Make a solar cell in your kitchen
A solar cell is a device for converting
energy from the sun into electricity.
The high-efficiency solar cells you
can buy at Radio Shack and other
stores are made from highly
processed silicon, and require huge
factories,...
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Make a solar cell in your kitchen
A solar cell is a device for converting
energy from the sun into electricity.
The high-efficiency solar cells you
can buy at Radio Shack and other
stores are made from highly
processed silicon, and require huge
factories, high temperatures, vacuum
equipment, and lots of money.
If we are willing to sacrifice efficiency
for the ability to make our own solar
cells in the kitchen out of materials
from the neighborhood hardware
store, we can demonstrate a working
solar cell in about an hour.
Our solar cell is made from cuprous oxide instead of silicon.
Cuprous oxide is
one of the first materials known to display the photoelectric effect, in which light
causes electricity to flow in a material.
Thinking about how to explain the photoelectric effect is what led Albert Einstein
to the Nobel prize for physics, and to the theory of relativity.
Materials you will need
The solar cell is made from these materials:
A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware
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