Power Output of a Solar Cell

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 35cm away from the centre of the bulb. The resistance box and digital meter set to read the current will be placed in series with the solar cell. Whereas the digital meter set to read the voltage will be placed in parallel with the solar cell. I will hold the solar cell in place at each angle to ensure it stays motionless which will minimise any false readings that the equipment may give.

  To minimise any errors I will repeat the experiment 3 times at each angle and take the appropriate readings each time. This is to increase the accuracy of the experiment. Also to reduce the risk of systematic errors I will ensure that the digital meter reading current displays 0mA when the digital meter measuring volts is reading 0mV. The results will be recorded to 3 decimal places. I will record my results in table similar to the following.

Hazard Assessment

Temperature is a hazard in this experiment. The lamp will become very hot during the experiment so I must make sure I do not come in close contact with the bulb as it could burn skin. Also the wires in the experiment may have an increase in temperature and become hot as well.

Results

I plotted a graph for this experiment one showing the sine angle of the light against power output. This graph backed my hypothesis of a strong positive correlation between the sine angle of light and it being directly proportional to the power output of a solar cell. Due to the points on my graph being so close together I could not place any error bars on the graph as they would not be seen although there probably is a small error in the readings of the experiment. My graph shows a cluster of results towards the top right of the graph suggesting at these angles the power output changed very little as it was close to its maximum

  If I were to conduct the experiment again I would use a dark room for the experiments to take place in. Also I would use new equipment to minimise errors.