Background

In order to build this device safely and intelligently, background information needs to be gathered. Information on subjects such as refraction, light energy, circuits and other projects designed using similar concepts are going to be referenced for safety concerns and for the elimination of other unknowns that were previously found to not work with the system being designed. Without this research, mistakes may be made in the building or design processes. The first learning objective is to understand the theory behind the final project. in order to grasp how the project will work overall, there needs to be an extensive understanding of each individual section and the concepts behind how it functions. The second learning objective will be to fully understand what we are building. This means reading any safety guidelines, all the specifications on the parts, and preparing the equipment properly.

Major tasks include gathering the materials that would benefit the overall operation of the project the most in order to build the actual solar cell, accumulating sufficient energy from the sun to then be translated into powering the solar cell, testing of the solar cell, and modifying the design of the cell. The final product will be a fully functioning battery that is able to power a portable charger to then eventually charge an electronic device.

The basic concept of this project has been previously executed and many solar batteries can be found online. What differentiates this battery from the others is the position of the battery will not necessarily be lying perfectly flat on the surface as seen in other projects. “Cone shaped spinning solar cells generate 20 times more electricity than flat solar panels. Every now and then a design comes along that turns the whole world upside down with claims so fantastic its hard to believe" [2]. In order to best capture energy from the sun, the battery must be positioned in a way that is perpendicular to the direction of the sun. A conical shape was hypothesized in order to do this at all hours of the day. Because dust particles are also another component of minimizing the optimization, more exposure and more surface area will increase the harvested energy we are trying to channel. Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have explained the importance and the efficiency of light energy. To get the best possible project, knowledge about photovoltaics (PV) is essential. “Solar PV is the leading solar electric technology today, constituting 98% of global solar generation capacity in 2013; i the remainder is CSP. PV cells convert sunlight directly into electricity, whereas CSP technologies convert sunlight rest to heat and then to electricity” [Solar Technology].

Refraction is a large component that will be necessary to understand, again, to get the most out of the solar cell.  “Refraction is the bending of the path of a light wave as it passes from one material to another material. The refraction occurs at the boundary and is caused by a change in the speed of the light wave upon crossing the boundary. The tendency of a ray of light to bend one direction or another is dependent upon whether the light wave speeds up or slows down upon crossing the boundary” [4]. In essence, with the cone shape, more light waves will be transferred throughout the medium and therefore more potential energy will be stored. Because of the shape of the cone instead of a flat solar panel, the energy from the sun targets more than one location and again, the shape will not just cater to a certain time of the day.

In addition, because this is a scale project, it is vital to have some form of understanding of circuits. Each individual cell has the capacity of withstanding 200 watts, and if too much energy is harvested then the possibility of short-circuiting is increased. The entire project will have been a waste if that’s the case due to the fried interior, it won’t work.