Solar Energy Science Projects – Some Interesting Ideas

Solar Energy Science Projects are becoming something of a hit recently. This is due to the fact that many people are now starting to recognize the true potential of renewable sources of energy such as wind energy and solar energy. Therefore, as science students are the ones that are most involved in most science projects and are involved in research and development for science projects, it is not a surprise that they would consider solar energy as a wonderful idea for demonstrating its various uses in a science project. In this blog post, I will some of the interesting things that you can pursue for your science projects related to the solar energy field.

There are many solar energy science projects that you can consider. For example, recently there have been a lot of developments and research in the field that has resulted in the generation of plenty of ideas and inventions that have transformed the lives of many scientists and brought them fame. But, here's the fact that many people are yet to realize. This is that most of these inventions can now be used now with really very few tools and skills required. Basically all you need is some websites or guides that give out a DIY (Do it Yourself) guide that you can use to get the solar energy project that you need. Here are a couple of ideas as to what you can do.

1. Solar Cooker – This has become very popular in developing countries recently. According to Yahoo and other news reporting services, many villagers in places like India have started to make use of solar cookers to cook their food. Its popularity is due to the ease with which you can cook different varieties of food. Basically all you need is the classic lens-to-concentrate-solar-power idea. With the help of a powerful lens, you can concentrate the solar energy to an appliance which will convert this radiation to useful energy. There have been cases where enough temperatures have been reached such that rice can be cooked and enough to properly boil water etc. These are pretty impressive temperatures especially considering the fact that the solar cooker is a pretty small device. So here's what you need for this solar energy science project: 1. A lens that is powerful enough. 2. A box that is coated with black colour both on the inside and the outside (this is to get attract the heat towards the solar cooker). 3. A glass panel that covers the aforementioned box so that heat can be trapped thus increasing the efficiency of the appliance (this makes use of the greenhouse effect). So, now that you know what you need go ahead and build a solar cooker for your solar energy science project.
   
2. Solar Powered Car – Yes, this sounds pretty complicated and yes, it does sound pretty tough to do. But guess what, once you get this done, you will be really proud of yourself when you actually see your vehicle moving. If you are looking for a solar energy science project that can be completed very quickly and easily, then perhaps this is not for you. But what you do need to build a solar car is a panel of solar photovoltaic cells and of course, a car or a vehicle that it can be powered with. The working of this is beyond the scope of this article and I will cover it in a future post.
   
3. Solar Water Heater – This is probably one of the easiest "solar energy science projects" that can be accomplished in the shortest time possible. This is what I built for a couple of science fair and I put in a couple of tweaks in order to make it innovative and different from that of others. But what it involves is exposing a solar panel to the sun so that it can trap the heat from the sun which in turn heats up the water as well. So here's a list of what you need for a solar water heater: 1. A glass panel that is covered by glass at the top which is placed directly exposed to the sun. 3. Pipes that run across the length of the panel and these pipes should be long and coated with black colour.
   
4. Solar Pool Heater – Although this may not be the best science project since you need a pool for demonstrating its uses, it can prove to be very useful because of the amount of energy it can save. The working of these solar pool heaters is the same as for the described solar water heater described above except in a much larger scale.
   
5. Solar Powered Electricity - This is a very innovative idea that has been developed very recently by scientists and holds the distinction of being the most fast advancing technology in the world today. Photovoltaic cells are the brain child of various scientists and is a true example of how much mankind has advanced over the years. Therefore, this is one of the solar energy science projects that you do not want to miss out on. You should definitely consider doing this if you have the time as it can be achieved and is being all over the world by many countries in order to save a lot of money and pollution from non renewable energy sources. All you need for accomplishing this is a solar panel which can generate electricity with the help of solar cells or photovoltaic cells. The complete working of this appliance is beyond the scope of this post but you can check out some of the other blog posts in this blog to learn more about it. You can also choose to follow DIY projects such as Earth 4 energy for finding a quick solution for this. Head to the homepage of this blog to learn more.
   

I hope that one of these ideas helped you find the best science project that you have worked on so far. There are plenty of different ideas other than the ones mentioned above that can be used for a successful solar energy science project. But depending on the time and the amount of work you are ready to put in, you can choose the solar energy science project that works the best for you.

Cheers,

Andy.