13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance





     Thirteen year old Aidan Dwyer was walking in the woods in Upstate New York in the winter and noticed a spiral pattern to tree branches. Aidan realized the tree branches and leaves had a mathematical spiral pattern that could be shown as a fraction. After some research he also realized the mathematical fractions were the same numbers as the Fibonacci sequence. "On the oak tree, the Fibonacci fraction is 2/5, which means that the spiral takes five branches to spiral two times around the trunk to complete one pattern. Other trees with the Fibonacci leaf arrangement are the elm tree (1/2); the beech (1/3); the willow (3/8) and the almond tree (5/13)."*



Aidan's backyard in Northport, NY.


     The 7th grader next wondered why nature used such a pattern? He concluded trees do so to collect maximum sunlight. So, he constructed two side by side solar arrays - one a typical flat-panel array that was mounted at 45 degrees, and the second, a solar array based on the Fibonacci pattern of an oak tree. He put both outside facing south. To his amazement, during the month of December, the tree design made 50% more electricity, and the collection time of sunlight was up to 50% longer than the flat panel array!






     Aidan discovered that the Fibonacci pattern helps deciduous trees, in higher latitudes, efficiently track the Sun and collect the most sunlight even in the thickest forest, on the cloudiest days. If an object blocks the light to a flat panel array, the array stops producing energy. But, the Fibonacci pattern allows some solar 'leaves' to collect sunlight, while some 'leaves' are in shade. Plus, the Fibonacci pattern helps the branches and leaves on a tree to avoid shading each other. Snow and debris slide off as well. Aidan is currently building tree arrays based on the other Fibonacci patterns of the elm, beech, willow and almond trees. He questions; is one pattern more efficient than another?






The American Museum of Natural History has awarded Aidan a Young Naturalist Award for 2011.


See the detailed description of his discoveries on the Museum's website: *www.amnh.org


Postscript: A science blog "The Capacity Factor" (which has since been taken off the web) has raised questions as to the methods used in Aidan's test. Although the American Museum of Natural History stands by its award, scientists have questioned why Aidan did not measure power outputs from the solar cells, instead he only measured voltage, without a load attached ("open circuit"). Also in question is his use of sub-optimal angles on the tree. See: www.theatlanticwire.com


 

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Showing comments 1 to 50 of 68 | Next | Last

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #68 on : Sat May 05, 2012, 02:54:32

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I am yet to read one accurate description of the concept of voltage, current or power from the comments below. God bless America.

Jean-Claude St. Clair
Posts: 68

RE:Too infinitely complex to be random or formed by an explosion
Reply #67 on : Thu May 03, 2012, 18:06:46

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You are over simplifying a very complex process. This is the result of millions of years of evolution. Crack open a science book.

Je vous prie d'agréer,
Jean-Claude

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Too infinitely complex to be random or formed by an explosion
Reply #66 on : Mon April 30, 2012, 14:14:21

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And this alone is proof that there HAS to be a higher existence that made all of this.. it's simply FAR too complex to have happened by Chance or some random explosion.

Interested
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #65 on : Mon April 30, 2012, 12:51:25

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THE KID IS 13 PEOPLE!! I hope he digs more into this and gets rich off the patent! Regardless of the amps vs. voltage arguement, unique experiments need to be retested to prove the results. When was the last time anyone did someone new, perfectly, the first time? I'm sure lessons were learned and future tests will satisfy the critics!

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #64 on : Mon April 30, 2012, 06:59:55

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I like how people like to say, oh he is 13 he could have never done any of this stuff. Why? Because YOU couldn't do stuff like that? When I was 13 I was taking apart electronics seeing how they worked and putting them back together. It's called being more educated, simply because you didn't have such a good education doesn't mean everyone else didn't.

Electronics major
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #63 on : Mon April 30, 2012, 06:56:38

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To all of the people saying his results don't show more power, you are incorrect. volts are the amount of power there are while current is the ease and speed of the energy, hence why it is called CURRENT. It is also why we rate batteries on their VOLTAGE not their amperage. Yes it is the amperage that will kill someone at a much lower number, but this is because of its speed the body can't keep up. Voltage can kill you but it will need a very high voltage to do so, this is also why we have high voltage warnings. Remember Amperage is the result voltage divided by the resistance (Ohms law).

