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

Originally posted by Akasirus

Originally posted by CriticalCK

Hm, one could make solar panels that require almost no energy to track the sun. Just build the tracking device like old mechanic big watches.
K, someone go entrepeneur this idea, i wont do it anyway.

These would require the same amount of energy to run as an electrical motor, not counting any conversion loss. The only difference is it is you supplying the power, by winding the mechanism. The amount of energy it takes to reposition a solar array at various intervals throughout the day is negligible anyways, and more than offset by the increased efficiency of the solar array.

ah no, i didnt mean those with winding mechanism. i thought of a pendular that swings back and forth in a 24 hours cycle. could also be something else than a pendular, like a system of springs. of course it would still lose energy to friction, but looking at mechanical swiss wrist watches this energyloss could be minimized.
however as you said the energy required to do this with electrical motors is neglibible. so the idea wont be worth much in practice.

Ok - nobody has done this yet...

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Originally posted by TravisT
I don't get it. The flat panel test has 10 solar panels, while the tree has around 17-18 from what I can count. Of course it's going to get more energy, cause it has an extra 7-8 solar panels attached to it.

Am I missing something here?

edit on 19-8-2011 by TravisT because: (no reason given)

You're actually one of the few of us that are getting it. Everyone else is getting it wrong, mostly due to not understanding solar panel theory. Not only are there more panels, but the kids understandings of theory and his tests are flawed.

I'm happy for the kid, hes experimenting. Hes not on to anything though.

Me and the Fibonacci sequence are tight. When I have a panic attack and I don't have my meds, I like to figure the Fibonacci number sequence out as far as I can until I calm down.

That is the greatest sequence ever.

reply to post by TravisT

You aren't missing anything. The kid is attributing his "success" to his romantic "insight" into the Fibonacci sequence, when really it's just because he doubled up the amount of solar cells.

If the kid had made the number of PV cells the same, then it would probably be a wash, and he would get a B+ on his science fair project (the report of which was most OBVIOUSLY *not* written by a 13 year old, most likely his parents).

Originally posted by wavemaker
What the boy copied was that of a tree with lots of branches. Maybe he can also try the designs of the coconut tree and the banana tree. Less branches but bigger leaves. For his design, bigger curving solar panels.

This one is mine! I'm patenting this one!! get off!!

Originally posted by iNkGeEk
Me and the Fibonacci sequence are tight. When I have a panic attack and I don't have my meds, I like to figure the Fibonacci number sequence out as far as I can until I calm down.

That is the greatest sequence ever.

Very interesting, please lay down on the sofa and let us discuss these..."panic attacks", were you breast fed as an infant?

reply to post by coldkidc


I'll bite...

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if living trees designed using a mathematical formula doesn't convince you that the earth was created by God, then nothing will.

Originally posted by SpaceJockey1
reply to post by coldkidc

 

I'll bite...

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Ok.. Let's do it..


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I ran into Fibonacci again few weeks ago, it seems like the whole "Mass consciousness" thing could be true.

Also, what this kid is doing is really good. I wish I was into science like he was when I was 13. Congrats to the kid, it makes me feel like this is what we are supposed to be doing as a species, unraveling the mysteries of nature and reaping the benefits of that knowledge.

don't mean to play the role of cynic but you'll probably never hear about this again. how long do we have to hear solar is more expensive than oil? Big Oil's grip on technology stifles innovation that could get us off petroleum.

Living in SC for several years where the sun shines 99% of the time and having a faimly with five engineers in it my mind has thought how useful cars running on solar here would be. A car with solar panels on the roof, hood, and trunk would be the idea. The problem is the batteries in today's modern world are too big and can not store enough energy. Think how many batteries a golf cart has... four.

It is the batteries filled with lithium that need to be rethought. I think each area on the earth needs to be regionalized with its particular form of free clean renewable energy. The wind almost to hardly never blows here, but the sun shines 99%. Windy areas should run on wind power. Rainy areas should split water in to hydrogen. Sunny areas should go solar, and so on. I would love to be off polluting fossil feuls, and to never pay for gas or electric again.

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.

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)

hahah i was thinking the same thing, at first i thought the article was about him turning tree branches for energy but he just put lot of solar panel on metal tree branches of course it gonna gain more energy...duh

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by A por uvas

 

Kinda like a flower opening and closing also.

Good thinking. Better patent that idea before a 13 year old does.

Sorry, but if you follow the read more's in the article, the boy already patented it.

This is an excellent idea. It automatically got me thinking of how to try new things with my smaller panels.

I have 5 small 6 watt framed/glassed panels, I'm thinking of maybe using some PVC I have instead of metal and seeing what I can do with this design, maybe buy a couple more panels. They are ready to mount too. It's worth trying any ideas?

I would like to see us go past solar and wind and innovate ideas that utilize the zero-point fluctuations in the "vacuum" of space. It is not a regional standard for energy production, it is a universal standard .

Haha. There are a slew of inventors reading about this and having one of those beautiful "so simple it's hard" moments. Leafy trees teach us about absorbing light energy?

Duh!

Gj kid.

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)

This might explain something.

See I was wondering the entire time WHY his design did better. It doesn't make sense because the reason tree limbs and leaves grow out that way is just so they can get enough sunlight. So, if the panels are already getting enough, then what's to improve upon?

Speaking of, google did an experiment and found out how to get more juice: they cleaned them more often and noticed a significant improvement.

Besides that, we already know that tilting the panels depending on certain factors will also increase the power.

I am at a loss to explain what this kid did. What is the breakthrough? The article does as fantastic job of making no effort to explain how it technically does better. Show us the data and setups!

reply to post by wavemaker


Who is flagging this? This is incredibly stupid.