Solar Energy Lab

Purpose: To measure the voltage output of a small solar pannel under normal light at different distances and under different colors of light.

Equipment:

NXT and voltage probe

Solar cell

Flashlight

colored filters

ruler

Experiment 1: Distance of light source

For the first part of the experiment, we measured the voltage produced by the pannel as a function of the distance of the light source from the pannel.

graph of voltage vs distance

Data:

Result: The closer the light, the more voltage produced. This is logical.

Experiment 2: Effect of Color of light on voltage

For the second part of the experiment, we put colored filters over the flashlight and observed what changes they caused in the produced voltage.

Voltage vs Color Graph

Data:

Result: The unfiltered light produced the most voltage. Once again this is a logical result. Out of the colored light, green was strongest, followed by yellow, then red.