Experimental Study of a Solar Cage on Energy Harvest and Unconsumed Energy

Renewable energies have greater demand to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The growing demand has led to higher efficiency of solar cells with innovations; the harvested energy per unit area has increased over time. One aspect of the solar energy is that it reduces the carbon dioxide which is emitted when fossil fuel is used for electrical or mechanical energy. In many cases, the energy harvesting sites are located in arid or forest lands. However, it can have an impact on the flora and fauna whether it is in the forest or in a cultivable land. Additionally, the impact of partial energy harvesting can be of importance when the remaining energy could be used for cultivation. The primary objective of this study is to explore the remaining energy after the harvesting. To this end, a miniature solar cage has been modelled and built for the study. It explores the energy harvest and the energy remaining in a harvesting cage in terms of light intensity and electric energy. The results show large illumination variation inside the cage under different conditions with relatively small and nonlinear decrement of voltage. With only 18% covered area by the structure, a large illumination drop has been observed.