Solar Battery Charging

Grades:

7-12

Unit:

Description:

Students will become familiar with circuits, cells, batteries, and photovoltaic cells, then plan, build, test, modify, and re-test a small solar battery charger designed to maintain batteries from a particular device.

Energy Content:

Batteries & Storage,

Circuitry,

Electrical Energy,

Electricity Generation,

Solar Photovoltaic

More Details Less Details

Learning Goal(s):

Students will build series, parallel, and parallel series circuits from a schematic diagram. Students will master the basic concept of battery charging. Students will be able to plan and build solar battery chargers for a given battery system. Intermediate students will calculate time to charge a depleted battery to its full capacity given specifications of a solar module. Students will be able to explain how a solar cell works with diagrams and words. Students will use a digital multi-meter to measure voltage, current, resistance, and diode polarity.

Pedagogy & Practice:

Hands-on Materials,

Group Work/Collaboration,

Engineering Design

NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:

2: Developing and Using Models,

3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,

5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking,

6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions,

8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Author:

Luke Robbins