Students design solar power system, win contest

Anna Herkamp/Summer Reporter 70 PERCENT DONE: The roof of Knoy Hall; a view of the older solar power system and the space where the new photovoltaic panels will be. The older system heats water, which is used to partially heat Knoy Hall.

By Anna Herkamp
Summer Reporter

In light of the energy crises in California, research interest into alternative forms of energy, such as solar and wind power, have become reignited.

Solar power equipment such as photovoltaic panels, were in such short supply when the crisis hit that associate professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology William Hutzel, could not find any manufacturers who would donate the photovoltaic solar panels for his lab.

Photovoltaic panels are solar panels that generate electricity from sunlight.

While mechanical engineering focuses on the design of products, including solar panels, mechanical engineering technology focuses more on practical applications of the technology, including consumer products for everyday use, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, said Hutzel.

Hutzel teaches courses that focus specifically on energy use and conservation including MET 220, which deals with heat power; Met 421, which is air conditioning and refrigeration and TECH 530, a facilities engineering graduate course.

In these classes, a large part of the course work such as in MET 421, is made up of lab work in which students are put into teams to design and monitor an efficient power source.

Over a period of several years, projects become larger and larger as different teams of students work on the same projects and add their own designs to them.

In the spring 2001 semester, one team from MET 421 designed a system of photovoltaic panels that would directly produce electricity, as opposed to the existing system, which is used only for heat production.

The team that designed the new solar power system won a contest for design in the School of Technology. Pat Webber, leader of the team and senior in the School of Technology, said he anticipated a little competition, but enjoyed winning.

The teams had to follow specifications for the design of the system and were awarded because their system was most efficient for power consumption, he said.

The older system, already a few years old, was also designed by students and uses water which is pumped up to the roof of Knoy Hall, where eight solar panels heat the water. The heated water can be used as part of the hall's heating system.

Each of the eight panels is different in design. Having a variety improves the system's efficiency, said Hutzel.

The new photovoltaic panels haven't been added to the system on the roof of Knoy because they haven't been taken out of boxes and assembled. However, Hutzel said he would eventually like to use the electricity they will produce to power the water pump on the other solar power system.

The student-designed systems are part of a larger project, which is about 70 percent done, said Hutzel. The project takes a lot of time to put together because students design the systems and funding for the materials comes after they are designed, he said.

The photovoltaic panels cost about $500 each, he said. The new system of panels will cost $20,000.

While solar energy will help cut energy costs, Hutzel said it is not the solution to energy conservation. It is actually more expensive to install the equipment, than to use traditional power, he said. Once the costs are cut back a little, however, he said they may eventually be used to produce one half to one third of the electricity for households.

Unfortunately, solar power could not be used to run an entire building or campus such as this one, he said.

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