Online Solar Home Challenge

Half enclosed green house with a grey water system. The green house was modeled to fit the needs to an average resident in Gill. A place to grow food and interact.

The McDuck Manor powers the urban metropolis known as Duckburg, fueling every need and desire of the citizens. Since Mr. McDuck owns the panels, the amount of money located in his bin is constantly growing without him lifting a finger. With everyone relying on his clean, reliable power.

Our group is called the ViBRAINiums and we are making a solar-powered home themed and based on the hit MCU cinematic movies, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Vibranium is a powerful, high-energy conducting ore that will be represented by the constantly-scanning solar panel for the greatest amount of light energy received to power our solar home.

The Sentinel-01 is a fully custom, 3D-printed solar house designed and built by Energy Optix, a five-person team from Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, Georgia. It features a dual-axis solar tracking system controlled by a BBC micro:bit, which reads voltage from two solar panels in series to scan and find the optimal light-facing position. Compact enough to fit within a one-foot cube, the Sentinel-01 demonstrates how intelligent, active solar tracking can maximize renewable energy harvest in a small, self-sufficient home.

This project has a cyberpunk theme, containing motorized solar panels to ensure maximum energy efficiency. Voltage input from the solar panels allow it to automatically position itself using servos to face the strongest source of light to ensure the best utilization of the sun's energy. This project has a futuristic look and feel while creating an efficient source of renewable energy.

Deep in the forest, the Sun-eaters' abandoned power plant brings sanctuary to plants and animal life with structure, stability, and power produced from its Solar-Flower. The Sun-eaters’ abandoned power plant’s original purpose in the world was to provide power to people, but now that it’s rundown and abandoned by its creators, it uses its power of solar energy to give the plants and animals it hosts the security they need to survive. The design of the power plant was made to fit in with its surroundings and with the moss and scattered rocks from years of abandonment it has become one with its forested surroundings. The loss of habitats and deforestation is a real problem for animals and plants alike.

We were tasked with building a structure that consisted of servos and solar panels. Our goal was to combine engineering and computer science concepts to create a design that maximized efficiency from the solar panels we were given. The main challenge of the project was making a design that allowed the solar panels to function while the sun changed locations.

Project Overload is an engaging group activity that helps students understand circuits and solar panel technology. It also connects to concepts like the flow of electrons, linking ideas from chemistry. Through this project, students can apply their knowledge to real-world situations.

The Sol Castle is a solar-powered building designed to support sustainable energy needs in Sugar Hill. The project utilizes geometry, circuit design, and coding to track sunlight, maximize power output, and manage energy efficiently. The design demonstrates how renewable energy systems can provide reliable electricity through the use of solar panels.

The solar project includes servos to move solar panels to a position with the best sunlight. To move the servos, engineers are required to design, wire and construct the panel holders to fit onto the power plant base. The computer scientists are required to write code to move the panels, which works accordingly with the final design produced by the group.

This project was completed to allow students at our school to see butterflies either in passing, or through scheduled visits. The idea for this project came from our school’s Green Club which all three of our team members are a proud part of. This project demonstrates one of a plethora of uses for clean energy.

The solar home is called the Breezy Bee, With honeybees in almost a free fall decline we wanted to find a way to bolster hive production and provide a helpful hand to level off and eventually invert the decline. We built the Breezy Bee which vents our hive using a servo motor. We also built the Bee Booster package which waters gardens and provides a clean water source for bees.

The Two Time Laboratory was created to show that environmental science can help people by reducing the amount of non-renewable resources used. It features a main house with a lab, a shed for gardening, and a toxic waste filtration plant powered by solar power. The laboratory has a double function, as it also serves as their home, which is why its name is Two Time Laboratory!

We chose a beach house design because we thought it would be fun to create, we had the supplies needed to build it available and incorporating renewable energy into a home along the beach would have the least amount of negative impact on the local ecology and environment.

Our project is a solar-powered smart greenhouse. The greenhouse is controlled by an Arduino, powered by solar-charged nickel metal-hydride batteries, which monitors its temperature and humidity. With its knowledge of humidity and temperature, it can raise and lower the roof and water the plants to care for them.

Our project is a city, powered entirely by solar panels that sit on top of 2 different buildings. The main solar structure is the apartment that features an LCD screen. The city also consists of lampposts that use LED lights to imitate real street lights.

Our Pollinator Palace is designed to be a sanctuary for pollinators especially including butterflies and bees. We used 5 long solar panels to power both an emergency light and a fountain water pump. Overall this garden is a sustainable home for insects of all kinds.