CONSTRUCTING A SOLAR-POWERED SEISMIC STATION FOR EDUCATIONAL SEISMOMETERS

As Bergen Community College STEM students started to build seismic stations involving seismometers to be installed on campus, we had to think about a power-supplied remote station. The reason for this was because the college campus does not have permanent housing to place the seismometers for periodic monitoring. We first determined a suitable size to house the seismometer and a desktop PC, using the 62 by 32½ inch solar panels as guidance to measure the dimensions of the shed. In order to get the best benefit, the solar-paneled roof is positioned at a precise 33.5° angle, to maximize solar energy efficiency. This was calculated by determining the direction of the Sun’s rays reaching the 170 Watt-solar panel, which charges the deep cycle marine batteries. Therefore, it was up to the SeismoSTEM team to construct and place a small shed on an existing concrete slab on a field, where the seismometers would receive the least amount of disturbances. Knowing these circumstances, we began the construction by finding the tools needed and utilizing the equipment to build the shed. For optimal performance of the seismometers in the shed, students came up with the idea of a door halfway the length of the shed’s back wall for easy access to the computer. We did this so that the seismometers do not get affected by outside disturbances. The wooden platform that supports the computer takes up one half of the shed, while the other side will not have a floor so that the seismometer will sit on the concrete slab. In the future, not only is our objective to build horizontal and three-axis seismometers, but to build a larger shed, should the prototype work out for the first two seismometers we have. If this design is successful, our future objectives are to pour a new concrete slab and build a similar solar-powered shed large enough to house not only our existing vertical seismometers, but also the horizontal or three-axis seismometers that we intend to build.