Eugene
Posts: 68

I wonder if...
Reply #62 on : Sun April 29, 2012, 21:44:06

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If the Fibonacci pattern were also incorporated into a vertical windmill, also generating electricity, could the output be increased?

joe
Posts: 68

this guy
Reply #61 on : Sun April 29, 2012, 20:50:14

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gimp

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #60 on : Sun April 29, 2012, 11:50:39

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i wish my dad had helped me with my 7th grade science project. :(

Not-An-Idiot
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #59 on : Sat April 28, 2012, 13:39:33

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Oh crap someone's disproving a scientific test, lets just call them trolls and tell them to get a life...

Nelbertq
Posts: 68

Instead of sniping ...
Reply #58 on : Sat April 28, 2012, 07:59:59

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To Dan about Reply 54: yes current is that which kills but voltage is the energy (energy per unit charge).
In a further test, it would be useful to plot both voltage and current (the product of which is power).
To Cool-Proxy.net: nice armchair quarterbacking. The logic you seemed to miss is the construction based on the Fibonacci series - the pattern found in tree leaves. So the idea was to see if nature's design was efficient and if that efficiency might me replicated in the design.

Mfd78
Posts: 68

Ummm...
Reply #57 on : Sat April 28, 2012, 05:17:19

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Isn't the "tree" just getting more reflected light from the wall?

Cool-proxy.net
Posts: 68

Cool-proxy.net
Reply #56 on : Fri April 27, 2012, 17:04:32

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Nice to hear that young generation is thinking and experimenting. Of course the boy did the experiment wrong (at least the results are wrong and there is no logic behind them), but it's nice that he's trying. It takes only a lot of trying to figure out something ingenious.

Tone
Posts: 68

What I was doing in 7th grade
Reply #55 on : Fri April 27, 2012, 13:18:58

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Pretty amazing considering what most 7th graders do these days

Dan
Posts: 68

And just another FYI
Reply #54 on : Fri April 27, 2012, 12:58:15

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Just to reiterate what I said below, it only takes 50 - 100mA to kill you, that's regardless of voltage. Voltage doesn't kill current (aka Amps) do. Voltage can make it easier for a current to pass through you but in the end, the current is the true power behind electricity. While there is no proof shown on this page that the tree design produced twice as much power, the voltage graph does not disprove it either.

Dan
Posts: 68

To the haters:
Reply #53 on : Fri April 27, 2012, 12:48:44

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You should read the page again. The fact that the solar panels produced 5.25v as opposed to 4.4v or 4.1v is not the evidence that it produced twice as much power. Volts don't equal the amount of power, amps do. To make it simple, imagine electricity is water. Volts equal the water pressure and amps equal the flow rate of the water. Here is a website that explains it more. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question501.htm Anyway, don't be so quick to judge things that you don't fully understand.

Dan
Posts: 68

Awesome
Reply #52 on : Fri April 27, 2012, 12:41:59

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This is just awesome! Aidan, you're a great thinker. Nature has so many examples of efficient design and we should all take note of this like you have. Don't listen to the haters out there, they just have nothing better to do with their time than be negative. Great job!

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #51 on : Thu April 26, 2012, 15:03:07

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The article says that the oak tree design yielded 50% more electricity, yet the kid's own graph shows that it was only more efficient by 1.24 volts. This is only a 30% percent increase in power. Furthermore, this clever seventh grader has skewed the graph shown to make it appear as if the oak tree solar panel yields way more electricity than the standard model. If the voltage increments on the y axis started at 0 volts instead of 4, the difference in size between the two bars in the graph would not nearly be as huge.

