Aaron Lee

Harvesting Sunlight: Applying Photovoltaic Principles to the Design and Development of an Automated Solar Tracker

Started June 3, 2025

Abstract or project description

My student, Aaron, is undertaking an experimental physics project to investigate the performance and efficiency of photovoltaic cells. The central goal of his project is to build and utilize a custom experimental setup to systematically measure how a solar cell's electrical power output is affected by key environmental conditions. He is conducting a series of hands-on experiments to characterize the panel's response to controlled changes in the angle of incident light, ambient temperature, and the light's spectrum. Having already successfully assembled the basic circuit with a solar panel and resistors and performed an initial "First Light" test to verify its functionality, Aaron is now collecting and analyzing data from these systematic tests. The project is still under development and it can branch out to a more specific direction such as engineering a high-efficient solar cell tracker. This future work would apply the principles derived from his initial experiments to a practical engineering solution that can actively maximize energy capture.