IEBPROJECT CASE STUDY
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A large science fair poster titled Pielar Panel with columns of research text, cost tables, an efficiency comparison table and photographs, set over a photo of rain on a solar panel

Science-fair prototypeDrawing 20 of 33

Pielar
Panel

A solar panel sitting on springs above a bed of eighteen piezoelectric discs, so rain hitting the panel makes power too. I built it with a classmate for a science fair, March 2019.

Sheet 02 of 07/The idea

The idea

Put a solar panel on springs over a bed of piezoelectric discs, so rain pushes the panel down and makes power on its own.

A CAD render of three flat teal panels stacked in an exploded view, the top one covered in a grid of small circular seats
PL 02The three printed parts: solar panel carrier on springs, the bed of eighteen piezoelectric seats, and the circuit tray with its cap.

Sheet 03 of 07/The build

What I built

I 3D printed three stacked parts: a carrier on six springs, a bed of eighteen piezoelectric discs, and a circuit tray with a switch and LED that lights up to show the charge coming back out.

A hand drawn wiring diagram showing eighteen piezoelectric discs in three columns wired down to five capacitors, a resistor, a switch and an LED
PL 03Eighteen discs in three strings, into a capacitor bank, a 100 ohm resistor, a tactile switch and one LED so you can dump the stored charge and see it.

Sheet 04 of 07/The crystal

The crystal that never grew

I tried to grow my own piezoelectric material, Rochelle salt, cooked up on the stove and left for a month, and nothing crystallized because I used baking soda instead of washing soda.

A photograph of a flexible dark solar panel next to a small circuit board wrapped in yellow tape
PL 04The thin film solar panel and the first circuit, taped up on a workbench before it went into the printed frame.

Sheet 05 of 07/The numbers

Just a spreadsheet

The numbers on the board are a spreadsheet, not a measurement: I calculated an 18 to 107 percent improvement from 30-year rain and sun averages, and the board's own results claim a lot more than that.

Two data tables comparing average monthly rainfall, sunshine hours, water drops per square inch and joules produced for Austin and Philadelphia
PL 05The whole result is this spreadsheet: rainfall and sunshine averages for Austin and Philadelphia, 0.3 joules per drop, and the improvement that falls out of it.
Eight photographs of a glass measuring jug in a saucepan of simmering water, being stirred, and clear plastic containers of solution left to crystallise

Sheet 06 of 07/Next time

What I'd do differently

Next time I'd measure a real panel against a bare one before doing any more math, since I calculated a lot and never once tested the actual thing.

PL 06Trying to grow my own Rochelle salt in a double boiler on the kitchen stove. A month later there was still nothing in the containers.

Sheet 07 of 07/Source

Inspect the work