National 5 Physics Assignment

Solar Cells

Aim

To investigate how solar cells voltage varies at different distances.

Description of Application

Solar cells are mostly used in Physics to transfer light energy into electrical
energy. Solar cells are usually found in the form of solar panels which are used on
roofs of houses to create electrical energy for the house. Solar energy is a
renewable source of energy and it has a positive effect on the environment
because it is renewable and doesnt create any greenhouse gases like other
forms of energy which could harm the environment.

Sources

I have collected data from the University of Suffolks website (sites.suffolk.edu)

I decided to choose these sources because:

Their experiment is very similar to mine so it is relevant.

As they are university sources, the data should be reliable.

Data

The following is from the Suffolk University website

(https://sites.suffolk.edu/fssako/2012/12/08/solar-energy-lab/):
I used the date to create this table:

Distance (cm) Voltage (V)

0 0.23

5 0.21

10 0.19

15 0.125

This source is telling me that as the distance from the light source increases, the
voltage produced from the solar cell decreases.

Here is the data that I collected from my experiment that was similar to the one
above. In our experiment we used a lamp as the light source, we used a metre
stick to measure the distance of the solar cell from the lamp and we used a
voltmeter to measure the voltage produced from the solar cell as a result of the
lamp. We started off measuring the background voltage.

Background Voltage= 0.01V

Distance from Voltage Voltage Voltage Voltage Average

lamp(cm) Reading 1 (V) Reading Reading Reading Voltage
2(V) 3(V) 4(V) (V)

50 0.15 0.18 0.18 0.19 0.175

60 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.17 0.1625

70 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15

80 0.13 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.135

90 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12

100 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.1075

I used this data to create a graph.

Conclusion

On the basis of this data, I conclude that the larger the distance from the light
source the lower the voltage produced by the solar cell. This conclusion is
consistent with all of the data sources used.

Underlying Physics

References