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Solar energy lesson plans A series of five lesson plans are now available, two of the curricula include student lab activies and the other three cover the basics of solar cells and solar electric systems. They are primarily designed for high school science students, but should be helpful to anyone wanting to understand how solar electricity. Development of the curricula with labs was made possible through funding by the Emerald People's Utility District and the other plans were made possible by the Oregon Million Solar Roofs Coalition, with funding from the Oregon Office of Energy, through the U.S. Department of Energy. Lesson I—What is a KiloWatt Hour? In this lesson, students are challenged to use personal energy output as a means to quantify the energy unit of 1 KWh. Download this in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or as a Microsoft Word document. Lesson II— Experiments with Photovoltaic Cells This unit introduces students to the concept of converting sunlight to electricity with photovoltaic cells. Equipment for this lab is listed in the document. Download this in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or as a Microsoft Word document. Lesson III—Solar cells Students are introduced to the basic physics and chemistry behind the operation of a solar cell. They will learn how a single crystal silicon cell accepts energy from light and turns it into electricity. Download this in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or as a Microsoft Word document. Click here for sample questions with suggested answers. Lesson IV—Solar electric arrays Students are introduced to the components of a solar electric system and the concept of the photovoltaic IV curve. They will learn how modules are put together to generate the desired voltage and current, and how an inverter helps the system to operate efficiently. Download this in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or as a Microsoft Word document. Click here for sample questions with suggested answers. Lesson V—Photovoltaics in arrays: solar cells generating electricity Students will learn about some of the variables related to the effectiveness of photovoltaic arrays in generating electricity. They will learn to use a software tool called PV Watts to calculate the output of PV arrays as a function of location conditions. Download this in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or as a Microsoft Word document.  © 2008, UO Solar Radiation Monitoring Laboratory. Last
revised: January 9, 2008.
Home page URL: solardat.uoregon.edu |