Carlijn Oomkes

Grade 10 Red
Unit 3 Sketch Up
Guiding question
1. How do wind turbines work and how much energy do they generate ?
Wind turbines are generally 100 feet or more above the ground because there is more and less turbulent
wind up there A wind turbine produces energy by the blades which turn this makes a shaft turn which is
connected to a generator which produces energy. A wind turbine on land with a capacity of 2.5-3 MW
can make about 6 million kWh every year, this is enough energy for 1500 average households in the EU.
The amount of energy a wind turbine can produce is very much influenced by the size of the wind turbine,
it can generate energy everywhere between 250 watts to 7 MW.
2. How do solar panels work and how much energy do they generate ?
A solar panel generates electricity by making electrons move. A solar panel is made up of two layers,
when the sun hits the solar panel it first hits the first layer. The electrons on the first layer start to move
and this produces energy. Then the electrons jump to the next layer and start moving there which
generated even more energy. When one electron moves other electrons also start moving and this
causes a chain reaction. Depending on size and location solar panels create different amounts of energy,
a solar panel used in regular households can produce around 5.0 kWh which is around 25-40% of the
energy needed.
3. How much energy does a shopping mall (find the size) need ?
A store with a size like Walmart (around 120.000 square feet) uses around 500-600 KW though it also
makes a difference what the store is used for because a regular super market (around 70.000 square feet)
uses more energy(700-800 kWh) than a nearly twice as big shopping mall. A small store in a mall uses
around 30-50 kW
4. How much do wind turbines and solar panels cost ?
Medium size solar panels which produce around 815 kWh each month will cost around $7147 though it
really depends on the size en quality of the solar panel. I solar panel is earned back quick and easy, the
government also pays around 30%, before the solar panel was over $10000.
5. Can a shopping mall be fully powered by the energy it produces ?
A big shopping mall uses around 500-600 KW if you could generate this much energy it is possible to
make a shopping mall which is full powered by renewable energy. If you would power a super market
only by wind energy you would need about 70 turbines. If a shopping mall would be powered only by
solar energy it would take about 1200 standard size solar panel.
6. How can a regular super market become more eco-friendly ?
A regular super market can be made more eco-friendly by buying good quality low energy fridges for in
the super market. Transportation of all goods sold in the supermarket can also be made more eco-
friendly by using electric busses. The supermarket could also support reusing shopping bags which
would save a lot plastic. If the super market would use less useless plastic to pack everything it would
also help to make the super market more eco-friendly. A bike parking area would encourage people to
come do their groceries by bike and by making the parking lot small people will think twice about going
to the super market by car.
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Solar panels and wind turbines?
Some of the advantages of wind turbines are that they produce a lot of energy and that they are very
sustainable, they can work for up to 60 years. Some if the disadvantages of wind turbines are that they
look ugly and that they do not work when there is no wind. A few of the advantages of solar panels are
that they are quite cheap to make and that they do not take too much space, a disadvantage is that they
do not produce a lot of energy for the amount of space they take and they are also ugly.

Design brief
For this unit in technology we are asked to choose a product which we want to make more eco- friendly,
using the knowledge we gained in science class over the last year. We could choose anything with the
exception of cars and houses. I chose a super market because we have so many of those in the world
and if we could make them more eco-friendly this would be a great help in combatting global warming. I
also think that we could change the way we think about supermarkets by making them pretties and
more fun to go to instead of making it a weekly burden. Nowadays super markets use 700-800 KWh, all
this energy comes from non-renewable sources and the amount of energy used could easily be reduces.
The reason for not making a supermarket ecofriendly is probably that it costs a lot of money and that
the owners are scared that the way eco-friendly supermarkets look might scare of some of the
customers. I think that if we would make people realize how much better an eco-friendly super market
is that they might go there because it is an eco-friendly super market, this would attract more customers
which might persuade other super market owners to consider making their super market eco-friendly
two. If the super market makes more money than before due to the increase of customers and if the
super market does not have to pay energy bills anymore, this could bring back the money it cost to
make the super market eco-friendly pretty quickly. The way people think an eco-friendly super market
will look is different from reality and the appearance of a super market can easily be changed. If you for
example have white wind turbine in the middle of a parking lot it looks ugly but if you get local street
artists to paint the turbines in happy shiny colors the wind turbine will directly look a lot nicer and the
size of the wind turbine will not bother people as much anymore. Solar panels are not very pretty and it
is hard to change this because you cannot cover the solar panels with anything. A solution for this is
putting the solar panels on a flat roof which would allow them to get the maximum amount of sun
possible and which would make the solar panels invisible for customers of the super market and for the
people living around it. This supermarket will be very different from other super markets since not
selling as much stuff as possible but doing this as eco-friendly as possible is the aim. The parking lot will
for example have a lot of trees to clean the air and the appearance of the super market should be more
natural. The stuff that is sold in a super market will also be more eco-friendly since there will not be any
plastic bags only ecofriendly reusable bags which is a lot better for the environment. The goods sold in
the super market will be transported there by an electric car which drives on electricity produces by the
solar panels and wind turbines which will also help to make the super market more eco-friendly.

Design specification
Color- The super markets color will probably be green as there are many trees and plants
planted against the walls and around the parking lot of the super market. Using green
for the super market will help the eco-friendly message it is trying to create and help
people to recognize the eco-friendly super market .
Size - This super market will be large, it is going to be around the size of a big Wallmart, this is
around 70.000 square feet. I choose to make a big super market is because people can
buy everything at the same place and they do not have to buy anything at non-
ecofriendly stores and people do not have to go to a special store to buy particular
things. Having a large store will also help to reduce the price of products since you can
buy them in large quantities.
Goal - The goal of my super market is to be as eco-friendly as possible. I will try to meet this
goal by making my super market completely self-sufficient on energy. My super market
will make all this energy by placing several wind turbines in the parking lot and covering
the roof with solar panels. To make the super market even more self-sufficient, the
energy it creates will also be used to power the busses and cars which transport the
goods sold in the super market.

Generating
Energy - To generate enough energy to support a fully functional super market there are a lot of
wind turbines and solar panels needed. My super market will need at least 15 small
wind (50 foot diameter) turbines and about 1000 standard size solar panels (2.5x5Foot).
The energy generated by these solar panels and wind turbines will be enough to fully
power the super market and trucks is uses.





Fun - To try and make my super market more fun and for this reason more attractive than
others I will firstly create a lot of space in the super market, this will make it possible for
people to do their groceries in whatever pace they want without bumping in to
somebody else every time they turn around. To lower the use of energy and increase
the pleasure people have in going shopping I will make a lot of windows in the super
market. I will also make a playground in the parking lot where mothers can let their
children play if they behaved well during the grocery shopping so children will behave
better and whine less.
Space - My super markets property will be very large since there is lots of space needed for the
wind turbines (around 65 square feet per turbine). This would make a total of 984
square feet in total for all wind turbines together. This is a lot of space though the
parking lot can be underneath the wind turbines which will save a lot of space. This is
very safe since wind turbines are very high.