Milledgeville, Ga, June 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three physics students – along with two high schoolers from Eatonton and Marietta, Georgia – will continue research this summer, adding four solar-powered golf carts to Georgia College’s current fleet of two.
They hope to make current models more environmentally-friendly and use aerodynamics to reduce the time it takes to charge batteries.
“We’re trying to improve the run times, so you don’t have to charge it so much, and so it runs longer,” said senior physics major Nowsherwan Sultan of Pakistan. “Our research here is to make solar cells more efficient, so they can collect more energy.”
Dr. Hasitha Mahabaduge, assistant professor of physics, started solar research at Georgia College in 2016. That fall, two of his students equipped the first golf cart with a solar panel. But it doesn’t go far and takes about 26 hours for the battery to recharge.
Students hope to improve upon this by experimenting with a movable solar panel. Tilting the panel to different angles, they hope to collect more sunlight and increase running times, while lowering the need for charging. They’ll also tinker with tire pressure and locate spots on campus where carts can be parked to take in the most optimal light.
Nick Palmer, a senior from Forsyth County, said they’ll use multiple layers of solar cells to convert sunlight into energy. Right now, it’s common to use only a single layer. By putting one flexible solar cell – “a few nanometers thick” – upon another, students hope to collect more light and energy from the sun.
In the laboratory, students are also experimenting with tin, which is more environmentally-friendly than lead, the material most often used to make solar cells for panels. Everything has to be done with exact precision, Palmer said, because they’re working with atomic resolutions – expensive material so tiny, a scanning electron microscope is necessary to see it.
This summer, four golf carts will be outfitted with manufactured, higher-wattage solar panels purchased with a $7,700 grant from Georgia College’s Office of Sustainability. Another $6,000, providing stipends for researchers, was funded by MURACE – Mentored Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors, an arm of Georgia College that financially supports student projects and encourages undergraduate research.
Two high school students – Javin Wiggins from Putnam County High School in Eatonton, Georgia, and Aarya Kapani from Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia – will join the research team through July 13 as part of the Young Scientists Academy Program at Georgia College’s Science Education Center.
The group has big plans for an “Electra-cart infrastructure” or solar-charging station on campus, as well. It’ll have four solar panels with about 1200 watts of power – enough to charge one or two carts in a relatively short amount of time.
Sultan and Palmer said they feel privileged to do research that’s normally reserved for graduate students at other universities.
“I don’t feel like I’m going to go into the real world someday,” Palmer said. “I feel like I’m already working in a real-world situation.”
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