Back in April I started a project that I decided to conclude today. The project was an effort to experiment with solar energy and energy consumption. I promoted this project as an example of what educators might find a way to explore both electricity and clean energy.
Here is a brief overview. I have a gazebo outside my house and I like to read and write in this structure when the temperature in Minnesota permits. Some years ago I purchased a solar panel and the equipment necessary to save the power generated from this panel to a battery and convert the DC to AC for use. I did very little with the equipment, but in April I purchased a device allowing the recording of the amount of energy flowing through an outlet. I decided to make use of my solar equipment to power my laptop and Amazon Echo when spending time reading and writing in this gazebo. The details of the equipment are described in the initial post.
Today, I took the final readings to conclude the project. During the 187 hours I spent in the gazebo, I used 3.43 kilowatts of energy. The value of this electricity is about $.35. Laptops and the Echo are inexpensive to operate.
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