Wind and solar power predictor.
The Power Predictor is used to determine whether or not a site is suitable for the generation of alternative energy but the siting of the device is critical to the success of the whole project. Explore why the site is so important, what affects the performance of a wind turbine or solar panel.
Having determined the ideal location we need to decide how we are going to mount the Power Predictor and at what height. This lesson will involve the design construction of a mast including calculating guy dimensions etc.
Install the mast and the Power Predictor in the appropriate place and manually predict the expected outcome of the site analysis, how much of the buildings energy consumption can be saved by installing renewable energy?
Collect and upload the data from the Power Predictor to the Better Generation website. Explore data confidence, seasonal adjustments etc and discuss the affects of weather trends on renewable energy.
Using the Power Predictor Data – you can download your Power Predictor data and use it in Excel spreadsheets to produce your own graphs, or produce them manually, from there you can extrapolate the data using readily available Met Office seasonal adjustment charts. Explore how we can predict the possible energy production of a wind turbine or solar panel based on this collected data.
What is a wind turbine? How does it work? What is a power curve? Why will one turbine work better in an area than another one?
What is a Solar panel? What is the difference between Solar thermal and Solar PV? How do they work? What are the important factors to consider in the placing of a Solar panel?
Explore the school’s energy consumption / requirement; determine the best solution for the school based on Power Predictor data, Feed in Tariffs, physical location, level of investment available.
Plan and construct a model of the solution using working models of wind turbines and solar panels.
Measure your actual output from the model against the predicted output as determined by the Power Predictor data.
Having built the model and tested the theory now prepare a proposal to present to the school; demonstrate that with investment in the right technology the school will benefit from a short payback time and a good ROI.
The Power Predictor from Dragons Breath, click on this link to find out more
