Solar Cell Experiment
Introduction:
Solar Cells convert light energy to electrical energy, so are
transducers.
Aim 1: To investigate any relationship present between the distance
between a solar cell and a lamp, and the current output of the solar
cell, at a fixed voltage.
Aim 2: To investigate any relationship present between the power
supplied to a bulb, and the current of a solar panel, at a fixed
distance apart.
When investigating a solar cell, there are several variables we could
investigate. Below, I have analysed all the variables that could be
investigated, and evaluated which one I will investigate. When
considering what variables of the light I could investigate, several
things come to mind.
Variable 1: Light
Light has different colours, and different coloured lights are known
to have different frequencies. This in turn would cause the different
coloured lights to emit different levels of power. We know that this
is the case because when combining the two below formulae, we can see
that energy and frenquency are related.
Wavelength x Frequency= Wave Speed
Planck's Constant x frequency= Energy
The second formula states that frequency is directly proportional to
energy.
When rearranging the first formula to display frequency as the subject
of the formula, and then substituting the value for frenquency given
(wave speed/wavelength) into the second formula, we get:
Planck 's constant x wavespeed/wavelength= energy
Using this formula, we can find out what kinds of light give out the
most energy. As all light travels at the same speed (300,000 m/s), we
know that the wavelength of the light will determine how much energy
is given out from the light. The wavelength and frequency are directly
related in light, because both multiplied must give a product of
300,000 m/s.
We can gather by the formula that lights with a smaller wavelength
will give out more energy, because when a smaller number is divided by
the wavespeed and multiplied by the constant, a higher value for the