Transcript Solar Cells!: The Epic Struggle Between Man and Plant

Solar Cells!
The epic struggle between man
and plant.
My, that’s bright
• The sun does more than brighten our day
• It:
– Heats the planet
– Is partly responsible for all things about our
climate
– And of course it keeps stuff alive
• Plants, algae, some bacteria, and some protists
use it directly for food. (photoautotrophs)
Plants eat sunshine?
• How does a plant use sunshine for food?
– Water + CO2 + Light = Sugar (Food)
– Chlorophyll
• Plants also produce oxygen
– Good for us, of course
Wouldn’t it be cool to use the sun
too?
• Humans can’t use the sun for food
• Generally sunlight alone isn’t good enough
to keep us alive in the winter
• How can we use the sun?
Solar Panels!
• 2 main categories
– Things that use the heat
• Solar hot water panel
– Pools can use this to make heated water
– Some homes/camps can use this also
– Things that use the light
• Solar cells or photovoltaics
• This is what I want to talk about!
Solar Cells: Hey! I’ve heard of
those!
• Solar panel-powered electronics have
become fairly common
– Calculators for instance
• Spacecraft almost always have some sort
of solar panel on them
• Less commonly houses/camps use them
for electricity
How do they work?
• They don’t produce sugar
• They produce electrons
– Electrons power everything electrical
• Electrons are either used or stored in a
battery
How do they work?
How do they work?
• Single panels usually aren’t enough
• Multiple panels are used to get more
voltage or power
The future of solar panels
• Solar energy is not very popular for
anything larger than a calculator
• Research in more efficient, cheap
materials are sure to make this technology
more widespread
The End