13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence

I always thought nature and trees especially did most things to phi 1.618 ratio. Same all over our body too. Can find it everywhere when you look.

I'm no mathematician though lol. I failed hard at it but I can understand his tree design will have a higher average power than the flat array due to alignment. Initially I assumed he had developed a new substrate stucture to improve efficiency (which is where they should be focusing IMO).

Good stuff either way just don't think it's such an amazingly awesome design as it's put forth.

reply to post by wavemaker


Has anyone heard about the patriot act restricting the efficiency of solar panels? I can't remember the documentary I saw it in. It may have been collapse. But if a person tries to patent a solar cell that is more than like 30% efficient or something the patent is seized by the department of defense because the existence of such a devise on the open market would be threat to national security. If anyone knows what I am talking about please chime in.

Originally posted by CCLLCCLL
reply to post by wavemaker

 

Has anyone heard about the patriot act restricting the efficiency of solar panels? I can't remember the documentary I saw it in. It may have been collapse. But if a person tries to patent a solar cell that is more than like 30% efficient or something the patent is seized by the department of defense because the existence of such a devise on the open market would be threat to national security. If anyone knows what I am talking about please chime in.

I never heard such a rule but that is a weird rule. But why exactly is an efficient solar panel a threat to national security?

It goes without saying that an actively adjusted flat panel is going to be more efficient. But, there is one issue with adjusting the flat panel periodically: maintenance. If a technician adjusts the panel twice a year, or the panel is adjusted automatically by servos, there is a mechanical maintenance issue. If the solar panel system is located at a very remote site, accessing the site could be problematic. So a solar array that is properly adjusted all year long would require very little maintenance or adjustment.

With respect to the different number of Solar Cells apparent in the picture, I think someone noticed earlier in the thread that there are another 10 cells on the back of the cardboard. That would make the number of cells the same. For his tests, I don't know whether he unfolded the cardboard so they are all pointing the same direction or not. However, one of the real issues in these tests is the actual aggregate amount of active surface area the solar cells provide for the different test scenarios. It appears that the young man has used aftermarket solar cell chips. That's a lot cheaper route than buying new individual cells. So, give him another "A" for an economically efficient build. But that makes an apples to apples comparison impossible.

The idea of using the Fibonacci sequence is to distribute the cells such that at any moment at least some set of the solar cells is in the most advantageous position to receive the sunlight at an angle that will generate the greatest amount of power.

Given that the amount of energy that can be generated from a solar cell is directly related to its angle with respect to the sun, if that relationship is linear, then there would be no additional efficiency gained by using the solar array "tree" over a static solar array panel. In fact it would probably be less efficient. However, that relationship is nonlinear and the amount of power generated by the solar cell falls off quickly with an increasing incident angle. This webpage provides a formula that indicates that the solar array power varies as a constant raised to the power of the secant of the sun's incident angle with respect to the solar array. So, at certain times of the day, a few properly oriented "tree" solar cells could potentially provide more power than an entire array of fixed solar cells.

It would be interesting to actually run a test where the "tree" branch solar cells are oriented in a direction optimized for a specific latitude. However, unlike the young man's experiment, such tests would have to run under tighter controls with more expensive components. For comparison, the test would also have a static array and sun-tracking array scenarios. The test would have to run for a year and individual power measurements would be taken at some interval that would provide sufficient granularity to determine how efficient the various configurations were at any specific time of day and year. The panels would have to be cleaned periodically to remove that variable from the experiment. Of course this could also be computer modeled relatively easily (for someone with a lot of extra time on their hands.)

I would really like to see his test methodology and designs. It would be interesting to try to reproduce his results and see if there are improvements that can be made to his initial design to further improve efficiency.

So, I think the young man is onto something. At the very least it makes us think about new approaches to solving difficult problems. I highly commend him for his efforts!

Double post

Nice find there then Gives me an idea to start my own experiment.. LOL

S&F OP

Originally posted by primus2012
reply to post by newcovenant

 

You don't have to be a social democrat to want to ensure our kids' futures. I'm a conservative and think that if the government kept their noses out of education, that our kids would stand a better chance. Socialistic education does not foster an environment for individual achievement and advancement. It does however promote the "it's not fair" attitude if someone seems to be lagging behind or even getting ahead. I'm surprised it hasn't reached the point yet where A students are forced to give up part of their grade so that the C students can claim a B. That's socialism in a nut-shell.

Of course you don't have to be a social democrat to want to ensure our kids futures!
(but to actually put your money where your mouth is - it would be helpful)

I am waiting for the GOP to get rid of Headstart.
We keep having to fight to keep it on the table though it's proved one of the most cost effective programs. This is not illustrative of long range planning and it doesn't offer any insurance for the future.

And speaking of education ...Do you believe in evolution?

What's funny is I was raised a Christian bussed from Public School where I learned evolution to Church School where I learned creation. Never did any of us feel these two were mutually exclusive. Why all of a sudden is there a war on evolution? Creationism should be taught in Church. That is what Church is for teaching religion, not the public schools. The movement to replace evolution with creationism in schools makes as much sense as a book burning.

This is a little more than a nutshell but here is my take on it...
Socialism considers the society first and the individual second.
Democracy considers the individual first and the society second.
Republic considers Corporations first and the individual and society 2nd and 3rd.
Also a Republic (and Conservatism) is based on ancient Roman Law - actually 2 different sets of laws: One for royalty and the other for plebeians, commoners and slaves.

Which of these systems does it feel like we have in effect today?
I did not ask what system is in effect since you only know what you are told.
What system does it feel like we have today?
Though the laws were eventually broadened to encompass everyone...not a great deal of change ever really took place.

