In our class on 2/14 we did a lab on photovoltaics. This is basically the process of how solar panels work to run electricity in “green” homes. It was a really cool experiment because we had the chance to see energy generated with nothing but a flashlight (which served as representation for sunlight)

To perform this experiment we attached our small solar panel to the NXT robot and connected to lab view. We would then set our light intensity to a constant level and use distance as a variable. When we ran each test from different distances, lab view recorded the respective amounts intensity of the light reflected on the solar panel. It was pretty obvious to us before we even did the runs what our results would be. The farther the panel was from the light source, the less the intensity.

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After we discovered how distance correlated with intensity, we than studied how changing the color of the light would effect the voltages produced.

This experiment demonstrated how the different wavelengths along the electro-magnetic spectrum effected the amount of energy produced.

It became obvious that the darker the color of the slide placed in front of the light, the less energy produced. Perhaps this is why solar panels do not work to their best on gloomy days.

Our results are displayed below.

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