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #50 on : Thu April 26, 2012, 08:21:01

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The tree has more cells than the flat sheet from what I can see. That would account for the voltage difference. It is correct that in the end power is all that really matter and would need to be measured. The use of scientific method is excited. Now he just needs someone with a grant to build on his work. Thinking about it the theory isn't that valid. The trees compete with each other where solar panels wouldn't. It would be interesting to how an array of these things interact.

danarthur
Posts: 68

@austin metcalf
Reply #49 on : Wed April 25, 2012, 19:38:19

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I hope you were joking when you said to create a virus that destroys all current plants, allowing the genetically engineered plants to replace them.....if you knew anything about biology at all you would understand everything living revolves around the producers.

austin metcalf
Posts: 68

That's all fine and dandy, but...
Reply #48 on : Wed April 25, 2012, 17:17:15

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Why not create an artificial gene or set of genes that turn trees into better conductors and causes trees to naturally produce similar chemicals to those found in solar panels, and then create a virus that targets all of the existing plants in the world. If at 13 you're already nerdy enough to do all of this, then by the time you finish college with multiple degrees in botany, organic chem, and chemical engineering, then it will be easy to do all that. Shoot for the stars enough times, and you'll eventually learn enough to make it there.

Sean
Posts: 68

Shenanigans
Reply #47 on : Wed April 25, 2012, 08:49:27

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During the month of December, deciduous trees don't have their leaves. At least not in the northern hemisphere.

M0ARb0ar
Posts: 68

Shenanigans.
Reply #46 on : Wed April 25, 2012, 03:41:49

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Calling bullshit the kid did this. Not the fact he saw a attention in nature, or the fact he happened to know fibbonaccis numbers at 13 or even so much he had the technical capability to construct this or even graph it out when most kids are learning algebra and geometries. Family involvement. zShenanigans has been called!

TM
Posts: 68

Great Job
Reply #45 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 19:56:39

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Props young man! We need people like you for the future!

Forrest
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #44 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 13:53:21

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The negative feedback probably has less to do with the project itself, but rather the hyped "amazing-breakthrough" that is being attributed to it by bloggers NOT THE KID.

This is not a revolutionary design, but it IS an interesting bridge between nature and technology.

To the kid - Good job - keep up on the discoveries.

To the bloggers - don't get so over-hyped about this stuff - green tech does NOT always = better tech.

Brandon
Posts: 68

Awesome
Reply #43 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 12:58:06

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What this kid has done is amazing. He's got a fresh perspective on the world that is going to bring him to the top of whatever field he decides upon studying. Mocking his methods, graphs, etc. is laughable. He's still a kid; he's supposed to make mistakes. It doesn't make his achievement any less impressive.

The wonderful part is that some of you trolls will probably be working for this kid someday.

asdfoih
Posts: 68

Surface
Reply #42 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 11:35:59

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There also seem to be more cells on the tree than on the roof.

Ish
Posts: 68

Amazing
Reply #41 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 11:31:30

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For a kid, He sure has amazing soldering, welding and electrical skills.

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #40 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 08:59:45

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Wow, can we remember this is a 13 year old kid? There is a lot of harsh feedback in here. I'm not saying we should take his research as fact at this point, more studies should be done in more controlled environments, but I feel that anyone who is finding fault in his spelling or his layout of his graph is just sad that they haven't accomplished as much in their adult life as this person has in a mere 13 years on this planet. We should applaud him for getting out there and trying something new instead of criticizing him.

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #39 on : Tue April 24, 2012, 06:41:20

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What a bright young man. It sounds like he just advanced the science of solar energy in a major way.

kitster
Posts: 68

@31 - Spelling's not everything.
Reply #38 on : Mon April 23, 2012, 14:00:40

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At some point in the near future he'll be able to hire a whole department of English majors (like me) to spell 'solstice' for him while he comes up with new ideas to save the world.

Ptite Gossse
Posts: 68

sub-optimal angles
Reply #37 on : Mon April 23, 2012, 13:51:47

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"Also in question is his use of sub-optimal angles on the tree."

Yeah that was the FIRST thing that crossed my mind too. Cuz any grade 7 knows that.

