By: Carol Obando-Derstine, Jade Sessions, Christie Ortega and Andy Chung
Prompt:
From the “Story Elements” framework slides, CHOOSE ONE of the frameworks given. Doesn’t matter which – choose the one that speaks you to more. Once you’ve chosen one slide, ignore the other one.
– As a Project Team, construct a story about your project using the five story elements in the order in which they are given, #1 through #5. Each element should have one or two carefully constructed sentences.
– The result should be a coherent, beginning-middle-end story about your project which someone who is unfamiliar with your project can follow and understand. The blog entry should be written as a story, not a numbered list. You can write it as a first-person plural story – in other words, the character can be “we.”
– If you wish to make it longer than the 1-2 sentence-per-element length, have at it! Just make sure you are following the structure.
– Talk it through as a team. Does it make sense? Does it say everything you want and need it to say? If this were the structure of your final presentation (stretched out to 7 minutes), would it be successful, and would the referees know what you were talking about and why?
- Attention-getter – make us listen
We are Thermosolar, and we are increasing photovoltaic efficiency through solar panel cooling. By attaching an enclosed box with a phase-changing material inside to the back of a panel, our innovation can make it at least 5% more efficient.
- The Challenge – state or frame the problem as a world-level challenge.
In efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, the world is transitioning to cleaner fuels and renewable energy, but solar power is not very efficient. As the temperature of the panel increases, the amount of power output decreases.
- The Journey – explain your methodology in an active, action-oriented way.
Our team conducted experiments to measure the differences in power output of solar panels with and without PCM using different formulas for the PCM and sizes of PCM box. We also measured temperatures at the front and back of the panel to understand the thermal changes occurring over time with and without PCM.
- The Battle – describe how, with the help of your allies (partners), you have or will overcome the challenge.
Tapping into the expertise of Dr. Romero, staff, and Ph.D. students at Lehigh’s Energy Research Center, we gained a better understanding of the type of PCM to use and the corresponding formula, the size of the PCM box, and the type of panel that would be suitable for PCM.
- The Change – state the solution / outcome / catharsis of this story.
Our experiments resulted in an increased solar panel efficiency via higher voltage from solar panels that we paired with PCM than one without PCM. To illustrate the impact on a solar farm the same size as the one proposed at Lehigh University, increasing the efficiency of photovoltaics by 5% can generate 140 kW more, allowing Lehigh to use more of their energy generation on-campus and avoid paying PPL approximately $21,000 a year.