Sunday, May 19, 2013

Dan Lepinski's Solar Shuttle


Dan Lepinksi, a pioneer in the field of solar energy, demonstrated his Solar Shuttle, DEFINITION, and gave a powerpoint presentation about solar energy. After briefly introducing himself and the giving an overview of the Solar Shuttle, the class went to the back parking lot at the UT Arlington Fort Worth Center to take a look at his heavily-modified trailer with solar cells.

Mr. Lepinski first became interested in solar energy when he worked on a prize-winning sixth grade science fair project. Although he won the science fair, one of his teachers commented that solar energy was too expensive and not practical, which motivated Mr. Lepinski to spend his life experimenting with solar energy and finding ways to make it more mainstream.

One of the projects he worked on was a contraption that converted solar energy to AC power which could be used during an emergency or disaster when the power grid fails. 




The Fort Worth Police Department had become aware of Mr. Lepinki's device at a MayFest celebration and in 2005 requested to use it during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. They accomplished this by housing the regulators, batteries, and inverters inside of a horse trailer and putting the solar panels on the roof and side wall of said horse trailer. After his equipment was returned to him, Mr. Lepinski started to donate his "Solar Shuttle" for other emergencies and began demonstrating it to the public as one of the more practical uses of solar energy.

The Solar Shuttle is a heavily modified horse trailer with reinforced walls and a set of photovoltaic panels attached to the roof and driver's side wall. The inside of the Solar Shuttle consists of photovoltaic(solar) panels, boxes that regular power into batteries, specially made batteries, and inverters (DC to AC power convertors).

Sunlight is converted to electricity when it hits the solar panels. This electricity is then regulated before current is passed to the batteries. The batteries then store the electricity until it is used. When someone plugs something into one of the AC outlets, power from the batteries is converted from direct current to alternating current.

After demonstrating the Solar Shuttle and answering student questions, the class returned to the classroom, where Mr. Lepinski gave a powerpoint presentation about solar energy. He explained the different types of photovoltaic cells, such as rooftop panels for electricity, panels for hot water heating, transparent cells for skylights and flexible cells used for powering smaller devices like cell phone chargers. If a solar panel, such as a rooftop panel for electricity, is applied over existing building elements, it is considered BAPV, business applied photovoltaic glass. If the photovoltaic glass replaces another building element, like when a transparent solar panel replaces a skylight, it is called BIPV, or business integrated photovoltaic glass.

Mr Lepinski also dispelled several myths about solar power concerning their aesthetics and cost. Rather than being an eyesore, newer panels can be made less conspicuous by coloring the glass or by shaping them to match roof tiles or shingles. With federal, state, and local tax incentives solar panels can actually be more cost effective than using only grid electricity, especially over the long term.


I have to admit that before Mr. Lepinski's presentation, I had the same stereotype about solar energy as his sixth grade teacher: that it is too expensive to be economically viable. However, Lepinski gave a lot of evidence to the contrary. I was not aware, for example, that solar panel prices have decreased dramatically in the past few years and that a system can be set up on a home for as little as $8,000, before tax credits and other incentives. It was also surprising to find that the government subsidizes thirty percent of the cost of solar panels in the form of tax credits and that state and local governments give further incentives for companies and individuals. Moreover, Lepinski's view that solar energy should be seen as a supplement in a portfolio of energy solutions made a lot more sense to me than trying to convert everything to solar.


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