Power Output of a Solar Cell

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Ben Parsons        Physics Coursework              Y Block

Is the power output of a solar cell proportional to the sine angle between the incident light and the face of the power cell?

        The experiment that will be conducted is to see whether or not that there is any connection between the sine angle of light and the power output of a solar cell.

        

Hypothesis

  The hypothesis for my experiment is that the power output of a solar cell is directly proportional to the sine of the angle between the incident light and the face of the solar cell.

 The sine of the angle of incidence and the face of the solar cells direction α to the power out put

OR

Sin θ α Pout           where θ equals angle of incidence

Prediction

I predict that the results, when plotted on a graph, will show a strong positive correlation between the total power output of the solar cell that is proportional to the sine of the angle at which the light is shone at the solar cell.  

Variables

Any Indirect light coming from another light source could affect the experiment.

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Wire temperature causing an increase in resistance

Apparatus

I will use two digital meters set on 200mA and 2mV range that will allow results to be measured to the nearest 1mA and 1mV respectively. Also a resistance box will be set on a resistance of 50Ω to try and keep the resistance level during the experiment. A standard lamp powered by mains electricity with a 60W bulb will be used as a light source. A small solar cell will be used in the experiment.

Method

The centre of the solar cell will always be placed ...

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