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SOLAR POWERED CAR
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PURPOSE:
HYPOTHESIS: Different wavelengths of colored light will produce different amounts of current and voltage. Blue or green light will produce the greatest amount of current and voltage.
1.
voltmeter (Protek A800 ™)
Car
Construction
A. 2 sides Lego
car - 22cm long and 3 layers high. C. Planks layed
from the back end. E. 1 layer down,
4 holes from the pipe another pipe 16 cm long. 4.5 cm (40 teeth)
gear connected to the 1cm gear. 2 X 6cm d wheels on the out
side driven by the gears.
Solar panel construction A. Two solar panels connected in series to the motor. B. Motor and the solar panels to the car. C. Elastic band attached from the motor to the 3.5 cm elastic gear. D. No extra features were added to the car in order to maintain minimal weight. Total weight of car should be less than 220g. EXPERIMENT 1.
Experiments performed at 10:30 AM and 1 PM on sunny days in
April/05
RESULTS:
The yellow colored light produced the greatest current at 49 ma (milliamps) 1 PM. The blue orange and red light gave the most amount of current using the halogen lamp at 29.5 ma. Throughout the experiment, the voltage stayed the same at 1.5 volts under all light conditions. Results were similar with regard to the influence of light colour at 10:30 AM and 1 PM, but the current was consistently higher at 1 PM. The halogen lamp produced similar results, but at a lower current. DISCUSSION: Solar cells are composed of two thin layers of crystallized silicon. One layer is positively charged (P-type – created when the silicon is infused with Boron). The other layer is negatively charged (N-type – created when the silicon is infused with phosphorus or arsenic). The crystal structure of the silicon contains empty areas which allow for electron flow. When light penetrates the solar cell, electrons flow from the negatively charged layer to the positively charged layer. This flow of electrons creates a current. Different wave lengths of light have different energy levels. Long wavelengths, (red) do not have enough energy to release an electron from a silicon atom. Short wave length (ultraviolet) light has so much energy that it goes straight through the solar cell, without releasing an electron. Light with wavelengths between 450nm-550nm have the appropriate amount of energy to release an electron from a silicon atom. Time of day affects the current output of the solar panels, because the light intensity increases as the sun tracks directly overhead of the experiment. Current, which is the amount of electricity (electrons) that flows was measured in milliamps. Voltage is a measure of the force that electrons flow around the electrical circuit. The solar cells produce the same voltage with varying light intensity and wavelength. CONCLUSION My Hypothesis was
that the blue and the green light will produce the most amount
of current. That hypothesis should be rejected for the 10:30
and 1:00 test because the yellow light gave the greatest amount
of current for both tests. If I were to redo this project, I would test the solar panels more than once and use different brands of solar cells. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Harness the power
of the sun! Copyright 1998 Solar World Websites 1. Clean energy Basics
(NREL), July 6 2005. |
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