Delaware schools: Lessons in the sun
UD group uses solar-power cart to teach about environment, energy
The curious-looking device that soon will be scooting around at the Newark Center for Creative Learning might have a futuristic appearance, but its time is now.
The Mobile Solar Demonstration System, as it is called, is a hands-on, solar-power learning tool for kids. Children at the K-8 private school will undoubtedly come up with their own pet name for the golf-cart-size contraption, which features four solar-panel wings that give it the look of something about to take off.
The system was built for the school by University of Delaware graduate students Cory Budischak, Erik Koepf, Keith Douglass and Sarah Mastroianni. They are part of the university's Solar Hydrogen IGERT outreach program, which raises awareness and fosters curiosity in students of all ages about energy and environmental issues.
Budischak, chairman of the IGERT outreach program -- the acronym stands for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship -- said the UD team has visited the school a half-dozen times to prep students about such subjects as energy efficiency, climate change, current energy resources and renewable energy of the future.
"You can just tell it clicks with them," he said of the subject matter. "The world is going to be drastically different when they grow up, as opposed to when their parents grew up, and they want to be a part of making it better.
" The team also trained teachers at the end of April on how to use their new mobile solar unit to conduct experiments and how to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.
"I've always enjoyed teaching people things," said Budischak, who is pursuing his doctorate in electrical engineering. "That's why I became an outreach chair for the program. The main goal of my outreach program is to educate the general public about renewable energy. We thought this was a great opportunity to do that."
The unit that moves about on a donated Home Depot lumber cart -- but not under its own power -- also features six 12-volt batteries and two AC inverters. With a 400-watt capacity, the UD students have used it to power a fan and pump, and they are looking to charge a remote-controlled car, Budischak said.
Outdoor-classroom lessons using the device soon will begin at the school, and it will remain there for future students as long as it lasts—or as long as the sun keeps powering it, he said.
"Students can learn about voltage and current and simple circuits, and then see it in action, see the solar panel charging the battery, which is powering the inverter, which is running a fan in their face to cool them on a hot summer day. That is not a lesson they are going to forget," said Koepf, who is going for his doctorate in mechanical engineering.
The job of wiring components together to perform experiments is left to the students through a simple and safe color-coded panel that comes equipped with plug-in-style terminals, Budischak said.
Ray Magnani, a math, science and social studies teacher at the Newark Center for Creative Learning, said he plans to wrap the solar-power lessons around his curriculum for grades 6 to 8.
"It's the kind of thing the kids are real excited about," he said. "We're looking forward to seeing what kinds of experiments we'll be able to do. And then next year, we'll be able to run it ourselves, I hope.
"We have solar panels on our roof that we got last summer, Magnani said. "I've used that as a springboard to talk about solar energy and costs. And this will help a little better."
He said the UD students approached the nearby school and said they would build the mobile solar unit if the school paid for it.
"I think about half the stuff we thought we were going to have to buy was donated to us," Magnani said. "It ended up costing us about $800. They thought it would be a little over $1,000."
UD researcher Steve Hegedus donated the four solar panels, Budischak said.
"It's sort of life-size, which is something the kids usually don't get at school," he said of the unit, which took about six months to build. "We made it so it just fits through the door."
