To create a solar powered toy car does not need much time or skills but it is the investigation and knowledge received that is worth the few months of constant working. The solar powered toy car has proved that the higher the volts of the solar panel, the more efficient and better it would work. However the part about the light intensity is not comparable to a real solar powered car as for this experiment, the solar powered toy car moves by itself and is not within others to control its movement or direction. However for real solar powered cars, the higher the light intensity does not affect the speed of the car as there are stored energy in the vehicle and the speed of the car is being controlled by the driver.
There are many solar powered cars in the world today and recently, the first solar powered family car was built. Solar power is the future of our world as in years to come, we will run out of the resources we have today which powers our electricity.
5.1 Summary of findings
The summary of findings made is that the higher the light intensity, the better the solar panel can function as it will absorb more solar energy to convert to electricity to power the car and the higher the volts in the solar panel, the faster and higher the current will flow thus also making the solar panel function better.
5.2 Practical Applications
The applications for this project is to find out how to make a solar powered car so that we can come up with some innovative ideas in the future for some designs. During this research process, we discover many factors needed to build a solar powered toy car which could be useful for us if we were planning to construct or design one in the future thus we can apply the skills we learnt in the future maybe to create a design of the solar powered car.
We can also find out the most effective ways to harness and use the Sun’s power to power cars. During this experiment, we found out the most efficient way to use the solar panel and we understood the factors that could affect the functions of the solar panel. These skills and knowledge we have learnt can be applied in the future if we live till the day we run out of fossil fuels or coals. We could find out the more effective ways and save energy and even save ourselves.
Another way we can use the knowledge and skills we have learnt in this experiment is if it choose to research more about solar cells in the future as a scientist. In the future, solar power will be much needed thus scientist will need to create or find out possibilities for energy to be generated at a much quicker rate or maybe a new source of energy or new cell that could be converted to electricity to power our homes.
This project can also lead to more projects to find out more about the uses of solar panels, inventions, and patents involving the use of solar power in cars and for other uses. I am sure that there are much more possibilities that are for us to discover and that is why we must continue to be open minded to different ideas and be creative with our designs.
5.3 Areas for further study
The areas of further study for this project includes finding out how much volt is the most effective for which motor. The DC Motor we are currently using happens to be specially effective in converting solar energy to electricity. We could go into areas of further studies testing out with different type of solar panels with different volts and different sizes. We can try testing out if the bigger solar panel with lower volt would generate electricity faster compared to a smaller solar panel with higher volts.
However besides that, area of further studies could be like testing if the material of the solar panel affects the voltage as there is currently many different type of solar panels invented in the world. The solar panel we are currently using now is the typical type of solar panel with a glass layer and everything however a few years ago the thin film solar panel was invented thus we can do further studies on the difference of the two types of solar panel and find out the pros and cons of both solar panels.
Besides generating energy, what other uses of solar panels are there? Doing further area studies on a topic like that can lead us to even developing our very research item. There are many possibilities solar panels can be used for thus area of further studies on that topic might be quite useful for the future.
How much does the intensity of light affect the effectiveness of the solar panel is one of the area of further studies that is most likely to be taken up by our own group. There are many pondering questions for one to think and analyze as will the intensity of the light affect the solar panel function more or the volt of the solar panel affect its function more.
After all, the possibilities are endless and I am sure there are much more things to discover and learn. So, we must keep on questioning and enquiring and not just accept things just as they come to you.
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