Datasheet

Part 1. General safety instructions
To avoid the risk of property damage, serious injury or death:
1. Read carefully and fully understand the instructions before starting assembly of this kit.
2. This kit is intended only for use by persons 12 years old and up, and only under the supervision of
adults who have read and understood the instructions in this user manual.
3. When assembling this kit, tools may be used. Extra care should be taken to avoid personal injury.
4. Some parts are small and fragile: please be careful when handling and connecting parts to avoid
breakage. Handle all parts and components with care.
5. Do not attempt to use any part, item, or component provided in this kit for any other purpose than
what is instructed in this manual. Do not attempt to disassemble any part, item or component in this
kit.
6. Empty all water, hydrogen and oxygen from each component after use.
7. Please read carefully the battery pack operation instructions on page 27 before using it.
Part 2. Discovering solar photovoltaic energy
Creating electricity from sunlight:
The Solar Hydrogen Education Kit contains a solar photovoltaic cell that will be used in most of our
experiments as a way to capture renewable energy from the sun.
The word “photovoltaic” is a marriage of two words: “photo”, meaning light, and “voltaic”, refering
to Volts of electricity. So photovoltaic (pv) technology, involves the generation of electricity from light.
The secret to this process is the use of a semiconductor material which can be adapted to release
electrons, the negatively charged particles that form the basis of electricity.
The most common semiconductor material used in photovoltaic cells is silicon, an element most
commonly found in sand. All pv cells have at least two layers of such semiconductors, one
positively charged and one negatively charged.
When light shines on the semiconductor, the electric field across the junction between these two
layers causes electricity to flow, generating DC current. The greater the intensity of the light, the
greater the flow of electricity.
Solar pv is quite different from a solar thermal system where the sun's rays are used to gen-
erate heat, usually for hot water in a house or swimming pools.
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