Designing a Sustainable Water Battery for Energy Storage

Ohlone College A World of Cultures United in Learning Water Battery Engineering 101 - 03 (070929) Lab #3: Design Report Cueto, Andrew Limbaco, Aira Phelps, Ian Robles, Alexa Velasquez, Donovan 17 November 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There are many ways of storing and creating energy, although some ways are more successful while others are not. The best way to generate energy is to use the natural areas that

1 surround us. Our objective is to use the natural environment and gravity to store energy for Los Andes, Chile. This energy can be distributed in many ways. For instance, powering homes, local stores, or even a reserve for natural disasters, like hurricanes, that would prevent the loss of energy when an event happens. Our goals are to create a way to generate energy with renewable resources, store the energy using gravity, and then harvest this energy later to power the country's power grid. In order to effectively use all the energy that the solar panel gives off, we will use the excess energy that is lost and use it for the new water battery. This will make good use of the energy and create more power to be stored for later. The water situation in comparison to another area such as Puerto Rico where they had a recent hurricane yielding about twenty inches of rainfall, the water is very abundant (Rivera, 2017). It is possible to relocate this water to the reservoirs for the water battery and use the water to generate more energy. The energy stored can go right back to help people who are in need. PURPOSE The main focus of this project was to create a device, a water battery, to store energy, in which, the energy could be stored and used in state of emergency. The vision was to have this device be a primary resource for Los Andes, Chile. We decided to focus on Chile because of its low resources, and because of its mining and agriculture based economy. Being able to create a device that can depend on the natural environment was one of our biggest priorities. In all, the intended goal is to use energy from a battery to power a water pump, with that energy it is being stored in the form of potential energy ready to be harvested at any time. Eventually, when needed the water will drop back down into a water turbine. The measure amount of electrical energy the water pump uses to push the water upward. Then, the amount of water stored in the upper

2 reservoir is measured in ounces. The water is then released into the water turbine that then charges the original battery backup, and we will be able to account for the amount of energy lost in the transition. Figure 1. An example of the concept of the project. PROBLEM As expected, we came across many difficulties while creating this project. From deciding what size tubing to use, how much voltage our charge controller needs to be, and exchanging solar panels to be a reasonable size. One of our biggest challenges was making an effort to get everyone on the same page about how to build our design, and including the time to come

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3 together to physically build it. In the process of building, we came across more issues like not using enough thick wire to bond together the charge controller with the water pump. At certain times, we were challenged by the water pump not working to its full force potential, which became very frustrating. Using the solar panel was tedious, only because we needed to position at a certain angle so it could properly function. The most challenging issue was designing our rotor, from deciding which position it needed to be at, making the rotor in general (refer to Figure 1), and redesigning it to be working at a faster pace. Recognizing all these faults, gave us the opportunity to correct the imperfections and make a successful working water battery system.

4 Figure 2: Andrew and Donovan using a hairdryer to soften the plastic-made turbine, in order for them to easily bend it. DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS -Environmental Factors Impacts to the environment include reduced fossil fuel emissions as a result of clean solar energy. There are no negative effects on the environment as a byproduct of our project, since it runs completely on renewable energy to create more renewable energy. -Maintenance As with any water related mechanical device failure will occur eventually. Cleaning of water tubes should occur regularly. The water pump will eventually require replacement. -Safety Some electrical components are exposed to wire, which poses a risk in case of contact/exposure. Although the voltages are far too low to pose any serious threat to health aside from a minor shock. -Material Cost and Dimensions Material Measurements Cost AOMAG 12V DC Micro Motor 30 mm (diameter) 13.99 HQST 20 Watt 12V Solar Panels 13.5 x 18.5 x 1 in 42.99 Solar Charge Controller 4 x 3.7 x 1.5 in 9.99 EnPoint Water Pump 12V 18W 1.97 x 1.97 x 2.72 in 23.89 Plywood 9 feet x 3 feet 36.99 Plastic Pail 2 gallons 5.49 Latching Tote 15.5 quarts 6.99

5 2x O-Ring 1 inch diameter 3.58 2x Rubber washer 2 inch diameter .99 MIP Adapter 2 in 5.98 PVC Ball Valve 4 in 3.49 Red Wire 25 feet 6.99 Black Wire 25 feet 6.99 20 Gauge Wire 4 feet 1.28 Twist Caps 0.25 inches 1.29 THE CONCEPT Figure 3. 3D SketchUp diagram of the Water Battery. It displays our prototype through a detailed and organized design. As seen in the diagram, the water goes from the bottom reservoir into the top using a water pump. Then the water is dropped onto the water turbine to generate the energy needed to light the house up. This is all

