Solar Tree Invented By A Teen
Aidan Dwyer is a normal thirteen-year-old with an extraordinary curiosity! While hiking through the woods one winter, he noticed the tree branches reaching out to sunlight by growing in a spiral pattern. He thought: 'Maybe if we put solar panels on the ends of the branches it would collect a lot of sunlight.' He set out to create his model.
With help from his grandfather, Aidan built a tree-like stand fixed with small solar panels in a set pattern. He compared its ability to collect sunlight to a flat-panel solar cell -- the type we see on roofs of homes. Aidan's results showed that this tree-arrangement of solar panels made 20% more electricity and collected 2 -1/2 more hours of sunlight each day. He also observed that on days when there was low sunlight such as in winters, his design was 50% better!
Aidan's work won him the Junior Naturalist Award from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Not only is he the proud owner of a patent, Aidan is also sought after by educators and companies who want to work with him!
Numbers in nature
Did you know that most patterns in nature follow a mathematical sequence? If you look at the number of petals in a flower, they are usually 3, 5 or 8. Similarly, if you look at branches sprouting from a tree, there is a number pattern here -- see the picture to your right. These patterns appear everywhere in nature from the shapes of nautilus shells, to flight patterns of birds and shapes of galaxies.
So what is this pattern? Most of you may have seen a sequence of numbers that is as follows. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21.. where each number is the sum of the previous two. Known as the Fibonacci sequence, it was discovered in 1209 by Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, Italy when he was trying to estimate how fast his rabbits would reproduce! The earliest mention of this pattern is in ancient mathematical texts from India written thousands of year ago.
Here is a fascinating trivia about these numbers -- if you divide the previous number by the next number in the series, the value is always the same. This is known as the golden ratio. Even our human bodies follow this pattern. If you divide your palm length by your forearm length, it will yield the same magic number!
Debate is good
Aidan's tree pattern, compared with flat panel
Aidan made an interesting observation. He found that the branches on an oak tree grow in a circular way -- it takes five branches to circle the trunk twice. Once he realized that the FIbonacci sequence was behind the spiral branches of a tree, he used that information to build his model. He found that his tree pattern of solar panels allowed some solar-leaves to collect light even when others were in the shade. It is obvious nature had built trees for this very reason -- to survive in a dense forest!
As with any new finding, there are many in the scientific community who do not agree with Aidan's findings. They question his design or the way he collected data, some of which are valid concerns. But debate is good. It will take more people looking at and tweaking Aidan's findings to come up with a solar panel design that is perfect.
And to think that it all started with a walk in the woods! Aidan Dwyer reminds us how powerful and exciting science can be, if we allow our imaginations to take flight.
Questions:
1. What do leaves and solar panels have in common? Hint: Photosynthesis
2. Most solar panels are flat and only receive direct sunlight for part of the day. How is Aiden’s design different?
3. How much better did Aiden’s design perform than standard solar panels?
4. How does the natural design of a tree help it receive energy from the sun?
5. What rewards did Aiden receive for his discovery?