I have planned to interview a RPI professor who was working on solar energy materials but unfortunately, we weren't able to set up a interview. Instead, he recommended another professor that I could interview so I am currently waiting for his reply.
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How clean is solar power?
Solar panels does not emit green house gases like carbon dioxide while generating electricity, producing no harms to the environment at all like fossil fuels. However, in process of melting and purifying the slicon, significant amount of heat is needed for it to transduce and absorb sunlight. (melting point of slicon: 1414 celsius) Although energy is needed in forming panels, the environmental benefits of installing solar panels are enormous as it replaces electricity that would otherwise be generated by burning coal or gas. A team of researchers found that solar panels made today are responsible for around 20 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of energy they produce over their lifetime. Compared to 1975, there has been a significant decrease from 400-500 grams. Likewise, the amount of time needed for a solar panel to produce as much energy as was involved in its creation has fallen from about 20 years to two years or less. As more panels are made, the manufacturing process becomes more efficient. The team found that for every doubling of the world’s solar capacity, the energy required to make a panel fell by around 12% and associated carbon-dioxide emissions by 17-24%. This shows that solar power is becoming the most efficient and productive energy source for replacing fossil fuel, not only having envirnonmental benefits but also having great efficiency and production. References: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21711301-new-paper-may-have-answer-how-clean-solar-power World's largest solar power plant in India: Based on the our plans, my mentor and I took the solar panels to the physics classroom to try exposing it to different light sources. Like the photo below, we connected it to the logger pro and the voltmeter probe. As soon as we connected the voltmeter probe, the logger pro showed the number 6V, which is the electricity (voltage) solar panel has when it is placed in the classroom without any direct light source. We then placed the panel below the light stand and the logger pro went up to 10V. We also placed the panel near the window for it to directly get the sunlight but the logger pro again showed 10V. A major problem showed up as we realized that the maximum voltage the voltmeter probe could go up to was only 10V. This meant that every value exceeding 10V could be only shown as 10V in the logger pro because of the voltmeter probe. As we encountered this unexpected problem, we weren't able to measure the accurate voltage. So we asked Mr Evans for other voltmeter probes that has higher maximum voltage and we are planning to continue our experiment with a different probe for more accurate results later on.
My mentor and I are planning to set up a small experiment in order to fully understand how solar panels work before getting on to our actual series of experiments. By using the solar panel we bought, we are testing it by exposing to various light sources. We are planning to connect it to the logger pro and voltmeter probe in our school to see the immediate voltage changes that would be graphed in logger pro as we move the solar panel around to different places. For example, we would start off by just leaving the solar panel where it is, not directly facing any light sources. Then, we would move it up to the light stands or even near the window where the sun shines through to gradually increase the light intensity it gets. I assume that the voltage would increase and show drastic changes as soon as we change the light source.
For my experiment, I am planning to use solar panels in order to measure the output (voltage, change in temperature) in finding out the greatest efficiency of the solar cells. But before I start using our school's solar panels for the actual experiments outside, my mentor and I decided to play around with a smaller solar panel kit to get a better sense of it. Moreover, experiments based on variables like light intensity or temperature requires to use a artificial light source in order to produce an accurate result. In the process of finding solar kits, we found out a 5watt framed solar panel that could produced up to 17V in maximum, suitable for our project. I am planning to connect it to the vernier voltmeter so that it shows the change or measurement of the voltage produced instantly. After I get familiar to the solar panels and how it works , I am planning to move on to a bigger scale of solar panels in our school and conduct my experiment outside based on the actual sunlight. < My solar panel for indoor experiments What is solar power? Solar power is currently that most abundant and widely used renewable energy source around the world. It converts energy from the sunlight to electricity, thermal energy and more. One of the most common ways to harness solar energy is through solar panels, which is equipped with solar cells or photovoltaic cells. This photovoltaic technology can directly convert energy from sunlight into electricity. What is photovoltaic cell? PV(photovoltaic) gets its name from the process of converting light (photons) to electricity (voltage), which is called the PV effect. Not only solar panels but also they can be adorned on to your calculator or orbiting our planet on satellites. They rely on the the photoelectric effect: the ability of matter to emit electrons when a light is shone on it. How does photovoltaic technology work? Silicon, a semiconductor is the key component of photovoltaic cells. Sunlight is composed of particles called photons, a light energy that radiate from the sun. As these hit the silicon atoms of the solar cell, they transfer their energy to loose electrons, knocking them clean off the atoms. With the tightly bound structure of silicon atom, electrical imbalance is created in the atom. Two different types of silicon are created: n-type, which has spare electrons, and p-type, which is missing electrons, leaving ‘holes’ in their place. When these two materials are placed side by side inside a solar cell, the n-type silicon’s spare electrons jump over to fill the gaps in the p-type silicon. The n-type silicon becomes positively charged, and the p-type silicon is negatively charged, creating an electric field across the cell. Because silicon is a semi-conductor, it can act like an insulator, maintaining this imbalance. As the photons smash the electrons off the silicon atoms, this field drives the electric current to power calculators, satellites, producing electricity. < Photovoltaic power station filled with solar panels = Large scale photovoltaic system to supply power into electricity grid September: Setting up blogs, meeting with my mentor, planning out my general project
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Irene Jeong's signature project:Conducting various experiments using school's solar panel to find out the optimum environment for maximum efficiency of photovoltaic cells Archives
May 2017
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