Yousuf Khaled 10/28/08 We are trying to enter a competition in Philadelphia where we are given solar cells and have the opportunity to design something creative using them. We’ll be competing with Philadelphia’s best schools. Hopefully this will give SLA more attention and will show onlookers that this new school can compete with the best. [...]
Yousuf Khaled 10/18/08 When we decided to make solar cells we didn’t approach it the traditional way. Usually when you look at solar cells you think of silicon solar cells that can be bought from thousands of producers. We looked at silicon solar cells and we also looked others alternatives such as using titanium [...]
Today, our group managed to greatly improve on our experiments from last class. We managed to further compare different potential sources of energy to the miniature solar panels. This was done by hooking up an ammeter to a grapefruit, then the solar panel, then a battery. We found that the battery was the best source [...]
In Engineering class, we have started an experiment to see whether or not miniature sized solar panels could be useful and efficient to our class, and potentially the world. The group I was part of managed to compare the electricity potentially produced by the mini solar panel, versus that of a grapefruit. It turned out [...]
On Friday our VanK came into engineering class with a peculiar smile stricken upon his face, staring at the boxes stacked chaotically on the front table. He lifted it up and ripped it open like a kid opening the first present upon waking up on Christmas Day. VanK revealed to the class that we had [...]
So far, we have been researching solar cells from different places that could possibly be bought to analyze their cost and efficiency. In order to do this, we found the price of each model solar cell from each seller and also the watts produced by each cell to determine the amount of energy produced over [...]
In the Engineering 9 Y-1 course here at SLA, our current main goal involves alternative energy sources. We are researching and studying solar energy and different methods/systems to harness this energy effectively and at an affordable price. So far, our class had found three ways to harness solar power as an alternative energy source. The [...]
The task we are working on now in class is to find out how much it costs per unit of energy for each type of solar cell and compare it to what we pay now. Than with that information we want to find the point at which we break-even. We are still gathering the information, [...]
In our engineering class this year we have been talking about the different types of solar panels there are out there. We have done research on Copper, Silicon, and Titanium Dioxide solar panels. After we collected all the information about each type of cell we had a debate in class about which one was better. [...]
Welcome to the home of the Solar States student blog. This is where you can follow the students progress throughout the course of the year. We are very excited that the Science Leadership Academy is participating in this program. A special thank you goes to Matt VanKouwenberg, without whom this project would not be possible. [...]
Solyndra – What’s really at stake
