Solar Energy Station Directions

Making a Solar-Powered Circuit 1.Make sure your solar panel is in direct sun. 2.Get the clear LED bulb. 3.Use a red jumper cable to attach the long (+) bent “leg” of the LED to the (+) Terminal 1 of solar cell 1. 4.Use a black jumper cable to attach the short (-) “leg” of the LED to the (-) Terminal 2 of the solar cell. 5.It should glow red. (If not, trying switching the wires. What else might cause the LED to light up?) Congratulations, you’ve just made a solar-powered circuit!

Solar-Powered Know-How 1.A VOLTAGE SOURCE (the solar cell your connecting to) produces voltage (measured in volts) and an electrical current to power the circuit. 2.A LOAD, or electrical device (an LED, light bulb, iPod charger) is what uses the power produced by the voltage source (the solar cell). 3.A PATH, usually wires or connectors, is what connects the voltage source to the load. These must be made of material that conducts electricity. REMEMBER: The POWER (P) that makes electrical devices work is a combination of VOLTAGE (V) and ELECTRIC CURRENT (I) or P (watts) = V (volts) x I (amps) A working electrical circuit has three parts:

Limitations to Solar Power 1.Find the motor with the blue fan. 2.Use a red jumper cable to attach the (+) red motor wire to the (+) Terminal 1 of solar cell 1. 3.Use a black jumper cable to attach the (-) black motor wire to the (-) Terminal 2 of the solar cell. 4.Point the solar panel directly at the sun. The motor should start spinning (You may need to give it a little spin to get it started) 5.Now cover the array with your hand or black paper. What happens? 6.Put down your hand and while facing the sun, slowly turn the whole unit (solar cell and motor) away. What happens to the motor as you turn the array away from the sun? A working electrical circuit has three parts. A circuit powered from solar cells needs 1 more………. LIGHT!

Measuring Voltage of Solar- Powered Circuit 1.Make sure your solar panel is in direct sun. 2.Get the Multimeter (the black box with lcd display) and turn the dial to the “20” setting under DC Volts (labeled V …..) 3.Use a red jumper cable to attach the (+) red wire of the Multimeter to the (+) Terminal 1 of solar cell 1 4.Use a black jumper cable to attach the (-) black wire of the Multimeter to the (-) Terminal 2 of the solar cell. 5.You should see numbers on your Multimeter display between 1.50v and 1.90 v. This is the voltage for solar cell 1. Record your measurement as __. __ __ V. 6.Could you measure solar cells 2 and 3? Try, and then record your findings. ___

Sun Powered Experimentation 1.Based on what you’ve done so far. How could we increase the power output from our solar panel? 2.Look on the back, notice that there are three sets of cells. Could we hook them together? 3.Use the yellow connecting wires to connect the 3 solar cells. Remember that electricity flows from positive (+) to negative (-). 4.Conduct the Measuring Voltage lab again. What do you think will happen to the total voltage? 5.Try powering different items in the kit and even combining them.

More Juice, Less Voltage Remember that Power is a combination of Current (measured in Amps) and Voltage (measured in Volts). So far we have hooked the cells up in series to increase voltage. But what if we have something that is low voltage but requires lots of current? 1.Look on the back, notice how the three sets of cells are hooked up now. Instead of in series, they are now in parallel. 2.Conduct the Measuring Voltage lab again. What do you think will happen to the total voltage? 3.Try powering different items in the kit now. Is it easier or harder?