2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Solar Energy Activities Showcase (Resource Exchange)

Presented at PCEE Instructional Showcases

This resource exchange showcases a collection of innovative activities based on solar energy. Examples include creating a “singing circuit” by converting sunlight into soundwaves of differing frequencies based on panel voltage, developing a simple heliodon model to learn about sun path angles, designing a programmable robotic light tracker, and more. These activities were designed for pre-college learners in informal settings as part of NSF-funded project "SUPERCHARGE", which aims to encourage interest in college and career pathways related to engineering, sustainability, and renewable energy technologies. This resource exchange provides a brief overview of these of these activities.

Authors

Julian Andrew Schmitt
Marlene Urbina [biography]

Marlene Urbina is a freshman undergraduate students at Illinois State University studying Engineering and Technology Education.
Alexander Michael Perhay [biography]

Alexander Perhay is an undergraduate student at Illinois State University studying Engineering and Technology, and Computer Science. He is a student worker with SUPERCHARGE under the NSF grant.
Chance William Tyler Illinois State University [biography]

Chance Tyler is a student at Illinois State University studying Engineering Technology and a student worker for the NSF project SUPERCHARGE.
Jeritt Williams http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5117-8915 Illinois State University [biography]

Jeritt Williams is an assistant professor of Engineering Technology at Illinois State University, where he teaches applied industrial automation and robotics.
Dr. Matt Aldeman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0482-9794 Illinois State University [biography]

Matthew Aldeman is the Founding Associate Dean of the Illinois State University College of Engineering. Prior to joining the College of Engineering, Aldeman served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Technology, where he taught in the Engineering Technology and Sustainable and Renewable Energy undergraduate programs.
Dr. Jin Ho Jo [biography]

Dr. Jin Ho Jo is a Professor of Technology at Illinois State University, teaching in the Sustainable and Renewable Energy program. Dr. Jo also leads the Sustainable Energy Consortium at the university. Dr. Jo is an honors graduate of Purdue University, where he earned a B.S. in Building Construction Management. He earned his M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University, where he investigated critical environmental justice issues in New York City. His 2010 Ph.D. from Arizona State University was the nation’s first in sustainability. His research, which has been widely published, focuses on renewable energy systems and sustainable building strategies to reduce the negative impacts of urbanization.
Allison Antink-Meyer http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-8969-1263 Illinois State University [biography]

Allison Antink-Meyer is a pre-college science and engineering educator at Illinois State University.

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