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Students from
middle school through college have won first prize at their science fairs by having fun and letting their imaginations run wild
with the Picoturbine Educational Windmill Kit for
energy science fair projects.
Here are 20 renewable energy science fair project ideas that will help you to generate outstanding renewable energy
science fair project ideas and experiments.
Before we begin let's look at safety precautions:
NEW - See Money-Saving PicoTurbine Educational Windmill Kit 10-Pack Case. Perfect for Schools, Organizations & Clubs!
Now let's move on and have fun with renewable energy science fair project ideas... which one interests you the most?
I imagine you are very creative and can think of even more ingenius experiments after reading the following ideas.
Remember to measure and record your results in Excel and graphs and charts.
- Test different blade configurations. Because PicoTurbine
uses paper and cardboard it is easy
to construct alternative blades. By changing the shape of the blades, what happens to the efficiency? You can use a fan
or hair dryer at a fixed distance to make your comparisons. You can use a digital voltmeter to take exact measurements of
each blade profile's effectivenss.
Or, if you have a multimeter / voltmeter (they cost about $10 - $15), you can see at what distance the light / LED glows from the fan.
The farther away, the better the blade works.
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Test different size PicoTurbine blades: Narrower ones. Wider ones. Taller ones. Shorter ones. Then measure the
power output as you did in the above experiment. Or measure how much power is required to start
the blades to move (start-up speed) by
measuring the distance of the fan / hair dryer from the blades and watch when the rotor starts up. Record your results.
- Why must the coils be positioned clockwise or counterclockwise?
- The PicoTurbine DC Experiments Kit is an inexpensive adjunct to the
PicoTurbine Windmill Kit that will give you lots of additional testing options.
- What are the advantages or disadvantages of the design or size of the blades?
- Test different generator components.
- Compare alternator designs. Try an alternator with
4 magnets. With
2 magnets.
With 2 coils. With 4 coils. Try different distances between the coils and the magnets. Measure the output of the
PicoTurbine
and make a graph of the results.
- What are the effects of different wind speeds with various blade configurations? Different generator components?
- With the use of a multimeter / Voltmeter (available at Radio Shack or click here to order online), take measurements
of electric output and use a
PC spreadsheet program with SmartDraw and Excel to produce charts and graphs of the results for your renewable energy science fair project ideas report.
Include a multimeter / voltmeter
with your renewable energy science fair project ideas.
- Turn the selector on the digital multimeter / voltmeter to read Volts AC. The meter will not detect the number of volts
of alternativing current your turbine produces.
- Attach the test clips on the voltmeter to the wire leads on your turbine
- Blow on the turbine to cause it to spin. Have another person help you by watching the readings on the display
of the meter.
Read and record your results. You should be able to produce between one and two volts by blowing on the turbine.
Then you know that
you have a well designed one.
A more accurate way of measuring your turbine is to use a hair blow dryer, setting the heat control to "cool"
or a vaccuum cleaner with the hose plugged into the discharge end.
This will produce a consistent flow of energy. Then measure the different voltage on the
multimeter / voltmeter.
- By changing the blade design, you can measure the efficiency of your turbine. Or look for the sources
of friction that
will either slow down or speed the rotation. Or bring the coils closer or further away from the spinning magnets.
Or use different size magnets and
measure and record the difference between them.
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What is the difference between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC)? What are the advantages /
disadvantages of each in relation to particular situations?
Solar / Renewable Energy Science Fair Project Ideas
- Connect PV cells in series or in parallel and measure voltage and current under different sunlight intensities.
To control your variables a bright lamp can be used. You can use different kind of bulbs to measure the different
effects. Measure and record the differences.
- Graph the power output at different angles. You can use a plastic protractor to measure the angle of the
cell relative to the light source.
Hybrid Renewable Energy Science Fair Project Ideas
- Experiment with renewable energy science fair project ideas by creating a minature "hybrid" energy power plant. Combine solar cells and
a small windmill kit.
You can graphically demonstrate the complementary nature of these two free power sources.
In many parts of the world, When it is winter the wind is more intense and the sun shines less.
And the opposite is true in the summer. How about this for a science fair project hypothesis...
A combination of solar and wind
yields more consistant energy output.
- Do the above experiments with the different design and shape of the blades.
Is there a difference when you have a hybrid run windmill? Advantages? Disadvantages?
- For the more advanced student... when using the
energy science fair projects windmill kit,
the alternator can be modified to run off of water power.
So... do you think you can do something more interesting than a volcano! Certainly
renewable energy science fair project ideas are more interesting and you may even win first prize by coming up
with an idea that will contribute to the environment.
We would love your renewable energy science fair project ideas.
Please send them to info(at)super-science-fair-projects.com.
Replace the (at) with @ .
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