Solar panel experiments
The idea is to set up a few solar panels and make some improvements or alterations on them, in order to test what works and what doesn’t, and how much.
So have one solar panel as a reference, and measure the power it generates at all times. Then have another one right next to it that rotates in order to always be perpendicular to the sun rays, a solar tracker, if you will. Measure its power and the power the motor uses that will move the solar panel around. Then have a few with mirrors around or pointing at the solar panel, at different locations and angles, and of different sizes. The idea here is that mirrors are cheaper than solar panels, so if we just use them to catch extra sun rays, we can increase the amount of energy generated by the solar panel.
The project is a lot about collecting data and to see what works, and under which circumstances (does it work when there is little or a lot of sun, when it’s cold or hot, etc.).
On a related note, there’s another idea to have giant mirrors in the back of the garden, and have them motorized, so they can reflect sun rays on the house during the winter, or even just on the terrace so you can have lots of sun when it’s freezing outside. I’m not sure how much this would cost and how much you’d need for it to have a noticeable effect.