Solar Lab

I was thankful for the sun this afternoon, even as it beat down on my balding head. After a string of partly cloudy afternoons this week, we were treated to some pretty constant sunshine today, which was good news for the renewable energy class. I had cobbled together some solar electric experiment kits using tiny PV modules pulled out of solar walkway lights, solderless breadboards, resistors, and multimeters. We used these to create simple I-V curves to evaluate the PV modules. The students organized themselves into five teams and had a good time trying out the equipment.

The mini solar cell test kit in action

One of the teams generating an I-V curve

Federico Machado, the head of the university's electric lab, once again came to my aid with an assortment of equipment for doing a larger scale solar demonstration: a 12V battery, charge controller, and inverter. We combined these with three 5W solar modules, one that I brought from California and two procured locally, and a 60W desk lamp. We were able to power the lamp and operate the system in battery charging and discharging modes.

Our 15W solar electric system

Students plot their I-V curve data