An investigation into the factors that influence the output voltage of a solar cell My goal is to try to find out how much the voltage is affected when exposing areas of different size of a solar cell to a light source. From this I will also establish the energy of each photon and, approximately, the number of electrons released, which can circulate an electric current. I know that light is made up of packets or quanta of energy called photons. When electromagnetic radiation such as light hits materials (usually metals) that emit electrons, energy-containing light photons are captured by the electrons. This means that the electron absorbs the energy of a photon, thus allowing it to escape from the surface of its material. For every photon of light that lands on the surface of an electron-emitting material, one electron can be "free." I know that solar cells contain thin silicon wafers protected by glass. When light photons hit the surface of the solar cell, the energy from the photon is absorbed by an electron. The electron requires a certain minimum energy to escape the material, but the excess energy is transferred to the electron as kinetic energy. Thus creating an electrical force, it pushes electrons around a circuit, known as an electric current, when the solar cell is connected. The size of the voltage depends on the number of electrons flowing or "freed". Energy of the photon Energy required to remove the electron from the metal Kinetic energy of the escaping electron ===================== ========== ===== + Looking at the methodology of my preliminary experiment I know that there are many other variables. In my preliminary experiment my main goal was to investigate as many variables as possible, which could influence the output or voltage. I did this because considering all the other variables I am able to adjust them, keeping my experiment as fair as possible. The other variables or independent variables that I noticed from my preliminary