RH330 Super Power Roof Team Member: Michael Maglio, Ming Yin, Renke Ma, Dong Yub Lee Supervisor: Richard A House

1. Solar energy exists as a viable and sustainable solution for the Rose-Hulman campus RH330 Super Power Roof Team Member: Michael Maglio, Ming Yin, Renke Ma, Dong Yub Lee Supervisor: Richard A House Economical solar energy is one of the goals of the Grand Challenges of Engineering. Team Super Power Roof seeks to provide an initial small-scale prototype solution for providing power to an academic or residential building. By installing monocrystalline solar panels on campus, Rose-Hulman actively combats the use of limited, nonrenewable resources. Crystalline solar cells pose as an attractive option in modern solar array implementations. The basic anatomy of a solar cell composes mainly of silicon – a chemical element widely used within structural compounds for buildings, alloys for automobile construction, and electronics. In fact, silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust after oxygen. Unfortunately, it is most popularly found in the form of silica which people would recognize as sand. As the silicon is heated to 1700 degrees Celsius and cooled, the silicon forms crystals. These crystals can then be used in PV cells. Two of the most widely used solar cells that use this manufacturing process are polycrystalline and monocrystalline cells. Other technologies we’ve researched are thin film or amorphous cells and dye-sensitized cells. *bolded represents the highest rated in its respected criteria. • Moench Hall’s roof offers geographical advantages for solar array installation. • These advantages include: • Enough area (>3000m) • No blocking sunlight by buildings or trees • Financially, Rose-Hulman could profit from $32,000 each year by saving electricity. And $600,000 in initial cost could be recovered within 19 years. • The solar panels • would face south • with a tilt angel • of 40 degrees. • A sunlight • tracking device • could be • considered for a future design. Indiana provides sufficient sunlight for installations of solar technology. We can observe that the U.S (purple) covers less than 10% of the world’s total production of solar power from 1996-2010. But, Germany (marked by blue) generates 40% of the global solar power. The annual averaged sum of Germany’s solar radiation is approximately 1100 - 1300 kWh/m2, while Indiana receives 1642.-1825 kWh/m2of radiation annually, which is about 44% more than that of Germany. Use of solar energy alleviates global climate change and dependence on nonrenewable resources. The world is threatened by toxic greenhouse gas emissions affecting our everyday lives where smog from factories can cause respiratory health problems and the toxic runoff can eliminate peaceful, natural ecosystems. In addition, there are economic risks involved with the continued use of these resources. Starting locally, Team SR-Roof plans to install solar panels in a school known for its undergraduate education with an emphasis on technological innovation.