Solar power-- it takes a little bit more than a sunny day and some solar panels! In fact, to store the energy we capture on the farm, it takes four large batteries! When the Howdy Farm was first built in 2014, part of our first Aggie Green Fund was used to purchase batteries for our solar panels. But like a regular battery that runs out of juice, our solar panel batteries got old too! The difference between our old batteries and your typical Energizer AAAs ? We couldn't exactly use ye old "steal the batteries out of the remote control while your dad isn't looking" trick to replace them! Because of this, we applied for another Aggie Green Fund microgrant in the spring of 2020 to replace our batteries. So, why did we need to replace our solar panel batteries? The four batteries we use to store energy function in a circuit. This means if one battery is not storing energy efficiently, it affects the ability of the entire system to hold a charge. In our case, two of our batteries were functioning at a reduced capacity. This lowered the battery system's overall ability to store our solar energy and we were unable to properly utilize the energy we captured. Because of this, we replaced all four of our six-year-old batteries to ensure efficient energy storage for years to come. Project Installation We were awarded the grant on March 24th, 2020 and we were excited to get going on our battery project. But, COVID-19 had other plans. With the university, the state, the entire country, and the world shutting down, our solar panel battery project was postponed until late June. Though a majority of students were still at home during this time, a few Howdy Farm members were able to help out with the installation of the new batteries and in diagnosing a few problems we had with our controller. Since the installation, our batteries have consistently collected almost double the amount of energy than the old batteries each day and month. In fact, our monthly average before the replacement was only 21.4 kWh/month. With the new batteries, we are up to 38. 61 kWh/month. Below, you will be able to see the difference in energy storage between our batteries before and after the installation each day for a month. What does all of this mean?
With the help of the Aggie Green Fund, Howdy Farm can now supply energy to power tools, charge devices, and power the lights and fans in our farm building. This reduces the farm's need for other traditional energy sources. Further, it allows guests at the farm to use these energy sources when studying or hanging out. Special thanks: The Aggie Green Fund is an organization that makes funding for small and large on-campus sustainability projects accessible to organizations like our own. We are grateful for their continued investment in our goal of sustainable agriculture and look forward to partnering with them on future projects. Another special thanks to our advisor, Michael Legorreta, for providing insight on how the battery system works and for aiding in the installation process. And finally, special thanks to Amanda Gambaiana for pursuing funding for this project during her time as president in the spring 2020 semester. Written by Sara Cathey, Fall 2020 Howdy Farm President
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The Howdy Farm at Texas A&M University |