Welcome to the Sun Tracker! Please complete this tutorial as it will explain how to use the Sun Tracker program. Push the next button to continue.
Solar Panels
Circled in red in the picture to the right are the solar panels. The solar panels collect energy from the sun and turn it into electicity. When the simulation is running the sun will move across the sky to provide these solar panels with energy. During the night, the panels don't produce any energy but the time tracker moves back to the left to get ready to track the sun on the next day. The top picture shows a fixed solar panel and the bottom picture shows a time tracker solar panel, which follows the sun as it moves across the sky.
Graphs and their meanings
To the right of the solar panels are the graphs. These graphs tell us how much power each of the solar panels is producing. When the bar moves up, it signifies that the solar panel to the left of it is producing more energy.
The Play Button
The play button allows you to start and stop the program. Circled in red on the picture to the right are the play button and current date/time for the simulation. Push play on the actual program below and let it run until you see several days pass by on the simulation.
Seasons
There are two season controllers. One for the upper display and one for the lower display. If you click "summer" for the upper display it will change the top simulation to summer time. If you click "winter" for the lower display it will change the bottom simulation to winter time. Which season do you think produces more energy?
Cloud Cover and Panel Type
Below the seasons is the panel type. Here is where you can choose what type of panel is in each of your simulations. Fixed is the solar panel that doesn't move whereas the Time Track is the one that angles itself towards the sun. Below the panel type is the cloud controller. Slide this to the right to increase the cloud cover and to the left to decrease cloud cover. What do you think happens to energy output when there are some clouds covering the sky?
Graph Options
To the right of the graphs are time units of "hour", "day", "month", and "season". This is how often a graph resets itself. If you select "hour" the graph will reset every hour. However if you select "day", the graph will keep adding up power generated by the solar panel until an entire day has passed. Also, on the lower left-hand corner of the graph you can see the words "bar" and "line". You are seeing the bar graph right now, but click on "line" if you would like to change it to a line graph.
Experiment One
For this experiment we want to find out which solar panel (fixed or time tracked) produces more energy over the period of a day and how much more. Make sure the upper display is set to a fixed panel type and the lower is set to a time tracked panel type. Make sure the simulation is not running and click "summer" for both displays. Also make sure there is no cloud cover and that the graphs are set to "Day". Run the simulation and pause around hour 20. Record how much energy each one has produce. Do that again for two more days. Which solar panel produced more? How much more did it produce each day? Did it always produce more? Now add about the same amount of cloud cover to each panel. What does that do to the energy output by each one? Does the same solar panel still produce more? Is it possible for the Fixed solar panel to produce more than the Time Tracker panel? What conditions must exist for this to be possible?
Experiment Two
Now we want to find out which seasons produces the most energy. Make sure there is no cloud cover again and that the simulations are stopped. Set each graph to measure "Season". Set each panel type to "Fixed". Run one season on the top simulatin and a different panel on the bottom simulation for ten days (you may speed up the simulations if you like to make this experiment faster). For example, you could choose "summer" for the top simulation and "winter" for the bottom simulation. Record the amount of energy produced. When you've done trials for every season, rank the seasons in order of greatest production of energy to least. Which season produces the most? Which one produces the least?
