Jared Proulx | Design Engineer

The goal of the project was to demonstrate the production of current, voltage, power, and efficiency of photovoltaic cells in a series combination. To achieve this, a 36-cell solar panel array was designed, built, and tested under different parameters. The voltage and current were measured and found to be additive, while efficiency was calculated using a range of values obtained from the tests. SolidWorks was used to create a functional prototype and analyze the solar panel. However, problems were encountered, such as the use of damaged cells in the combinations and the inability to find certain measurement devices needed to analyze the solar panel. Despite these setbacks, the resulting values should be considered ideal due to the use of the solar intensity constant in the calculations instead of an actual measured number from an intensity meter. Finally, the solar panel was compared to other current solar panels in terms of efficiency.

What was done:

• Designed and built a 36-cell solar panel array

• Tested the solar panel under different parameters

• Measured and calculated the voltage, current, power, and efficiency of the solar panel

• Used SolidWorks to create a functional prototype and analyze the solar panel

• Encountered problems, such as the use of damaged cells and difficulty finding certain measurement devices

• Compared the solar panel's efficiency to other current solar panels

​