An Experimental Study of Partial Energy Harvesting by Solar Cages for Sustainability

The demand for energy is ever-increasing around the world whereas the sources are limited. The study focuses on renewable energy harvesting partially and the remaining energy in terms of illuminations intensity available for nature or food production. To this end, miniature solar cages have been modelled and built for the study. A solar cage has solar panels of a specific area with a carrying structure for measurement; the panels are made of a series of photovoltaic, PV, cells soldered by a specific solder. The initial study includes a custom made 3-panel solar cage where the geometric parameter of the structure was constant. In the next stage, a custom made 5-panel solar cage has been built where the structure is flexible in terms of height adjustment. The power generation by the cage and illumination intensity available inside the cage have been measured for wide weather variation and over several days. The quantitative outcomes show a large variation of illumination intensity inside the cages over a day. The remaining energy inside can be used as an indicator of sustainability of a biological system to thrive.