Solar Array Display Study

Our solar panels have been installed and are generating power!

I took a group of students to observe the display today. We ran our first two experiments and could almost immediately observe a reduction in power consumption when computers were turned off.

This picture shows a group of students by the display.




The main display is illustrated in this image. The dial shows the amount of power that is being generated. This changes throughout the day and is directly related to the amount of radiation that hits the panels. The ration is also displayed to the left of the main display.

This display illustrates the three banks of solar panels. Each bank operates at roughly the same. However, if one bank were to do out, it would be evident on this display. This information could be used an in initial step in trouble shooting the array.

This image illustrates the large scale units for the building analysis. Ultimately, this will provide compiled data, which will help us identify long term trends and whether individual days are outliars.

This display shows our current energy consumption. This display might be the most important because it is the measured element we can control. Each of the circuits on the main fuse box is listed in this display, which allows us to observe, in almost real time, the load on a particular circuit. Thus, when we turned the library computers off, we saw a from from around 7 to 3 KWatts load on that circuit. The bank of lights in the lobby also produced a drop when they were turned off, but it was only .1 KWatts.

We will be working more and more with the array in the coming months. I am optimistic that an 8th grade student will take on the analysis as an exit goal.