Solar panel experiment wins Fisk Science Fair

From potato batteries and student participation rates to shampoo quality and magnetized trains, the students at Fisk Middle School conducted a variety of experiments for the annual science fair held Tuesday night.

However, the first place winner, seventh grader Emma Chronister, conducted an experiment looking at whether the angle at which light hits a solar panel would impact the amount of energy created.

“I was wondering if I could increase the output the solar panels give by focusing or reflecting any light,” Chronister said.

Eighth grader Sarah Nobles shows parents her project at the science fair. DAR/Michael Shine

Chronister said in conducting her experiment, she laid the solar panels out and attached them to a machine to track the output of energy. She used that position to get a base measurement or a control, before running tests again with the panels angled in the direction of the sun.

She ran these experiments on both a sunny and a cloudy day.

“I angled it toward the sun to see if that would help and it did on the sunny day,” Chronister said. “On cloudy days, it was better to just leave it flat.”

Eighth grader Daisey Loyd sits with her project about store bought versus home-made shampoo. DAR/Michael Shine

Chronister said she started considering the question because she finds solar energy interesting and she was originally wondering whether she could use a magnifying glass to change the output of the panels.

“It didn’t,” she said. “It ended up shadowing too much of the solar panel and decreasing the light.”

Chronister said she’s happy about winning the fair, but there are aspects of the experiment she would change if she were to do it again.

“(I would) test more days in a row, more sunny days and more cloudy days to see if I get the same results,” Chronister said. “And try to do them closer together rather than weeks apart.”

Honorable Mention:

Chase Carroll and Ashton Ice

Ricky Besher and Carter Williams

Zachary Joiner and Mason Brawner

Drew Soloman and Garrett Rayburn

Cayden Acre, Luke Hester, and Jake Hester

Chase Nehrkorn

Tie for 3rd Place:

Brooke Kok

Leah Wright and Riley Barrett

2nd Place:

Alissa Stanley

1st Place:

Emma Chronister