How does a solar cell work? How can we measure its efficiency and power with a sun simulator? During this physics workshop, students get the opportunity to discover the answers to these exciting questions. They get a better understanding of the current research on solar cells and find out why different solar cell technologies exist.
During the workshop, the students learn through hands-on experiments how to:
- Produce a dye-sensitized solar cell
- Test the short-circuit current and the open circuit voltage of a solar cell
- Measure the conversion efficiency of different solar cells with a sun simulator
- Calibrate the light intensity and investigate the influence of the temperature with scientific equipment. (Full-day only)
- Use different lasers to learn about the reciprocity relation of an LED and a solar cell and
predict the emission colour of an LED only from its absorption properties (Full-day only)
At the end of the day, the results of all the groups are discussed, and the participants discover which group created the best DIY solar cell.
The workshop is available in two formats, either as a full day or as half a day.
Full-day workshop for classes ranging from 2rd to 1st grade (students aged 16 to 19).
Half-day workshop for 3rd grade (students aged 15).
Prior knowledge on the following topics can be useful for the participants: Current, voltage, power in circuits. Plus efficiency and electrons orbitals for the full-day workshop.