Passive Solar Tracker Team MidSemester Presentation By Darren

Passive Solar Tracker Team Mid-Semester Presentation By: Darren Slotnick, Kevin Leonard, Ming Zheng, and Govind Raman

Where do we want to be? We want to design and build a passive solar tracker. • Sustainable • Unique • Economical • Low maintenance

What have we done so far? ✿ Determined our tracking method ✿ We looked at: ❀ Thermal expansion of metals ❀ Liquid Crystal Elastomers and carbon nanotubes ❀ Holograms ❀ Gravity-based system

What have we done so far? ✿ Determined potential liquid mixtures to use ❀ Environmentally friendly ❀ Low boiling point ❀ Temperature in Kenya ❀ Spring: 24. 5 °C – 14. 0 °C ❀ Summer: 21. 0 °C – 11. 3 °C ❀ Fall: 23. 7 °C – 12. 3 °C ❀ Winter: 24. 7 °C – 12. 7 °C ❀ Economical and accessible

Potential Liquids Liquid Environmental Impact Boiling Point Economical Water None – essential to life 100°C $1. 50 for 1, 000 gallons Ethanol Depletion of ozone from it’s formation 78. 4°C $2. 10 -$2. 22 per gallon Methyl Ethyl Ketone Evaporate in air, soil, and water 79. 6°C $5. 04 per gallon Benzene -toxic to aquatic organism. Benzene quickly break down in the air 80. 1°C $4. 36 -4. 43 per gallon

How are we going to get there? ✿ Make assumptions ✿ Thermodynamic calculations ✿ Build a prototype Boiling Point 78. 35 °C Mol Fraction Water . 2 Mol Fraction Ethanol . 8 Total Mols 52. 51 mol Enthalpy of Vaporization 39. 1 k. J/mol Total Energy Needed 2131. 38 k. J Solar Energy 3600 k. J/m^2

Questions?