Topic: A Youngster's Bright Idea Is Something New Under the Sun

[Pandora]

Aidan Dwyer Took a Leaf from the Trees and Electrified International Debate

On a recent afternoon, Aidan and his parents admitted they were somewhat baffled by the attention for a project that began two years ago on a winter hiking trip through the Catskill Mountains.

Aidan, then 11, stared at the tree branches denuded of leaves and noticed they looked alike; he wondered why. Back home, his parents encouraged him to research the subject. Google searches uncovered that a mathematical concept called the Fibonacci number sequence underlies the structure of tree branches.

His parents had been hoping to install solar panels on their Long Island house, but their yard was too small and their roof wasn't suitable. There was, however, enough room for a tree. Perhaps, Aidan postulated, trees arranged their branches to improve the collection of sunlight. If he used the Fibonacci sequence to imitate that design with solar panels replacing leaves, maybe the structure could fit his family's limited space, look pretty—and power the house.

He did chores to earn the money to buy about $75 worth of materials. With help from his father—and after many mistakes—Aidan ended up with two models: a traditional flat-panel array and a tree-shaped solar collector designed to mimic the branch sequence of an oak tree. Over the course of months he compared measurements. To his delight, the tree structure's numbers were higher.

Exuberantly, he submitted the results to the Young Naturalist Awards, a national contest run by the American Museum of Natural History. Of 700 entries, his was picked as one of 12 winners.

"Then," Aidan said with a slight smile, "things got out of hand."

As the report went viral, attacked and championed in hundreds of comments, museum officials became worried. "We do think it's really important that information that we put forth is scientifically accurate," said Rosamond Kinzler, senior director of science education at the museum. They were also concerned for Aidan, she said.

Critics had a point: Aidan had recorded voltage, when he needed to calculate power. It is a serious flaw, explained Jan Kleissl, an assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University of California, San Diego.

Imagine a water pipe, he said. Voltage is equivalent to water pressure. Current is the size of the pipe. Power is equal to the flow of water out of the pipe, which depends on both variables.

Dr. Kleissl praised Aidan's work, but added that even if Aidan had measured the right variables, "I'm certain that he will not find that his arrangement is better," he said. "I think it's a romantic ideal that nature has many lessons for us, and there are a few cases where this is true, but in the majority of cases we could teach nature, in a way, how to be better, faster."

On a recent afternoon, Aidan showed a visitor his newest model, tweaked to respond to his critics: a towering seven-foot tree form adorned with solar panels and painted green. He is now measuring current and power. So far, he said, the tree continues to outperform the traditional panel. "I'm thinking that it could actually change the world."

[Weisshaupt]

Oh sure, post this now I have my array built..

. Solar Cells work better at lower temperatures.  They work better when they are at a 90 incidence to the light.  Trackers are expensive - most of the time is cheaper to just buy more panels if you want that extra bit of power.  Likewise, you can gain about 10% just by adjusting the angle of your array horizonally  4 times a year.  Point is, a normal fixed array  will have a maximum power point based on the time of day ( and time of year)  and its temperature.  If your array points in different directions,  you can collect sunlight on one panel in the morning, a second panel in afternoon, a third in the evening -- and micro inverter designs work well with that scenario.  However, when the panels are tied togehter, you really want performance  that is identical as possible.

By putting this on a tree structure, mostly likely you are allowing the panels better cooling, since you don't have a large black square area collecting heat.  Likewise, you have different orientations, so multiple maxium power points, not just one through the day-- but the real question is max power collection over the entire period, and this kid MIGHT be measuring that, but since he concentrates on Current I kind of doubt it.. Power (wattage)  is Current * Voltage,  but to compare performance you need power over time.

[Pandora]

Oh sure, post this now I have my array built..

So solly.  You and michelleo were whom I thought of when reading this, though.  Does that count for anything?

. Solar Cells work better at lower temperatures.  They work better when they are at a 90 incidence to the light.  Trackers are expensive - most of the time is cheaper to just buy more panels if you want that extra bit of power.  Likewise, you can gain about 10% just by adjusting the angle of your array horizonally  4 times a year.  Point is, a normal fixed array  will have a maximum power point based on the time of day ( and time of year)  and its temperature.  If your array points in different directions,  you can collect sunlight on one panel in the morning, a second panel in afternoon, a third in the evening -- and micro inverter designs work well with that scenario.  However, when the panels are tied togehter, you really want performance  that is identical as possible.

By putting this on a tree structure, mostly likely you are allowing the panels better cooling, since you don't have a large black square area collecting heat.  Likewise, you have different orientations, so multiple maxium power points, not just one through the day-- but the real question is max power collection over the entire period, and this kid MIGHT be measuring that, but since he concentrates on Current I kind of doubt it.. Power (wattage)  is Current * Voltage,  but to compare performance you need power over time.

Give the kid a minute, he'll get there.

[IronDioPriest]

...Give the kid a minute, he'll get there.

Yeah, no doubt. I have a feeling the kid's naysayers are going to end up looking like fools.

[charlesoakwood]

Ya gotta love him, shaking the cages of those So Cal collegiate engineers and all.

[Weisshaupt]

Yeah, no doubt. I have a feeling the kid's naysayers are going to end up looking like fools.

Don't get me wrong. My skepticism is based largely on not seeing the Kids science fair write up, methodolgy  and data. Given what I know, I can't think of any way the Kid's method would work - i.e. delivering consisently more power over time,  if it isn't a temperature effect- which it could be. Point is, given he is a kid, some skepticism is called for.   

The tree uses branches to spread out its leaves in such a way that leaves above are unlikely to stop light from contacting  leaves below.  As the kids problem was space in the yard, his solution to mimic trees is clever.  I think what has people's panties in a bunch ( including mine) is the claim  that the array will consistently produce significantly  more KW-HRs of power than a traditonal  linear array. Mis-matched panels,  different methods of wiring (did the kid use Diodes?) , air temps (traditional panel on roof, leaves with 360 air flow)  etc  would all have an effect.