RUNNING HEAD: LAB NOTEBOOK #4

Jarrett Lash & Hahnbee Lee

November 28, 2016
Solar Energy: Out on a Limb
Weve begun to build the physical structure of the PVTree and have determined a means around
coding the servos.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

2
Materials and Methods

During the past two weeks, the design has started to materialize. We were able to print
the trunk to our tree out of clear PLA plastic (Figure 1 & 2), but due to the size constraint of the
print bed, it had to be made it four pieces (Figure 3). The initial plan was to then do final
fabrication through means of epoxy. What epoxy will do is act as an intense acid on the plastic
that will actually slightly melt the mixture, to then have the two pieces dry together with a
blended bond. However, we have had a good change of plans. Our team now has purchased our
own personal 3D Printer, a Robo3D R1+ (Figure 4), which has a large enough print bed to
reprint the base in one solid piece. Additionally, in the next coming weeks, we will print the
branch sections so the whole hardware can be finished.
Additionally, we received our solar panels (Figure 5) and soldered the micro JST cables
to the bottom. The intent of the cable connections is that if a panel becomes unable to operate,
we can easily replace it with one of our extra solar panels (Figure 6). Ww now plan to add
Velcro connections to the rear of the panels to allow them to be moved and tilted to best
accommodate the light position and to ensure they are not in the way of any other panels.
We ran into many issue with the screen unit we were planning to use. The screen was
having issues creating a stable connection as well as initiating proper touch capability. We tried
to troubleshoot this issue by insourcing more help from a senior, Rehan, who has Raspberry Pi
experience. However, our issue was still not identified. To resolve this issue as quickly as
possible, so we can continue with programming and other functions, we are returning the screen
for one recommended by the senior. We expect this to be an easy solution to our issue, and this
screen will actually be cheaper than our initial choice from Adafruit.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

In the technological sect of things, although we had problems with the portable screen,
we were able to connect to the raspberry pi through an HDMI cable and a TV screen provided in
our laboratory. By doing so, with the help of our senior friend Rehan, we were able to encrypt
program onto the raspberry pi and experiment with the programming of the servos (Figure 7).
However, we discovered that using the pins mounted on raspberry pi were not compatible for the
servos we were using which needed 5 volts instead of the mere 3 volts the pi provided.
Thankfully we also had a servo HAT we could use that will be able to send the complete 5 volts
to power the servos.
We plan on finding a means to power the servo HAT in order to find new code to encrypt
which will be compatible for both the HAT and the servos. Then after we plan on officially
assembling the rest of the tree model, epoxying the several pieces together, and sanding and
finishing up all the final touches on the physical model itself. We also plan on connecting the
whole solar power system in order to power the raspberry pi, but prior to soldering all the
electronics together we desire to learn how to collect data for the solar energy cultivation. Until
further ado, we plan on learning more code and definitely finalizing the servo coding.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

Figure 1: Right bottom half of the tree trunk. This was created with a Makerbot Replicator and
Clear PLA Filament with an infill of 10%.

Figure 2: Right top half of the tree trunk. This was also created with a Makerbot Replicator and
Clear PLA Filament, but with an infill of 5%. Additionally, seen is the servo inside of its
mounting area for the side tilt branches.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

Figure 3: Depicted here is the basic design of the tree trunk placed on each other. It is not
epoxied in this image, simply placed. The structure stands 10.34 inches tall.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

Figure 4: The printer our team will now be using is the Robo3D R1+ Printer. It has a 8x9x10
print area, which we will be able to utilize to print more completely solid pieces for the tree.

Figure 5: The solar panel from Dream_Light on amazon. This panel is 500mm x 300mm. The
tree will have fifteen of these panels through its whole structure.

Figure 6: The review of the panel with the Micro JST Cables soldered on. The cables will allow
for quick disconnection from the structure if needed.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

Figure 7: The coding experimentation we performed on the Raspberry Pi in order to program the
servos.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

8
Data/Results

As stated in our last Lab Notebook, we have not collected any data. We are still in the
process of forming our design so we can construct our PVTree for testing. But the quantitative
data we plan on collecting is the amount of solar energy collected when we change the different
angles at which the panels will be set and program different pattern at which our tree will move
in accordance to sunlight. We plan on making a logger pro-esque system that will inform us on
how much energy we have collected over a specific time period in a day. Qualitative data will be
in the different features and structures we end up deeming the most effective which is evidently
the characteristics that allow us to gain the most sunlight in a day. Data will be measured in ratio
between lux detected and electricity harnessed to ensure a common pattern as well as steady and
reliable results.

LAB NOTEBOOK #4

9
References

Cockfield. B. (2015). Two Axis Solar Tracker. Retrieved October 25. 2016 from:
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/25/two-axis-solar-tracker/
Dimitrokalia, E., Mackrilla, J., Jones G., Ramachersb Y., Caina R. (2015). Moving away from
flat solar panels to PVTrees: exploring ideas and peoples perceptions. Retrieved
September 15, 2016 from:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/environment/carbon/solar_trees/downloads/proceeding
_paper2015.pdf
Sarokin. J. (2014). How to: Build a Solar Powered Raspberry Pi. [Video File]. Retrieved
October 20. 2016 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpAYDcW_Jx0
Verma, N., Mazumder, S. (2014). An Investigation of Solar Trees for Effective Sunlight Capture
Using Monte Carlo Simulations of Solar Radiation Transport. Retrieved September 27,
2016 from:
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/68744/Navni_Verma_Hayes_Research_
Forum15.pdf?sequence=1
Zhr, M., Friedrich, D., Kloth, T. Y., Goldmann, G., & Helmut Tributsch, H. (2010). Bionic
Photovoltaic Panels Bio-Inspired by Green Leaves. Retrieved September 19, 2016, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49293285_Bionic_Photovoltaic_Panels_BioInspired_by_Green_Leaves