{"id":175849,"date":"2021-08-10T07:10:43","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T11:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=175849"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:14:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:14:05","slug":"uconn-will-soon-have-a-solar-tree-thanks-to-interdisciplinary-group-of-faculty-and-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/08\/uconn-will-soon-have-a-solar-tree-thanks-to-interdisciplinary-group-of-faculty-and-students\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Will Soon Have a ‘Solar Tree,’ Thanks to Interdisciplinary Group of Faculty and Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most Americans are familiar with the sight of a solar panel on a house or in a field. They know what solar power is, but may not really have a direct experience with using it.<\/p>\n

An interdisciplinary group of UConn faculty and students are looking to change that by constructing a “solar tree” and installing it in on campus.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A solar tree usually consists of a metal base that supports panels to look like an actual tree. The solar power generated from the panels is stored in batteries, which allows users to charge personal electronic devices, like mobile phones. The technology is common in Europe and Asia, with growing numbers of solar trees in the US.<\/p>\n

The UConn project is known as a \u201cSTEAM\u201d tree<\/a> because it combines the skills of University members from science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest attractor of this project for me is getting to work with a group of people that I really didn\u2019t know before and to work with people across different divisions,\u201d says Chris Sancomb, an assistant professor in the newly created Industrial Design program in the School of Fine Arts. \u201cWork like this was one of the reasons I came to UConn as a faculty member.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UConn solar tree is currently being constructed in a studio in the School of Fine Arts Building, and a site for the tree on campus is still being finalized. The hope is that the tree will be ready for use on campus sometime in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see this solar tree as a combination of artistic design, engineering design, and a social gathering place,\u201d says Jasna Jankovic, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who initiated the idea of a solar tree on the UConn Storrs campus.<\/p>\n

Although there are a few other solar trees on university campuses, it is believed that UConn\u2019s solar tree will be the first on a college campus in the United States constructed solely by university faculty and students. Also, it will be the only portable solar tree that can be fully disassembled and reassembled, to be placed in various locations on and off campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolar power is a distant thing that you can sort of see, but you don\u2019t actually benefit from directly,\u201d says Sancomb. \u201cWe thought it would be useful with the tree to show a direct correlation between the solar energy generated and your ability to access it. So, our tree is designed so that people can walk right up to it and plug in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tree will have a dozen USB ports, and is almost completely made up of structural aluminum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are building the tree by cutting, welding, and bending, and using a lot of different kinds of fabricating,\u201d says Sancomb. \u201cWe are also using 3-D printing here and there for samples, and proof concepts that will later be manufactured out of aluminum. It is all made here on campus and the material has been sourced locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funding for the solar tree came from a UConn STEAM Innovation Grant, while batteries and solar panels were donated by Renogy.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe imagine that the tree will be both a gathering place, and also a place where outdoor lectures can happen or even virtual lessons, where students can access their lessons through solar power,\u201d says Jankovic.<\/p>\n

The use of batteries in the solar tree is an important part of educating people about solar power.<\/p>\n

\u201cSunlight is not all that consistent to provide electricity, so we store energy to batteries and the electricity to the charging ports,\u201d says Sung Yeul Park, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.<\/p>\n

As the tree is being constructed, various sites on campus are being considered for optimal use.<\/p>\n

UConn graduate student Michelle Skowronek ’20 (CLAS) is currently working on her masters of public administration degree, and did research into criteria like visibility, accessibility, walkability, the number of people that would pass the tree, and traffic flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cA group of us got together and identified probably half a dozen good sites on campus,\u201d says Cindy Jones, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.<\/p>\n

The professors believe that a collaborative project like the solar tree will be the start of more projects like it at UConn, and will assist in their teaching and research. The tree will serve research as a “living lab,” and will enable the faculty and students to perform research with the tree – in areas like materials science, arts, biology, engineering, and social science.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe education and research component are, beside the social place-making, the most important aspect of the tree,\u201d says Jankovic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work I have done just in my individual area will have a huge teaching aspect,\u201d says Sancomb. \u201cThere are parts that I have generated that I can show students, and show them how I got to that point and show them a decision-making process. The solar tree is a great teaching tool for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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