Noticias

The future is bright for STEM students in Telluride. Telluride sixth grader Ingram Olson is looking to bring some of that brightness to solar panels.

“I really wanted to focus on climate change cause it’s a constant threat to our world and the next generation after us,” Olson said. “With renewable energy, solar panels are used a lot in our region in Colorado.”

“My theory was that by coating it with a layer of certain mixtures I could improve the efficiency and to the point where I could lower the cost because of how much more efficient it was,” he said.

Olson just returned from the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair, a state competition that he qualified for after regionals in Grand Junction. After months of preparation, Olson presented his idea to improve solar panel efficiency.

“Right now, solar panels commercially produce about 700 kilowatt hours per year. Which is a lot, but it’s actually only about 20% of the sunlight that they get per day,” he said. “Current silicon panels are very expensive because you have to mine and purify them. Some new technologies can be made in the lab.”

During Olson’s research, he was connected with NREL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Boulder. Gin Randolph, the gifted education coordinator for the Uncompahgre Board of Cooperative Education Services who assists with STEM competitions, said a conversation with NREL helped Olson’s next steps.

“I think that was a real key launching point to his methods and just going to the next level with his project because he was able to see what’s being done in the field and got some inspiration there as a student researcher, so that was really exciting,” Randolph said.

Olson came across perovskites, which he explained are promising materials.

“They’re known for their cuboctahedron crystalline structure because with that they can capture more of the light spectrum including ultraviolet,” he said.

While perovskites are hard to come by, Olson experimented with more accessible materials.

“I could test a mixture of beet juice and titanium dioxide,” he said. “In theory, the beet juice would capture more of the light spectrum like perovskites, and then the titanium dioxide facilitates the movement of electrical particles.”

That’s right—beet juice. Olson tested the mixture, along with a mixture of titanium dioxide and white vinegar, and a control in a dark room with small solar panels. He then extrapolated those results to see how they’d perform on commercial-size panels.

“They did show that the titanium dioxide and beet juice was slightly more efficient than the other two, and the titanium dioxide and white vinegar was actually less efficient than the control panels,” Olson said. “When you scale this up to a commercial size, it’s certainly not worth it, and it might actually make it cost more given that you need to coat it with titanium dioxide and beet juice.”

Ingram presented his research to a crowd in Fort Collins and won the Burt Rutan Energy Award. As for what’s next:

“I would definitely like to get my hands on perovskites, which are not commercialized yet because they’re not as weather resistant as a simple silicon panel, which can last up to 30 years,” Olson said. “Although perovskites don’t last quite as long, this is mainly because they’re so much more efficient and much less expensive because you can make them in a lab.”

Randolph said STEM education helps students experience what it’s like to be a researcher or engineer and gives them a better understanding of what that career may look like.

“STEM is one of those areas that is just so hands-on and exciting that it’s so important to provide,” Randolph said. “There aren’t that many industries directly in the Western Slope that students can tour and be involved with, so the science fair is a way to get them out there and get them exploring—just like interviewing NREL. That’s right here in Colorado, but it’s not something that you see every day. So going out to where those research sites are, or at least interviewing them as mentors, is super important.”

Ingram remains excited to continue to find solutions to climate change.

“I think definitely in the realm of climate change with constant looming problems like global warming, it’s important to keep thinking in the bigger picture and testing new things that might not have been thought of earlier,” he said. “I encourage everyone to keep thinking outwards about science, and you might end up in Fort Collins like I did.”

Those in the STEM world who are interested in connecting with students for projects or field trips can reach out to Gin Randolph at unboces.org.