This post is about the following products:
Go Direct® Energy Sensor (
Vernier Energy Sensor (
Vernier Energy Counter (
When using KidWind products such as small wind turbines and small solar panels, typically it is a goal to iterate designs and improve performance. How performance is measured depends on both the instructor’s goals for the activity and the level of the students.
Instructional Goals
Do the instructional goals include interpreting data either from a data table or a graph? Do they include understanding electrical circuits, including voltage, current, resistance, and power?
If yes, we recommend either the Go Direct Energy Sensor or the Vernier Energy Sensor. Both of these sensors measure both current and potential difference (voltage). Then either software or firmware on the sensor calculates resistance and power, and integrates power with respect to time to determine energy. Over a time interval (default 30 seconds but user-adjustable) of data collection, real-time graphs are generated. Both sensors also can be connected to any load, but the Go Direct Energy includes a built-in 30Ω load.
If your instructional goals focus on engineering design or the very basics of how wind turbine works, you may prefer the Vernier Energy Counter. This device cannot be used with software, and has a built-in display that shows the total amount of energy generated over 30 seconds at the press of a button. Students are not exposed to the concept of load, and do not learn about different electricity concepts. The Vernier Energy Counter is ideal for younger students and for Environmental Science courses where understanding electricity is not the focus.
Level of Students
Are you working with elementary school students, or doing outreach in cases where you don’t know the background of the participants? You may want to choose the Vernier Energy Counter for its simplicity and ease of use.
If your students have taken a physics course or are learning to interpret graphs, you may want to choose one of the Energy Sensors.
Features of Each Sensor
| Vernier Energy Sensor ( |
Go Direct® Energy Sensor ( |
Vernier Energy Counter ( |
|
| $115 | $109 | $85 | |
| software | Graphical Analysis Graphical Analysis Pro LabQuest App Logger Pro (discontinued) Logger Lite (discontinued) |
Graphical Analysis Graphical Analysis Pro LabQuest App |
N/A |
| integrated display | — | — | ✔ |
| measures power and energy | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| measures voltage, current, and resistance | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| internal load | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| includes connection for external load | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| can be used without an interface | — | ✔ | ✔ |
Other considerations
The Vernier Energy Sensor requires an interface such as LabQuest Mini or LabQuest 3 to connect to Graphical Analysis software. If you do not already have interfaces, either of the other two options is more economical.
If you struggle with using a multimeter, but just want a basic way to evaluate student wind turbine designs without software, the Vernier Energy Counter is for you.
Are your students adept with Vernier sensors and comfortable with technology? We recommend the Go Direct Energy Sensor.
Do you teach physics and you want to also measure current and voltage in battery-and-bulb circuits? Don’t use the Go Direct Energy Sensor, since its load requirement gives unexpected results unless it is taken into account. Instead, we recommend dedicated voltage and current sensors.
If you have any questions about which sensor is right for you and your situation, please get in touch! kidwind@vernier.com, call 888-837-6437, or use the chat on our website.