Exercise 10

Design Analysis

This decision matrix sought to compare a standard, non-rotating solar panel, a one-axis horizontally rotating panel, a one-axis vertically rotating panel, and a two-axis rotating panel. All of the alternatives met the needs of the project except the two-axis rotating panel, which was too expensive to manufacture to see an economic return. The alternatives were also judged on their hours of maximum power generation, ease of instillation, low computation complexity, low maintenance, and aesthetics. The hours of maximum power generation was given the highest weight, whereas the aesthetics were given the lowest weight. The one-axis vertical rotation scored the highest overall in the decision matrix, and will therefore be the alternative that will be chosen moving forward.