Block+A+Group+7

Block A Group 7

Heather Payne Charity Geiger Cymantha Rainey

1. Question: How does air temperature affect the electrical output of a PV Cell?

2. Hypothesis: If the air temperature increases then the PVC volts reading will increase.

3. Materials: Box Light Bulb (2 - 75w) Plastic Wrap Thermometer Multimeter Volts Scotch Tape Stop Watch Aligator Clamps Solar Cell

4.Procedure:
 * 1) Gather the materials needed to continue to with the experiment.
 * 2) Before continuing, use the Aligator clamps to connect the solar cell to the multimeter. Turning on the light in the box, record the current temprature as well as the volts that the multimeter recorded.
 * 3) Using the thermometer measure the temperature of the box as it begins to heat up.
 * 4) Using the plastic wrap and tape, cover the box entirely with the plastic wrap and tape it down so there are no wholes to let the heat escape. Be sure to leave a place for the thermometer to be accurately visible and readable.
 * 5) With the solar cell, light bulbs and plastic wrap all in or on the box, use a stop watch to measure the temperature inside the box. Use a data table to record the temperature of the box as well as the reading of the multimeter. Measure the temperature and record the readings every 2 minutes for 10 minutes.
 * 6) On your data table record the multimeter readings in volts and the temperature in degrees celcius.

5. Data Table: On seperate paper.

6. Graph: On graph paper.

7. Conclusion: Our group concluded that air temperature does effect the electrical output of a PV cell. As the temperature increased, the readings of the PV cell also increased. We also concluded that once the temperature of the box reached a certain temperature the readings of the PV cell vould regulate and begin to decrease.

8. Problems:
 * One challenge was the use of a regular thermometer.
 * We could have used a digital thermometer to have more accurate results in temperature.
 * The cause of this challenge was human error and the inability to accurately read a thermometer at eye level.