Solar Cell Experiment

Solar Cell Experiment

Aim: To see how individual factors affect the output of a solar cell.

Factors affecting the output of a solar cell:

This experiment is going to be performed in the confines of a school

laboratory, and so the complexity and cost of the experiment(s) should

reflect this. However, to see how different factors affect the solar

cell output, I will need to perform at least two experiments. The

question is, which ones?

· Distance from the light source will affect the solar cell output,

because intensity of light on the solar cell will decrease, the

further away from the light the cell is. This is because many waves,

including light, will travel away from the filament in a circular

motion, not straight lines directly towards the solar cell, so the

further away it is, the less rays will hit it.

· A changing power to the light source, and therefore, to the solar

cell, will affect the solar cell output. Theoretically, an increase in

power at the light source should result in more energy being

transferred to the solar panel, per second, resulting in a greater

solar cell output.

· The different colours of light would also affect the solar cell

output, as each colour of light has a different frequency. We can tell

this from Einstein's theory of photons being directly proportional to

frequency:

Energy = Planck's constant x speed / wavelength

Different colours of light have the same speed, but different

wavelengths, which, in the above equation, changes the value for

energy, which is the solar cell output. And, because the wavelength is

the denominator for this equation, we can make the statement, that

'the larger the wavelength, the lower the energy'. A colour of light

with a larger wavelength will result in a lower solar cell energy

output.

The two factors that I am going to study in this experiment are:

1. Changing power at the light source

2. Distance of solar cell, from the light source