Power San Marin
Our Project:
Our project was to create a micro-grid to power San Marin or Novato. We decided to create one for San Marin, since we were always on campus and it was a more condensed space We needed to include what we would do (solar panels, wind turbines, etc.), the cost and the seasonal effects. During this whole project we did many activities to prepare us for the final project.
Evidence of Work:
Electromagnet Write Up:
To start, the first step we taked was conducting an electromagnet experiment. We first created an electromagnet by wrapping coil around a nail and connecting it to a battery. Then we tested how many paperclips it could lift for different awg wires. Once we completed collecting our data, we wrote a lab report and analyzed our data. The link to our lap write up is shown below.
How a Motor Works:
The next thing we did was annotate an article on how a motor works. We got to read an article on how motors work, different motors, etc; then dissect a motor. We could either dissect a car motor, fan motor, or toy car motor (three sizes: big, medium, small). My group chose to dissect the smallest motor, toy car motor, because it was the easiest to pick apart and made the most sense looking at. Learning how a motor would help us to understand our next project, involving a wind turbine. Our annotation and drawing of a motor is shown at right:
Wind Turbine:
The third mini-project we did was create a wind turbine. For this we had to create blades out of cardboard, wood paper, etc. We then attached them to sticks, and something held them together and we put it on a mini stand,which created a mini-turbine. We then tested it against three different air pressures. Light, medium and hard (fast). We measured how well it worked, by measuring its voltage. The higher the voltage the better the blades worked. We tested many different blades, using many different materials. In the end we recorded all of our data and made a claim on what blade works best.
Sources of Electricity Generation Justification Document:
For the final mini-project our whole class wrote a sources of electricity generation justification document. Each table got assigned an energy source and together as a class we were able to understand the different types of energy and how they work/where we get them. The link to that document is shown below.
San Marin Microgrid:
Finally after getting all of the back round energy on energy and how it works we were almost ready to start planning our microgrid. Before planning it all out our class took a quick trip to a microgrid to see how everything was laid out and more of an explanation on how it all works. After touring the grid we were ready to start planning our own. For this we needed to conclude a couple things. Here is the list of questions we were trying to answer while planning our grid:
1. How much electricity is used at San Marin? in Novato?
2. How will your grid generate this electricity?
1. How many of each type of generator will you need (ex. How many solar panels, how many wind turbines, how many natural gas powerplants? Think about a balanced grid so you’re not entirely dependent on one source – what happens in the winter when the sun isn’t out as much?)
3. How will your grid store this electricity?
4. How will your grid get this electricity where it needs to go?
5. How much will all of these components cost? What is the initial cost? What are the ongoing costs?
Our fully done presentation is shown below and a link to a document showing all of our calculations is shown at th end of the slideshow.
Content:
Charge: The physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. There are two-types of electric charges; positive and negative (commonly carried by protons and electrons respectively). Like charges repel and unlike attract.
Electrostatic Force: Attraction or repulsion of particles or objects because of their electric charge.
Coulomb’s: Experimental law of physics that quantifies the amount of force between two stationary, electrically charged particles. The electric force between charged bodies at rest is conventionally called electrostatic force or Coulomb force.
Inverse Square Law: The inverse-square law, in physics, is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity.
Electric Circuit: A path in which electrons from a voltage or current source flow.
Voltage: Electric potential difference, electric pressure or electric tension is the difference in electric potential between two points.
Electric Current: An electric current is the rate of flow of electric charge past a point or region. An electric current is said to exist when there is a net flow of electric charge through a region. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by electrons moving through a wire.
Magnetic Field: A vector field that describes the magnetic influence of electric charges in relative motion and magnetized materials. Magnetic fields are observed in a wide range of size scales, from subatomic particles to galaxies.
Volts: The SI unit of electromotive force, the difference of potential that would drive one ampere of current against one ohm resistance.
Amperes: Often shortened to "amp", is the base unit of electric current in the International System of Units.
Electric Field: A region around a charged particle or object within which a force would be exerted on other charged particles or objects.
Electric Potential: The amount of work needed to move a unit of positive charge from a reference point to a specific point inside the field without producing an acceleration
Reflection:
Two things I though I improved on while working on this project was collaboration and creativity. When we had to pick out what energy sources we wanted to use and how we wanted to lay out our microgrid my team did a great job of discussing what we wanted to do and where all very creative when it came to coming up with ideas. It was a great mix and made it really easy to work with. Even when one of our team members were out the other two were still able to keep coming up with ideas and complete the work. Everyone did their own part and it all came together to make one great project.
Something we could have done better was communicate on who was doing what by when. When doing something it worked really well but then we completely forgot to do the other thing. Next time we should communicate who is doing what so we can get more done at the same time and not have to worry about what we did not have at the last minute. This resulted in 75% of our project being super well thought out and detailed while the other 25% was not as great and not as well put together. If we split up the work it all would have been great, so next time now we know what to do. Overall, this project was challenging but fun to do, and I believe our project came out pretty well.