[Greenbuilding] PV Tracking ~ Fibonacci?

[Speireag Alden]

On 2011/08/20 11:43 AM, Reuben Deumling wrote:

> What about this kid's idea?
> 
> http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2011/aidan.html
> 
> *The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees 
> <http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2011/aidan.html>*
> www.amnh.org <http://www.amnh.org/>

	Awesomely clever.  Much fun.

	But look at the attrition rate on nature's solar collectors:  trees are forever discarding them and building more.  Solar power is undoubtedly more expensive per watt in very tiny solar panels than in larger ones.

	It should be a pretty simple matter to add up how much surface area is pointing in which directions on Aidan's tree, simplify as much as needed, and attach the equivalent area to a frame which approximates a cylindrical, conic, or spherical section.  I'll bet you could get 95% of what the tree gets, and possibly better, with framing which is much simpler and sturdier.

	I have often wondered why people insist on aiming all panels in exactly one direction.  It may simply be ease of framing.  But if you have enough panels where you're framing in sections, then the advantage is negligible.  Why not have three directions, with the middle direction being shallower and optimized toward the angle of the sun at winter solstice, and the smaller wings being steeper and optimized toward winter sunrise and sunset?  Or five directions.  Or seven...

-Speireag.


--
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--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)