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Power from sunlight: Powering space exploration with solar energy

In this set of activities, students will learn about two concepts that influence solar panel design for space missions: the inverse square law and the angle of incidence. Students will perform two simple investigations using a photovoltaic cell (solar cell) and a light source. First, they will measure how the power produced by the solar cells varies with distance from the light source and attempt to retrieve the inverse square law for light intensity experimentally. Students will then conduct a second experiment to investigate the dependence of the power output for the solar cell with the angle of incidence. Last, they will apply these concepts to real ESA space missions.