O yeah great; let's load all the trees everywhere with solar panels! Should look fun next to the fields filled with wind turbines! Or let's alternate fields with the turbines with fields filled with artificial solar panel trees!

Originally posted by newcovenant

Originally posted by primus2012
reply to post by newcovenant

 

You don't have to be a social democrat to want to ensure our kids' futures. I'm a conservative and think that if the government kept their noses out of education, that our kids would stand a better chance. Socialistic education does not foster an environment for individual achievement and advancement. It does however promote the "it's not fair" attitude if someone seems to be lagging behind or even getting ahead. I'm surprised it hasn't reached the point yet where A students are forced to give up part of their grade so that the C students can claim a B. That's socialism in a nut-shell.

Of course you don't have to be a social democrat to want to ensure our kids futures!
(but to actually put your money where your mouth is - it would be helpful)

I am waiting for the GOP to get rid of Headstart.
We keep having to fight to keep it on the table though it's proved one of the most cost effective programs. This is not illustrative of long range planning and it doesn't offer any insurance for the future.

And speaking of education ...Do you believe in evolution?

What's funny is I was raised a Christian bussed from Public School where I learned evolution to Church School where I learned creation. Never did any of us feel these two were mutually exclusive. Why all of a sudden is there a war on evolution? Creationism should be taught in Church. That is what Church is for teaching religion, not the public schools. The movement to replace evolution with creationism in schools makes as much sense as a book burning.

This is a little more than a nutshell but here is my take on it...
Socialism considers the society first and the individual second.
Democracy considers the individual first and the society second.
Republic considers Corporations first and the individual and society 2nd and 3rd.
Also a Republic (and Conservatism) is based on ancient Roman Law - actually 2 different sets of laws: One for royalty and the other for plebeians, commoners and slaves.

Which of these systems does it feel like we have in effect today?
I did not ask what system is in effect since you only know what you are told.
What system does it feel like we have today?
Though the laws were eventually broadened to encompass everyone...not a great deal of change ever really took place.

edit on 20-8-2011 by newcovenant because: (no reason given)

Uh you're wrong, pure democracy is the majority first, minority second. A constitutional republic is more like defending individuals, even if the mob wants to lynch them.

reply to post by 547000

Uh you're wrong, pure democracy is the majority first, minority second. A constitutional republic is more like defending individuals, even if the mob wants to lynch them.

That first part is correct but what you are calling a Constitutional Republic... did lynch people.
Our Constitution is so the grossly unbalanced laws of England were not reiterated here lock stock and barrel. But this two party system we have is 2 parties all right,
the rich and the poor, and we have a different set of laws and penalties applied for each.
We see it here all the time and we wonder why it is, and how can it be?

While collar crime vs ghetto crime. Stealing is OK if you are rich and it affects masses of peoples pensions funds and retirement accounts, stuff like that. It is not OK to be poor and steal a loaf of bread to eat. You will land in jail. It is crack versus coc aine. You don't have to be a genius to see it or figure it out.

reply to post by newcovenant


What's your solution for this then? Democracy also leads to much evil.

Originally posted by 547000
reply to post by newcovenant

 

What's your solution for this then? Democracy also leads to much evil.

A good question and you are right too.
I think we need to back track and see where we went off the rails.
I hope what we can do is see that our children have the best possible education and maybe their new and fresh ideas can pull us out of the mess we have created for ourselves. They are our only hope for the future. Our tired, old ideas and even some of our new ones have got us here. We need to start by identifying and agreeing on every extreme to the left and to the right. Leave the middle ground untouched but what bothers us most on either side those things we CAN all agree on..do them. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Originally posted by CCLLCCLL
reply to post by wavemaker

 

Has anyone heard about the patriot act restricting the efficiency of solar panels? I can't remember the documentary I saw it in. It may have been collapse. But if a person tries to patent a solar cell that is more than like 30% efficient or something the patent is seized by the department of defense because the existence of such a devise on the open market would be threat to national security. If anyone knows what I am talking about please chime in.

ya know at first i thought this was really dumb, but i figured id fact check before dismissing it, and it turns out that its correct as of 1971 photovoltiacs have been subject to patent restrictions if efficiency is greater than 20%.

relevant reading: invention secrecy act of 1951 ,1971 list

Originally posted by Cryptonomicon
I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but that kid's design is flawed. The reason the "tree" did better was because it has twice as many PV solar cells. Just look at this picture: aidan_large_08.jpg

The flat panel has 10 PV cells, and the Tree has 20.

The kid should get the Al Gore award for fake Science.

edit on 8/19/2011 by Cryptonomicon because: (no reason given)

Idiot... Al Gore is actually quite accurate with what he's stated, namely in his global warming documentary. If you seriously think it's loaded with errors, you've been sadly indoctrinated and mislead...

The beauty of being young is having a more naive view on the world

You can look at something for what it is, creating something just as this kid did without the weight of bias and what others think holding you back

Quite inspiring to see a young achievement as this

wasnt there a design that increased it 300 times

hasnt got a link to that cuz i never heard from itm again
i wonder why

I create free energy when i fart!!

Looking at all the "WoW Nature is Amazing" posts make me think how many of you actually learned about photosynthesis efficiency.

Only 3% of light that reaches the chloroplast is absorbed.

That amount isn't bad, and it's higher than most synthetic processes, but it is no were near "WOW."

reply to post by newcovenant


Since you went off topic, I can't help but to reply. Being a social democrat does not make you more compassionate than anyone else. In fact, all the goody goody ideas of the socialist democrats have hurt the young people. As a conservative independent, I believe it's personal responsibility and accountability that create a well rounded child who can look to being the best they can be.

There is nothing new here. The reason for the increase is simply because the flat array cannot get all of the sunshine. But the tree one can, so it's positioning, not biochemistry that matters.