Wordguy
Posts: 68

Upstate...
Reply #36 on : Mon April 23, 2012, 12:11:48

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Anonymous (Reply #34):
It says he was walking Upstate when he noticed the pattern. It then references his backyard in Northport (Long Island), where he built the models. Nowhere does it contend that Long Island is part of Upstate NY. No need to be offended.
Sincerely,
From Long Island, not Buffalo. And impressed with this kid, regardless.

john
Posts: 68

solar array
Reply #35 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 23:02:15

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ride on kid,good job

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #34 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 22:40:49

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Smart kid. I am very impressed!!


side note: Being from the Buffalo area i am offended by your reference that Long Island is part of "Upstate NY".

xeriscaping
Posts: 68

http://www.isustainableearth.com/water-conservation/xeriscaping-can-help-save-money-on-your-water-bi
Reply #33 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 22:16:17

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I don't know him but I love him. These are the types of things that give you hope that our next generations will be ok.

Alex
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #32 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 16:48:32

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In keeping with being inspired by nature, maybe the different designs have different efficiencies on different parts of the globe, and that's why different trees have different sequences.

That and probably the personal preferences of their DNA

Cheetull
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #31 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 16:28:11

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So, he can come up with this ingenious design using an incredible observation and quality of execution, but doesn't realize he spelled "solstice" wrong.

Erin
Posts: 68

Blown Away
Reply #30 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 15:04:52

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Aidan, this is amazing. It is things like this that keep my faith in humanity alive! Keep working on this and any other ideas that come to your mind, you have a real future ahead of you!

Katya
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #29 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 13:25:15

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WOW that's amazing! Now to utilize it!

Joel
Posts: 68

Amazing!
Reply #28 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 12:43:03

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Truly freaking amazing. Goes to show just how valuable a truly fresh perspective can be.

Ex2bot
Posts: 68

Go to It
Reply #27 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 12:01:36

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Clever research!

Len
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #26 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 07:47:25

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Well done Aidan. Keep on thinking.

PrepositionJoe
Posts: 68

Interestingly...
Reply #25 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 07:34:39

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Alan Turing was working on this kind of thing (the mathematics of biology) toward the end of his career.

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #24 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 05:18:35

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Oh, I didn't realize the Nobel Prize panel was on here to critique this kid's work. Please, show us all how knowledgeable you are by pointing out the flaws in this 13 year old's science project.

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #23 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 04:10:22

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Congratulations to Aidan.

For a thirteen year-old to recognise how a quirk of nature can be applied to a modern day problem, devise a scientific testing method and produce coherent and significant results is fantastic.

As Drew mentions the graph is a snapshot of voltage at a particular time not an indication of power produced over time.

I'm certain that as Aidan progresses he will refine his methods, improve efficiency further and go on to bigger and better things. The trolls on this forum however will continue to languish in their homes attempting (and failing) to pick apart the work of greater, more intelligent people whilst contributing nothing to society.

Before making any negative comments you should at least read the full story: http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2011/aidan.html

Colin
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #22 on : Sun April 22, 2012, 03:44:32

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I was literally just thinking about this yesterday before ever seeing anything about this. I just StumbleUpon'ed this. How odd is that? Only took me twice as long to think about the same thing! lol

Anonymous
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #21 on : Sat April 21, 2012, 16:14:28

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This would work better if we could incorporate leaves'' heliotropism so that the solar panels moved the face the sunlight at a more direct angle.

Mark
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #20 on : Sat April 21, 2012, 12:11:28

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uhh the efficiency is actually improved by roughly 16% not 50% also im not sure this is even statistically significant.

I admire this boys observant skills and he doubtlessly has a great future a head of him.

however this article fails to prevent an unbiased view of the findings. Personally I think we need to weigh the benefits of 16% increased efficiency vs the increased production costs and increase in space used. Making many small solar pannels in an array like it is described is many probably more expensive than the small gain in efficiency

explosive diarrhea
Posts: 68

Re: 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance
Reply #19 on : Sat April 21, 2012, 11:03:49

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I'm impressed with his skills as a welder and electrician.

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