Flash Education: Renewable Energy Overview

Click on the above screenshot to see the Flash animation. This interactive tells a story in pictures and words about three of the major types of renewable energy. The aim is to provide an accessible overview of hydro, wind and solar photovoltaic power generation.

Silicon doping in solar cells

Doped Silicon: This basic flash file I made illustrates how solar cells are made by adding tiny impurities of Gp III and GP V elements to silicon (GP IV element). [Use the keys at the bottom to navigate] The results in an electric field being formed across the p-n junction. Without the built-in electric field [...]

Measuring light with a data logger

  Aim of the Activity Students have 20 minutes to investigate visible light intensity (measured in “lux”) using a data logger with a built-in light sensor. Two aspects will be investigated (by separate sub-groups?)- How changing angle of the sensor to the light source affects light intensity (keep distance constant). How changing distance from the [...]

Thermal Modeling for Environmentally Sustainable Design

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”, and the saying is also true for buildings. To model a building is to plan and refine its performance for the future. The Tas program is one of the software platforms used by engineers and building scientists to model how a building might typically behave in any [...]

Thermal Modeling of an Auckland House using SunREL

Using SunREL* to model a hypothetical house to see the effect of windows/glazing on solar gain, the amount of incoming solar energy into the house which leads to heating of the internal zones. To model a building you must specify all aspects of the building- its dimensions, the orientation of the walls, the positions of [...]