Maximum Power Point: Principles of Optimizing Photovoltaic Cell Power Output

This lesson is adapted from PSU's GREATT lesson, Solar Power: The History, Chemistry, and Application of Photovoltaics. In this Maximum Power Point lesson, "students will investigate how to optimize the power output of a photovoltaic cell using a home-made gnomon stand. Data collected from students' investigations will be used to create current-voltage and power-voltage curves to determine the "maximum power point" at which their photovoltaic cell operates."

This lesson plan includes an overview, standards statements, content objectives, process objectives, assessment strategies, materials needed, procedures, and teacher notes.