Experiment 1Determination of Characteristic of Solar Panel

Experiment A: Wavelength of Light that hits a Solar Panel

Objective:To demonstrate how a solar cell responds differently to different wavelengths of light.

Materials:1. Encapsulated solar panel of 10W, Isc = 0.66A,Voc = 21.3V, size

(16.5”×10.7”×1.31”)2. Metal Halide or Tungsten Halogen Discharge Lamp:

1000W,240V/50Hz3. Multimeter to measure Milli-Amps.4. Color filter (violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red).

Procedure:1. Equipment was set up as shown in figure 1.2. The solar panel was lay on the surface so that it is facing straight

under the lamp and was kept it in the same position for all of our testing. A block of wood was use.

3. The testing was began by measuring the output of the solar cell under a full beam of bright light without filters. The mA reading was recorded from ammeter.

A

Figure 1 : Solar Panel Setup

Circuit schematic

4. Each color filter was tested by covering the solar cell. The color and the mA reading from ammeter was recorded each time.

Resultz Wavelength (nm) Solar Cell Output (mA)Red (full beam) 390-780Violet 390-455Blue 455-495Green 495-575Yellow 575-595Orange 595-625Red 625-780

Experiment B: Solar Cell Series Circuits.

Objective: To demonstrate how solar cells and panels are connected, like batteries, to achieve certain ratings of voltage and amperage. The total power in wattage (W) delivered is the voltage times the amperage.

Materials:1. Two solar panels: Encapsulated solar panel of 10W, Isc = 0.66A,Voc

= 21.3V, size (16.5”×10.7”×1.31”)2. Metal Halide or Tungsten Halogen Discharge Lamp:

1000W,240V/50Hz3. Digital Multimeter

Circuit schematic

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A

Figure 2 : Solar Panel Serial Setup

Procedure:1. The bright spot was find under the lamp to work.2. The meter was connected to one solar panel as shown in Figure 2

and the solar panel was set so that it gets a good amount of light.3. The DC volts was measure and the data was recorded.4. The DC amps was measure and the data was recorded.5. The meter was connected to two solar panels as shown in Figure 2

and the solar panel was set so that they get a good amount of light.6. The DC volts was measure and the data was recorded.7. The DC amps was measure and the data was recorded.

Experiment C: Solar Cell Parallel Circuits

Objective:To demonstrate how solar cells and panels are connected, like batteries, to achieve certain ratings of voltage and amperage. We develop this idea by measuring the no-load voltage and amperage of solar cells connected in parallel.

Materials:1. Two solar panels: Encapsulated solar panel of 10W, Isc = 0.66A,Voc

= 21.3V, size (16.5”×10.7”×1.31”)2. Metal Halide or Tungsten Halogen Discharge Lamp:

1000W,240V/50Hz3. Digital Multimeter

A

Circuit schematic

Figure 3: Solar Panel Parallel Setup

Procedure:1. The bright spot was find under the lamp to work.2. The meter was connected to one solar panel as shown in Figure 3

and the solar panel was set so that it gets a good amount of light.3. The DC volts was measure and the data was recorded.4. The DC amps was measure and the data was recorded.5. The meter was connected to two solar panels as shown in Figure 3

and the solar panel was set so that they get a good amount of light.6. The DC volts was measure and the data was recorded.7. The DC amps was measure and the data was recorded.

Experiment D: Measuring the power output of a PV solar panel and its efficiency

Objective:To determine the operating point of a PV solar panel, its peak power output and efficiency.

Materials:1. Meter ruler2. Large rod base stand (4kg) with rod 120cm long and multi clamp.3. Power resistor (50Ω, 40Ω, 30Ω, 20Ω, 10Ω, 5Ω) up to 50W.4. Metal Halide or Tungsten Halogen Discharge Lamp:

1000W,240V/50Hz5. Digital Multimeter6. Digital Solar Radiation Meter (pyranometer).7. Solar panels: Encapsulated solar panel of 10W, Isc = 0.66A,Voc =

21.3V, size (16.5”×10.7”×1.31”)

Procedure:1. The area of solar cell was measured in units of mm2 (L × W) This

value was recorded in the data table.

2. The irradiance was measured using the digital solar radiation meter (in W/m2). Power input to the solar cell was calculated.

