Well done to Joseph and his school, St. Joseph’s College, Co. Tipperary for all the effort and hard work! Here’s what Joseph had to say about his winning project:
“The main purpose of the ‘Solar Sleeve’ is to make the energy production from Wind Turbines and the existing grids on site more productive, by doubling the functionality of them by adding photovoltaic cells to the tower. The reason why it would be doubling the functionality, is because not only would the wind turbine be harvesting wind energy but it would be harvesting solar energy too.
The idea for my project came about when I heard my dad complain that the turbines on his land were not producing electricity because there was no wind. I brainstormed for a while and came up with the idea of doubling the functionality of the turbines by installing photo-voltaic cells to the tower. This would mean that even if there was no wind during the day, the photo-voltaic cells could harvest the light and therefore make electricity. I told my dad about the idea and he said it was great, not just because it would utilise space on the turbine, but it would save a lot of money because of the already in place grid connection.”
Category: Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences
School: St. Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary
Project Title: Solar Sleeve
Teacher: Mary McGrory (Chemistry and Physics)
