Project Sunflower

Schematic of Prototype Project Sunflower
Prototype Project Sunflower

Inspiration

From electric cars to rocket engines, the world is becoming increasingly electric. When looking at the best way to power these systems, we found solar to be the most reliable as its use in residential areas most directly applies to us and our community.

What it does

Project Sunflower is a prototype for a solar panel gimbal, which rotates the panel to optimize energy reception. Along with the prototype, our website promotes the benefits of solar energy and offers next steps for users looking to potential invest in solar architecture around their homes

How we built it

Our gimbal prototype was built using an Arduino to process light sensory information and control the servo motors. It uses the difference in light levels between two sensors to rotate the hypothetical panel (made with cardboard) accordingly. We created the website using Django for backend development, Pythonanywhere to dynamically host the website, HTML/CSS for frontend development, and Notability for UI/UX design.

Challenges we ran into

Time management was the biggest issue, as it led to us not being able to incorporate all the features we desired in the website. Furthermore, utilizing all of Django's novel abilities that we were less familiar with proved to be even more time-consuming.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of successfully implementing our panel's gimbal motor system, as well as employing various images and animations to enhance our website.

What we learned

On the technical side, we learned more about Django's main features (such as polling forms, displaying html files, and the like) in addition to learning how to send data across serial channels in an Arduino. Beyond that, we expanded our skills in time management and persuasive writing as we aimed to incorporate elements of ethos, pathos, and logos in our final product.

What's next for Project Sunflower

In the near future, Project Sunflower hopes to expand solar gimbals to residential communities to improve panel efficiency and wattage output. By acting as promotional material, the website can help draw in investors sympathetic to expanding solar architecture and give rise to a more sustainable, truly futuristic community.