This week our team had our first visit at the Wellborn NextEra site. The site was huge, about 350 acres, just off the highway with about 3000 solar panels. We finally had the pleasure of meeting our Liaison Ted along with our other NextEra contacts Sharon and Nico. They shared their experiences with NextEra as well as their expertise in the field.

After a quick introduction we got to work collecting soil samples through various parts of this massive site. We collected about 8 samples from different elevations, at various depths, and distances to different components of our solar site for accuracy. You could even say we were digging for the root of the cause!

Once the site visit was over, Sarah and Sasha gave the rest of the team a tour of Frazier Hall where they spend most of their time and where the majority of our soil sampling will take place. After we dropped off the 8 enormous bags of soil, we decided to continue on and have some team bonding. We got dinner together as a team after a long 7-hour day in our steel toed boots per Aayan’s suggestion, we went to Chili’s! We sat down and as our teammate Philip T said, we “proceeded to dig into the volcano molten lava cake even harder than we dug for soil all day long!”

This week, we conducted our PDR presentation and received valuable feedback that we’re actively incorporating into our project. The presentation, held on Tuesday, garnered mixed reviews, particularly regarding transitions and the location of our functional architecture within the project. We are addressing these concerns by reducing our reliance on reading from slides, improving our vocal projection, and incorporating more diagrams.

One positive outcome was the decision to split the project into two sides, one focused on soil and the other on electrical aspects, which was well-received. We are also placing a strong emphasis on audience engagement through better eye contact and ensuring that all team members contribute meaningfully. We recognize the importance of consistent practice as we prepare for upcoming project milestones.

Despite the mixed reviews on our presentation style, we are actively working on improvements. In terms of progress, we are making headway on the electrical systems portion of our project. Additionally, we are nearing a testing method for our soil sampling, with a leaning towards possibly using historical data. Looking ahead, next week, we are excited about visiting a NextEra site located approximately 30 minutes away.

Our team has continued progressing with the project but not without roadblocks. We were able to get through the checks for travel but with an unfortunate push back on the visit date. This is leading the team to work on strengthening the communication and expectations with Liaisons. Our project roadmap seems to differ from the IPPD program leading us to rush in certain areas. Nevertheless, the assignments still help in leading our project in the right direction.

On the bright side of things, our literature review is leading us to new insights. Sarah and Sasha have had great progress in regards to soil. Working with various professors has led them to narrow down the testing methods for the soil. The two Phillip’s have also been learning more with the help of professors as well with a lot of experience in the field. This has really contextualized the potential grounding solution. Right now the teams current focus on the PDR presentation.

The Solar Safe team has been making considerable strides towards our project. During the recent Liaison Meeting on October 2nd, we delved deep into our project’s timeline and site visit schedules, setting a clear direction for our next steps. Mark your calendars, as our team site visit is tentatively scheduled for October 16th! The whole team is looking forward to seeing the site and further connecting with the NextEra team.

This visit is also important as the team hopes to gain insight into one of our project’s main points, the soil. Sasha and Sarah took the initiative to compile a list of potential factors affecting soil lighting attraction, a crucial puzzle piece in our project. They are also working with Aayan on a potential program for soil analysis using a sensor. Finally, they are determining the requirements for soil samples needed for testing. The team might even collect a soil sample personally while on site.

On the R&D side of things, a PDR Report has been drafted and the literature review is ongoing. We’re committed to extensive research, focusing on soil’s impact on the problem, mitigation techniques, as well as studying industry standards for solar panel lightning protection. Our electrical engineers are gearing up for meetings with lightning experts next week as we come closer to determining the way lightning is affecting solar farms.

We rebranded again, to SolarSafe! This week, we specified our product design specifications and held our necessary meetings with our coach and liaisons to get further details on our project regarding location of the solar sites and further details to craft a grounding solution.

Sasha and Sarah met with Dr. Judge as well, getting their opinion on soil’s relationship to lightning and how to conduct soil analysis relating to our case. Our electrical engineers Philip T and Philip O plan to meet with some lightning experts in the UF faculty and gauge their opinion as well.

Our plan for the next week is to conduct a literature review and study various grounding solutions and understand why and how they work and create a project roadmap.

We’re now the Solar Strike Defenders, not just Team 12 anymore! Throughout this week, the team completed the remaining groundwork for our project, where we made our prototype logo which is under review from our liaison (see below), team charter to outline our expectations of each other and to hold each other accountable, assigned rotational team roles, and properly analyzed the stakeholders involved with our work.

We also met with our coach Professor Baoyun for the first time, as well as our liaisons at NextEra. Our primary liaison, Ted, has been working with NextEra for over 10 years and specializes in solar energy, and our backup liaison Shridhar has been working with NextEra for 2 years now and specializes in wind energy. We’re all looking forward to working with them and taking on the project!

We plan to flesh out our product design specifications and are currently working on a plan to visit a nearby solar site in person. Multiple team members will also be meeting with professors who are experts in fields pertaining to our project, such as lightning and soil.

Welcome to Team 12’s blog page! The team is working with our sponsor NextEra Energy where we are working on creating a prototype for grounding to reduce lightning damage at PV solar sites. This will involve numerous steps, like analyzing the lightning risks at these sites and the soil deposits and configuring specific instruments to in the end develop a functional solution.

The team met for the first time on Tuesday, and since then has organized weekly meetings with their coach and liaison, reviewed and discussed the scope of work to gain a comprehensive understanding of the project’s objectives and requirements.

Our team is comprised of:

Aayan Siddiqui – 4th year Computer Science
Sasha Sanchez – 5th year Agricultural Biological Engineering
Sarah Daly – 4th year Agricultural Biological Engineering
Phillip Thompson – 5th year Electrical Engineering
Phillip Ordonez – 4th year Electrical Engineering
Coach – Ge Baoyun

We have already discussed role assignments and how we’d like to work to reach our goals internally, and have begun brainstorming team names, logos, and things to add in our team charter.