Last Friday we used again the NXT robots but with one different detail, solar panels. The experiment consisted in lighting the solar panel (which was connected to the NXT) from different distances. For lightning the robots we had flashlights. We were able to prove that the distance from the flashlight to the solar panel is inversely proportional to the voltage it produces, ergo, the closer the flashlight was to the panel the bigger the produced voltage was.

We tried with three different distances. 2 cm, 12 cm, 22 cm and 32 cm. Obtaining of course different results of voltage for each one. Here’s the graphic with the results.

After we tried all those distances, we added a new element to the solar panel, a color paper. Each of us grabbed three different color papers. Mines were orange, green and purple. Basically, the experiment consisted in putting the color paper in front of the solar panel and then lighting up with the flashlight. We tried all three papers from the same distance. We were trying to see if the voltage the NXT received would be different with the color papers, and if that was the case, we wanted to know if the color made any difference.

Here’s a graphic with the results.

As you can see, the paper does influence on the voltage. The color of the paper also influences on it depending on the light reflecting capacities of each color.

I think the solar panels topic is really interesting and necessary because as years will pass we’ll use this energy source due to all the advantages it has.

–       Free energy

–       Doesn’t emit greenhouse gases

–       It doesn’t destroy the ecosystem

On the other hand, it also has some disadvantages such as poor efficiency. It takes a lot solar energy to light up for example a house. However, this problem might be fixed in a close future, maybe increasing the efficiency of the panels with different materials and improving the way of saving the energy produced by the solar panels.