3. The light source was set up to stimulate the sun at noon conditions. The light source was turned on.

4. Six solar PV panels was connected in parallel to give a 21V, 60W PV system with two panels sharing one light source.

5. The apparatus was set up as shown in the Figure 3

Figure 3 : PV setup6. The multimeter was turned to 20V DC tomeasure the voltage (V) of

the solar panel for the various power resistors.7. The voltage across the different power resistors was measured.8. The results was recorded.9. The efficiency of solar panel was calculated

Efficiency = (Power Out/ Power In) × 100%10. A graph of voltage versus the current was plotted and the

operating point of the solar panel was determined.11. A graph of power output versus resistance was plotted and the

value of resistance for the highest power output was determined.CalculationPeak power Output = Voltage x Current

= (

Solar panel

Power resistor

Digital multimeter

DiscussionIn this experiment, it was divided into four experiment where

concludes according to each objectives.

For the experiment A, show that to demonstrate how the solar cell respond differently to different wavelengths of light. This is was illustrate by covering solar panel with colour light filters. From the hypothesis, a solar panel will output different levels of power depending on the colour and wavelength of the incoming light. Firstly setup of apparatus by using solar panel of 10W, Isc=0.66A, Voc=21.3V. The size of solar panel is 16.5’’x10.7’’x1.31’’. The lamp that used is Tungsten Halogen Discharge Lamp 1000W. The colour filter used is coloured plastic tabs. After analyze the result, conclude that the solar panel would output different levels of power depending on the colour and the wavelength of this incoming light as proven the hypothesis stated. As a general trend, a greater amount of current was generated when light of a longer wavelength fell upon the photovoltaic cell, supporting the hypothesis. However, the wavelengths of violet and yellow-orange light did not follow the trend. This signifies a relationship between wavelength and current that may not be completely linear. Outside factors may have also influenced the result.

A solar panel is a set of solar photovoltaic modules electrically connected and mounted on a supporting structure. A photovoltaic module is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells. The solar panel can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. Each module is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions (STC), and typically ranges from 100 to 320 watts. The efficiency of a module determines the area of a module given the same rated output - an 8% efficient 230 watt module will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt module. A single solar module can produce only a limited amount of power; most installations contain multiple modules. A photovoltaic system typically includes a panel or an array of solar modules, an inverter, and sometimes a battery and/or solar tracker and interconnection wiring. Depending on construction, photovoltaic modules can produce electricity from a range of frequencies of light, but usually cannot cover the entire solar range (specifically, ultraviolet, infrared and low or diffused light). Hence much of the incident sunlight energy is wasted by solar modules, and they can give far higher efficiencies if illuminated with monochromatic light. Therefore, another design concept is to split the light into different wavelength ranges and direct the beams onto different cells tuned to those ranges. This has been projected to be capable of raising efficiency by 50%. Currently the best achieved sunlight conversion rate (solar module efficiency) is around 21.5% in new commercial products typically lower than the efficiencies of their cells in isolation. The most efficient mass-produced solar modules have power density values of up to 175 W/m2 (16.22 W/ft2).  Solar cells are often encapsulated as a module. Photovoltaic modules often have a sheet of glass on the sun-facing side, allowing light to pass while protecting the semiconductor wafers. Solar cells are usually connected in series in modules, creating an additive voltage. Connecting cells in parallel yields a higher current; however, problems such as shadow effects can shut down the weaker (less illuminated) parallel string (a number of series

connected cells) causing substantial power loss and possible damage because of the reverse bias applied to the shadowed cells by their illuminated partners. Strings of series cells are usually handled independently and not connected in parallel, though (as of 2014) individual power boxes are often supplied for each module, and are connected in parallel. Although modules can be interconnected to create an array with the desired peak DC voltage and loading current capacity, using independent MPPTs (maximum power point trackers) is preferable. Otherwise, shunt diodes can reduce shadowing power loss in arrays with series/parallel connected cells. The single solar cell for DC is 19.4V with 0.25 A. But when multiply single solar cell reading by 2 is 38.8V with 0.52A. This means that the solar cells of a parallel circuit have the same voltage but a higher current when multiply it. There are differences show when series solar cells with the parallel solar cells was compare. For series solar cell is 39.54V with 0.32A while parallel solar cell is 19.73V with 0.63A. The output of series solar cell more than parallel solar cells. When solar cell was connected in parallel, cells that output a lower voltage will dissipate power from the cells that output a higher voltage. As the voltage output of any cell is a function of many variables, no two cells are likely to output precisely the same voltage, so this condition is unavoidable. This is why it's best to connect them in series. Large banks of series connected panels can be connected in parallel with other banks by including diodes or other means to prevent some banks draining current from others. This is same with the parallel connected batteries suffer from a similar problem.

The experiment four was conducted to determine the operating point of a PV solar panel, its peak power output and efficiency. To find the operating point, the graph of voltage vs current need to plotted. The operating point for the solar panel is the mid-point of the bend in the curve. This is the point at which the solar panel generates its peak power output. Therefore, the power output was calculated for this graph is