9/16

After the presentation by Okamoto and our group meeting with the Spartan SuperWay as a whole, we met with Ron to discuss the future and past plans of SuperWays' power group.  Ron discussed what he has learned from former power groups and what mistakes they have made.  He recommended instead of focusing on planning, we should try to implement our ideas onto the model and see how it works.  He also gave us our first project, which is to attach the panels from last year to the full size model by 10/01.  We briefly discussed what ideas we had but do to time limitations, we were unable to agree on a plan.  We also felt that we all needed more research on mounting of a solar panel.
After some research, I felt like I was able to narrow our decisions on how to mount the panels.  Our top ideas varied from duct tape, drilling the panels, using adhesive, to using some type of clamping mechanism.  Aside from buying an actual mount for the panels which is more expensive and may be difficult to add to the current tracking system, those are probably our best options.  After some research using a clamping mechanism is our best choice.  Drilling will damage the panels and more than likely make them ineffective.  The adhesive was used before but is unreliable because on hot days the adhesive will loosen and eventually come off.  Duct tape is a quick option but very unprofessional looking and of course temporary.  I believe duct tape should be a last resort if were unable to mount the panels before our the 10/01 deadline because the panels were just going to be for show.  I believe using a clamping mechanism is the best choice because this could long term solution, however it is also the most difficult mounting method.  I have attached a picture to get idea of how it would look.  My plan is to use two sets of metal planks to mount the panels to the tracks.  The planks would clamp down the panel and we would be able to mount the planks to the tracks.  It would also be necessary to add a padding to the planks so the panels will not be damaged.  Lastly, a block would need to be added to each side of the panels in order to stop the panels from coming inward.