Over the course of about two months, my group and I have been experimenting and discovering ways to create the most energy efficient
home possible. We created a passive solar house model, a cold frame/ solar reflector/ solar tube model, horizontal and a vertical wind
turbines, and a solar water heater.
Solar Water Heater
The goal of this project was to create a solar water heater that wold heat water in the most natural way possible: the sun. We created our solar
water heater out of cardboard, saran wrap, copper, tin foil, and a plastic bottle. We set our creation out in the sun for a while, so that the copper
tubes could heat up (copper is a good heat conductor). We took the temperature of the water that we were using before the experiment, which
was 20 degrees Celsius, and then we poured it into the bottle. We let the water run through the machine and trickle in to the cup, and then we
would pour that water back into the bottle, and we continued this cycle for about 30 minutes. At the end of the process, we found that the
temperature had risen by 6 degrees Celsius, although we did lose a lot of water.
Key Concepts:
Conduction - transfer of heat through a material
Convection - transfer of heat through a fluid
Radiation - energy transmitted as rays, waves, or particles
Heat - a form of energy
Thermal Conductivity - the flow of heat from a warmer material to a colder material
Fluids - a substance, liquid or gas, that changes its shape to fit whatever it is in
Pressure - force per unit area,
Archimedes' Principle - states that the upward buoyant force on a body in fluid, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces
Buoyancy - the ability to float in a fluid
Gases - form of matter, the molecules in gases are more widely spaced than those in liquids or solids
Boyle's Law - at constant temperatur, the pressure times the volume of an enclosed gas is constant, if one increases, the other decreases
Ideal Gas Law - Pressure x Volume = Number of Molecules x Constant x Temperature
Bernoulli's Principle - "When the speed of a fluid increases, the pressure drops."
Laws of Thermodynamics - There a several Laws of Thermodynamics. Here was the main four. The 0st law explains temperature, if two systems are in thermal equilibrium without a third system, then they are in equilibrium with each other. If A=B and A=C, then B=C. The 1st law is the Conservation of Energy. This law states that energy is neither created nor destroyed. Heat is a form of energy, The 2nd law states that disorder increases over time, everything becomes the same temperature. The 3rd law states that temperature can never get to absolute zero. Heat always exists.
Specific Heat Capacity - constant for a substance that measures how slowly it heats up, how well it holds heat.
Passive Solar House
For this project, my group and I designed a house that would bring in the most light possible, without using an artificial light source. In order to
do this, we used windows, solar tubes, sky lights, and light shelves. We put two skylights and one solar tube in the living room, two windows and
a skylight in the front bedroom, one window and a skylight in the back bedroom, two windows, two skylights, and a light shelf in the master
bedroom, a window and light shelf in the bathroom, a skylight and two windows in the kitchen, and a skylight in the bathroom. The front of our
house faced South.
Cold Frame/ Solar Reflector/ Solar Tube
This was a very strenuous assignment, because it was basically three project combined into one. We had to design a Cold Frame model, and the
best model from each class was to be built and used in the San Marin garden. We also had to design a Solar Reflector for the Stem Solar House,
that would capture maximum light and bring it into the house. The third part of the project was creative engineering. We had to design the
model of a possible addition to the Stem Solar House, and one of them was to be built. My group created a Solar Tube. After all of the projects
were finished, we had to present all three of our designs to judges. We found out the next day that our Cold Frame design was chosen to be built
and used in the garden. Copy and Paste the following links to the powerpoints: