MATH SA

Tanvi Agarwal
What are solar panels?
◦ The sun emits about 3.86 x 1026 watts
of energy at any time of the day which
10000 times more power then the
whole planet uses.
◦ Is there a way of using this energy for
our daily electric needs? The answer is
yes and it can be done using a solar
panel
◦ A solar panel absorbs the energy from
the suns rays and uses it to generate
electricity
 The positioning of a solar panel
Based on the rules the area I chose in the school is the roof
area right on top of the atrium because:

RUL
 The roof is the only place where there is no chance of
any shadow blocking the rays as no faculty member or
 The position of the solar panel student goes up there.

ES
depends on the amount of
sunlight available because solar
energy is unevenly distributed.
 It also provides an additional shade.
 It also has enough space for the panel of face south
 The area of the roof allows multiple solar panels to be
It also requires a shadow free
space. added incase the efficiency of one panel is challenged
because of the sunlight being reflected instead of
 In order to absorb maximum
energy it needs to face south
absorbed
otherwise the angle of the ray  The area can accommodate a commercial solar panels
falling would be the same which is 1.98 by 0.99 meters in dimension and
because India is in the northern produces 4.4-4.7 kWh of electricity per day which is
hemisphere. enough to support schools electricity needs
 The size of the panel depends on
the power usage of the school.
 Scale:1cm=100cm

BLUEPRINT BIRD VIEW

12.5cm
1cm represents 1m

HUMAN EYE 15.12°

VIEW angle
tilt

1.98c
m

SENIOR BLOCK
Junior block

12.5cm
12.5cm
12.5cm 0.99cm

1.98cm
1.98cm
• For a fixed tilt since the
latitude is below 25 1.98cm 1.98cm
17.3850*0.87

0.99cm
degrees as it is 17.3850° N,

0.99cm
we need to multiply it by =15.12°
0.87 to get an optimum 1.98cm 1.98cm

1.98cm
angle.

1.98cm
0.99cm

12.5cm
Why use solar panels?
Predictions
 Maths and solar panels?
Trigonometry Geometry
• Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics • Geometry is concerned with shapes lines and
dealing with the relationship between angles properties of points.
• An angle is an important part of geometry; when
and sides of triangle.
two lines meet at a point they form an angle
• Sine, Cosine and tangent are trigonometric
• Angles can be used for designs roads, buildings and
ratios
athletes use it to enhance their performance.
• We use the tangent method in order to find the • In the designing of a solar I used angles twice:
maximum length of a shadow cast by a solar 1. In order to ensure that the solar panel absorbs
panel.
Theta angle 49 of sun maximum amount of solar energy it was crucial to
• degrees Rayto add another
This is helpful if we want panel right
90 degrees find the optimum tilt angle.
• It ensures that Hthere is no overlappingangle
of 2. In order to find the distance if another solar panel
shadows.
1.5m

O fan was to be added it was necessary to find the

Tan(Theta)= distance of the shadow cast by the first fan so that
A O/A there is no overlapping. To do this geometry’s
concept of angle was used to find the angle the ray