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6 possible using the solar panel to get the water to the top reservoir and the charge controller distributing the energy generated from the water turbine to the house. DETAILED DESIGN WORK 1. Gather materials 2. Form a right triangle with the two pieces of plywood with corner pieces as support. Screw everything together. 3. Drill a ½ inch hole in the bottom center of the bucket and mount the spout to this hole. 4. Form two small wooden arches 5. Fasten the bucket to the top of the vertical wooden plank by screwing the arches onto the handle. Align the bucket with the left half of the wooden plank. Use the rim of the bucket for additional support. 6. Place the bottom reservoir directly below the faucet located on the underside of the bucket. Fasten all components into place. 7. Place the pump within the bottom reservoir and hot glue it in place. 8. Attach the “up” pipe to the pump output and route it upwards and into the top bucket. Fasten into place with hot glue. 9. Now, you must secure the DC motor so that the downwards water flow will cause the turbine to spin clockwise. This means, placing it to the left of the bucket, 3in off the vertical board, and 6in off the horizontal board. 10. Route the wires from the motor into the charge controller output 11. Route the wires from the solar panel into the charge controller input. 12. Finally, route the wires from the generator to the LED bulbs

7 DESIGN ASSESSMENT Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Voltage From Solar Panel (Input) 12 Volts 12 Volts 12 Volts 12 Volts 12 Volts Voltage From Water Turbine (Output) 3 Volts 3 Volts 3 Volts 3 Volts 3 Volts Figure 4. Table of our constant results In regards to our prototype, we did achieve what we intended to do. Our purpose was to use the energy from the solar panel and use it to generate more energy. However, it was not as effective as it was thought out to be. As seen in the table above (Figure 4), the constant result was that the voltage coming from the DC motor was hitting 3 volts. The prototype should be further developed to improve the energy outputs for the water battery. With an improved set of motors, there will be a sufficient amount of energy that can help power the houses. On a much larger scale, this would make it more possible for the water battery to generate enough energy for a house or village. With this prototype being further developed, it allows for more research and development of a more safe and clean way of creating energy. In order to make the water battery a universal way of creating energy, an issue that may occur is finding areas to be able to drop the water to generate more energy. One solution may be to create water towers for the water reservoir in order to store the water until it needs to be dropped. APPENDICES

8 Figure 5. Charge Controller Picture (above) and Characteristics (below) Figure 6. Micro Motor Picture (left) and Characteristics (right) Electrical Characteristics: Rated voltage: 12V or 24V Rated charging current: 10A Rated load current: 10A Over Charging Voltage: 14V / 28V Over Charging Revolver Voltage:13.2V/26.4V Floating Charging Voltage:13.2V/26.4V Over Discharging Voltage:10.8V/21.6V Over Discharging Recover Temperature Characteristics: Working temperature: -20 ~ +60 ℃ Mechanical Properties: Item size: 10.2 x 9.5 x 3.8cm / 4 x 3.7 x 1.5in Item weight: 145g / 5.07oz Electrical Characteristic: Output shaft length : 10 MM Voltage :12-24 V Current : 0.08 A ( Stall 2.8 A) Speed : 12V/1200rpm , 24V/2800 rpm

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9 Figure 7. Water Pump Picture (above) and Characteristics (below) Figure 8. Solar Panel Pictures (above) and Characteristics (below) Electrical Properties: Max Flow: 500L/H Rated Power: 18W Cable Length: 45CM Rated Voltage: DC 12V Rated Current: 1500mA Mechanical Properties: Temperature Characteristics: Temperature Resistance: 0~100 ℃

10 REFERENCES Rivera, Magaly. Geography of Puerto Rico. 2017. http://welcome.topuertorico.org/geogra.shtml Figure 5-8 Characteristics: Water Pump: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071HQGB5R/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00? ie=UTF8&psc=1 Charge Controller: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010FNO9NU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00? ie=UTF8&psc=1 Solar Panel: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71sFo9+geuL.pdf DC Motor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2ZPSVB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00? ie=UTF8&psc=1 For submission, the report has been read and agreed by: Electrical Characteristics: Maximum Power at STC (Pmax): 20 W Optimum Operating Voltage (Vmp): 17.5 V Optimum Operating Current (Imp): 1.14 A Open Circuit Voltage (Voc): 21.6 V Short Circuit Current (Isc): 1.23 A Maximum System Voltage: 600 VDC (UL) Maximum Series Fuse Rating: 10 A Mechanical Properties: Solar Cell: Monocrystalline (155 x 19 mm) # of Cells: 36 (2 x 2 x 9) Temperature Characteristics: Operating Module Temperature -40°C to +90°C Nominal Operating Cell Temperature (NOCT): 47±2°C Temperature Coefficient of Pmax: -0.23%/°C Temperature Coefficient of Voc: -0.33%/°C Temperature Coefficient of Isc: 0.05%/°C

11 __________________ __________________ __________________ Andrew Cueto Aira Limbaco Ian Phelps __________________ __________________ Alexa Robles Donovan Velasquez

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