Lesson and Lab Activity with Photovoltaic Cells

This lesson and lab activity was created by Dan Delorme and introduces students to the history and theory of photovoltaic (PV) cells. A laboratory investigation follows the lesson and asks students to use PV cells to power operating circuits that will be constructed in order to perform simple tasks. This lesson and lab includes the following sections: Lesson on Photovoltaic Cells, Introduction, A Brief History, What is a PC cell?, How does a PV Cell work?, Some Areas of Current Materials Science Research, Activity 1: Solar cell(s) and small electric fan, and more.