The Effect of a Tracking Device on the Amount of Power Collected by a Solar Cell
Laura
D.
8th
Grade, Johnson Middle, Melbourne, Florida
Teacher: Erinn Drone
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Problem: Will a tracking device make the solar cell collect more energy?
Hypothesis: If the motorized solar cell track stays in alignment with the sun, then it will collect more energy than a fixed solar cell.
Conclusion: Based on the data collected, the researcher concludes that her hypothesis was correct. If there is a tracking device on a solar cell then, it will collect more power than a fixed solar cell.....In this project the solar cell with the tracking device collected 12.58% more power than the fixed solar cell. Sunny days like December 12th, 2004 when there were hardly any clouds, the tracking solar cell collected almost 15% (14.49%) more power. On days when it was very overcast, there would still be more power collected by the solar cell but only about 9 or 10 percent.
