Level 6: Efficiency and the Sun

Energy and power · level 6 of 8 · rough age 13-14 (a guide for parents; anyone can start anywhere)

In this level you put a number on waste, the efficiency, and draw it as a Sankey diagram. Then you turn to the biggest energy source a Mars city has: the Sun. You work out how much weaker sunlight is at Mars, how big a solar panel must be, and what dust on the panels and dust in the sky do to the power, as the rovers Spirit, Opportunity and the lander InSight found out.

Lesson	You will be able to
Efficiency	Calculate efficiency, and compare machines by it
Sankey diagrams	Draw and read a Sankey diagram, such as one for a rover's power source
Sunlight at Mars	Use the inverse square law to find the strength of sunlight at Mars
Solar panels	Size a solar panel for a given power on Mars and on Earth
Dust on the panels	Explain how dust cuts a panel's power, and what cleans it
Dust storms	Use optical depth to estimate how much sunlight a dust storm lets through

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