Aidan's interest in trees made him see the Fibonacci Sequence in branches and use that insight to develop new and more-efficient methods of arranging solar panels. The 13-year-old from Long Island, New York was a presenter at the recent PopTech conference. He says his method for arranging solar panels - based on the mathematics of tree branches - is 20 to 50% more efficient than traditional solar arrays, especially in low-light conditions, such as cloudy days in the winter or in places where there are lots of trees and tall buildings. "My design is like a tree," he said, "but instead of having leaves it has solar panels at the ends (of the branches)."
Dwyer created a prototype of this tree-like solar panel array for a science fair with the help of his granddad. He ordered the solar panels online and the pair built the rest of it together. For his efforts, he won the Young Naturalist award this year from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He also made another mind-boggling observation: That tree branches spiral up the trunk based on a mathematic concept called the Fibonacci Sequence. Aidan explains: "The fraction for an oak tree is 2:5, which means five branches spiral around the trunk two times to reach the same starting point. So, if you start out at 75 degrees, and you get five branches to go around the trunk twice, then you'll be back at 75 degrees." We will keep you updated on how this kid is going to impact the scientific community and the solar panel industry.
We also recommend watching: "ViHart: The Incredible Magic Behind Spirals, Fibonacci, and Plants" and "Thomas Suarez: 6th Grader iPhone App Developer".
Aidan Dwyer, age 13, was one of twelve students to receive the 2011 Young Naturalist Award from the American Museum of Natural History in New York for creating an innovative approach to collecting sunlight in photovoltaic arrays.
Solar Panel 'Tree': 13-Year Old Disrupts the Solar Energy Industry