Week 6

Goal: Start Construction of Solar Cells, Continue Debugging Code, and Write Final Draft

This week, the group set out to achieve multiple goals, beginning with the construction of the solar cells. Rather than order individual solar cells, the group chose to opt for a complete solar cell kit. The kit included fifteen six inch by six inch solar cells, a flux pen, a soldering iron,  and tabbing wire. All of these items are pictured below in Figure 1. Assembling the solar cells proved to be more of a challenge than initially anticipated. The instructions included in the kit were very vague and, due to the group’s lack of solar cell knowledge, were very confusing. To insure we assembled them in the proper manner, we reached out to Mohammad Nozari, a TA here at Drexel to answer a few of our questions and help guide us through the process. He is currently doing research regarding solar cells and kindly agreed to meet with us during the upcoming week.

Figure 1: Solar Cell Kit Components


In addition to beginning the solar cell construction, the group planned to continue debugging the code and getting the servos to function properly. During the previous week, the majority of the code was debugged and this process will continue throughout this week as well. Again the purpose of the servo is to take commands, and alter the position of the frame until the desired angle is achieved. Figure 2, which is the image below, pictures two of the group mates, Daria and Manon working on the code and servo.

Figure 2: Daria and Manon Working on Servo
The final deliverable that was produced this week was to write and submit a draft of our final report. This report consisted of five main sections that were split up between each of the group members. In order to determine which group member would do which section as well as discuss current status of the project, the group met for an additional hour outside of lab. During this meeting, the group concluded that the project progress still corresponds with the timeline set forth at the beginning of the term despite delays in the shipping of the kit and construction of the window.

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