ABSTRACT

Effects Of Wavelength On Solar Cell Output

Blake Fitzpatrick

This project was developed to answer the question "How does the wavelength of light
affect the energy output of a solar cell?” The purpose of this research was to test how different
colors of light affected the energy output of a solar cell. I chose this topic because I
was interested in how every wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum could
produce energy. Some uses of this research could be used to show how the energy
output of a solar cell is divided when inside a green house. Also this research can be
used to test if one color of light is stronger than other colors. It was hypothesized that
white light would have the greatest energy output, blue light next greatest, green third greatest, and red the
least. To test the hypothesis, I used a multi-colored l.e.d light. I placed the light over a
solar cell and used a multi-meter to record the amperage and voltage. The results of
the testing showed that white light had a greater output then colored light. The
average wattage for the colored light was 5.62 watts, and white light 13.88 watts.
Green light had the least energy output with an average of 3.43 watts. This
contradicts my hypothesis because I hypothesized that redlight would create the least
energy output. I believe this is caused from the use of a commercial product not
meant for scientific purposes. If I re-did this experiment I would make my own light
using the same type of L.e.ds.