounting, references, and testing data will all come into account.
We have also came into contact with MiaSole about the acquirement of additional solar panels.  We are talking with Cormac Wicklow (a MiaSole Contact), about the acquirement of solar panels.  Within the emails, we have also discussed the type and size that would best fit the 1/12 scale model.  In the presentation we discussed other companies we have contacted about the acquirement of solar panels.  However, after a few exchange in emails with some of the companies, we felt that MiaSole was are best option and wished to stay loyal to the company that has been severely generous with the Spartan SuperWay in the past.
Overall our project is coming along nicely and we are confident that we will meet all deadlines.

1/12 Solar Presentation #2

1/12 Solar Presentation #1

9/21 Gantt Chart

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BmefTcY6Mlu9jNf1ETESG5iEOismWhbP_ITnr5akkKM/edit#gid=0

Team Proposal for 2015-2016 Academic Year

Introduction

Currently our main source of energy is from fossil fuels.  Fossil fuels is by definition a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms; although it is originally a natural source, it is heavily processed and when burned creates a plethora of harmful side-effects. Despite being our main energy source, fossil fuels have many disadvantages which vary from environmental hazard, high prices, toxic to human health, and being non renewable. These are only some of the negatives that are involved with fossil fuels.  In spite of that, there are current viable energy sources that will prolong the earth’s environmental health such as wind, solar, and wave power. One of the most popular renewable energy source is solar. Solar is a great choice for many reason; it is renewable, sustainable, environmentally friendly, reduce cost,requires low maintenance, and is readily available across the world. That is where the Spartan Superway shines; while it will solve many transportation issues, it will also solve some of the power issues with modern public transit.

The goal of the Spartan Superway Solar Team in 2015 and 2016 is to fully conceptualize the power gathering array of the system. The Team will have two focus areas: Intermediate Scale Research and Implementation, and Small Scale Implementation.

Both teams will work closely for preliminary research and designing system components before fabricating their own respectively sized deliverables.

Small Scale Solar Team

The goal of the Small Scale Implementation Team is to create an operational solarized system that will power the 1/12th scale model. The final goal would be to power the model with solar energy in the highest capacity possible, and to supplement the remaining power needs using batteries to retain all functionality of the scale model. The Small Scale Team will aim for half solarized system is due to the low efficiency of our current solar panels. The current solar panel provided by Miasole are only able to offer 17% efficiency which is most likely not be enough to fully power the model.  Further research will be done on higher efficiency panels such as lab grade solar panels and “absolute black” solar panels which shown can produce as efficiency as high as 50% and 96% respectively. Without access to lab grade solar panels, the goal of a fully powered model is not possible. The communication with the power team will help us determine further design modifications to improve our efficient or harvesting of energy. Communication with the Intermediate Scale Solar Team will help determine the construction style of the newly implemented Small Scale Solar Power System. The combination of factors such as efficiency, cost, maintenance, placement, installation, and model systems will help us determine the best idea and will all be taken into account in research and  planning of the new system concept.

The Small Scale deliverable goal of a half operational solarized system, is to add a charging station. The charging station allows the harvested energy to be transferred onto the model sized bogie. We can assume that the charging station cannot instantly charge the batteries on the bogie but it is an attainable goal to not fully rely on batteries. According to last years project, the size of the solar panel provided by Miasole lack efficiency to provide enough energy. This time around, we aim to have multiple solar panels re-energize the batteries so it can recharge the model sized bogie.

Critical Path Scheduling

Milestones within this project will be: Research, Concept Creation, Concept Design, and Fabrication. Setting Fabrication aside which will be undertaken in Spring of 2016, that leaves Research and Conceptualization to be completed before the conclusion of Fall 2015.

To be ready for Fabrication in 2016, the following deadlines should be met:

• Research completed by mid October, 2015
• Concept Creation completed by November, 2015
• Concept Design finalized by mid November, 2015
• Fabrication Preparation completed by December, 2015

At this point this is a rough timeframe, but the Solar Team plans to be ready for fabrication by the end of Fall, 2015.

Budget

The estimated budget for the combined Solar Team will be in the neighborhood of $1,000. Further research, design, donations and unforeseen circumstances may necessitate this number be increased or decreased in the future.

Meet the Team!

Team Roster

Member	Pertinent Skills	Positions within Team
Ivan Servin	Creo, AutoCad, C++, Machining, light welding	Small Scale Solar Lead
Brian To	Arduino, welding, matlab, solidworks	Small Scale Solar Research Lead
Allan Wai	Solidworks, C++, Arduino, Python, Matlab, Machining	Small Scale Solar Fabrication Lead