My Pbl Project

Materials:

• 2 Solar panels

  • 6 Car batteries

  • Inverter

  • Switch board

  • Power grid

  • Lots of wood

  • Lots of metal

• High voltage wires with alligator clips

Scientific Principle:

Safety Regulation:

Follow normal safety procedures!

Key words:

Solar energy: radiant energy emitted by the sun.

Solar panel: a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electrical or heating.

Solar array: electrical device consisting of a large array of connected solar cells.

Physical Quantities:

• Solar panels are devices that convert light into electricity. They are called "solar" panels because most of the time, the most powerful source of light available is the Sun, called Sol by astronomers. Some scientists call them photovoltaics which means, basically, "light-electricity."

• The photoelectric effect works like this. If you shine light of high enough energy on to a metal, electrons will be emitted from the metal. Light below a certain threshold frequency, no matter how intense, will not cause any electrons to be emitted. Light above the threshold frequency, even if it's not very intense, will always cause electrons to be emitted.

• Solar panels are made of solar cells. A cell is a small disk of a semiconductor like silicon. They are attached by wire to a circuit. As light strikes the semiconductor, light is converted into electricity that flows through the circuit. As soon as the light is removed, the solar cell stops producing power.