I.

Background
For this project the effect of colored light bulbs on solar panels is going to be
studied. Research shows that blue lights produce more energy than any other color
besides white. One flaw in the blue CFLs is that the bulb gives off excess energy that
cannot be absorbed by the solar cell.
This study investigated the effect a color CFL on a solar panel. The variable that
was being tested was the colored CFL light bulbs and how much solar energy they
could produce in comparison to an incandescent light bulb. As a result the blue CFL
bulb ended up giving off the most energy even though it was the darkest color, so what
was discovered was that darker colors give off more solar energy than brighter colors.
II. hypothesis
This study Investigated how much energy a solar cell could absorb with a colored CFL
light bulb rather than a white bulb. The hypothesis was that the pink bulb would help
create the most solar energy because of the amount of light it produces the prediction
for this project was that pink and green would give off the most energy. The rationale for
this hypothesis was that pink and green are two vibrant colors and that the rays of light
would be greater in comparison to a blue bulb.

III. procedure
A 13 wattage pink CFL light bulb was placed into a lamp. Next the solar panel
was placed on a horizontally flat surface, with the longer edge facing towards the lamp,
then the lamp was adjusted so that it was 7in away from the solar panel, before the
lamp could be turned on the background light was taken, next the lamp was turned on
for about ten seconds and this was repeated ten times for ten different trials. Next the

Pink light bulb was removed and was replaced with a Blue 13 wattage CFL light bulb
and the same procedure was taken for the next ten trials. Then the blue CFL was
removed and was replaced by an orange CFL to be tested for the next ten trials. Finally
a green CFL bulb was tested. At the end of all the trials data was composed into one
chart.

IV. Results
Pink

Blue
3.712

Orange
3.947

Green
3.721

3.187

This experiment was first conducted in an open area which made it difficult to get
solid data especially when taking the background light but it was even harder when
someone elses light shined on the solar panel messing with the data that was being
taken which made it harder to get accurate data. so the experiment was redone in a
more enclosed area to get more accurate data. At the end it was discovered that blue
gives off more energy than any other color even though its one of the darker colors.

V. Discussion
The purpose of this experiment was to see how much energy a solar cell could
absorb with a colored light bulb rather than with a white light bulb. The hypothesis was
that pink would help to produce the most energy. A specific prediction was that pink and
green would be the two highest data sets. The hypothesis was not supported because
blue ended up being one of the highest data sets and green ended up being one of the
lowest data sets.
The results that were obtained was because blue light bulbs give off more energy
that solar cells cannot absorb. Pink light bulbs may be a lighter color than blue but
produce less energy because the lighter colors dont help as much as the florescent
lights.

sources used
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/25/new-solar-cell-efficiency-breakthroughharvests-blue-light/