(a) To determine Planck’s constant.

(b) To study the

electrical characteristics of photovoltaic cell and
determine the maximum power point.
Determining Planck’s constant:
Planck’s constant is a fundamental physical constant used to describe the
energy of a photon. It describes the behaviour of particles and waves of
atom as well as the particle nature of light. It says how much the energy of
a photon increases, when the frequency of its electromagnetic wave
increases by 1 (in Si unit). It is denoted by h.
The source of photons is light emitting diode (LED).
Diode: A diode is an electronic device that allows current to preferentially
flow in one direction. A semiconducting diode consists of two types of
semiconductors (p-type and n-type) sandwitched together.
A LED is one kind of diode, It is two terminal semiconductor light source. In
the unbiased condition a potential barrier is developed across the p-n
junction of the LED.
When we connect the LED to an external voltage in the forward biased
direction, the height of the potential barrier is across the p-n junction is
reduced. At a particular voltage the height of the potential barrier
becomes very low and the LED starts glowing, i.e. in the forward biased
condition electrons crossing the junction are excited and when they
return to their normal state, energy is emitted. This particular voltage is
called the knee voltage or the Threshold voltage.
Knee voltage: Knee voltage is the forward voltage at which the flow of
current through the PN junction of the diode increases rapidly.
Apparatus:
1. Solar cell.
2. Multi meter.
3. Voltmeter.
4. Variable resistance.
5. Resistor.
6. 0 - 10 v power supply.
7. A 160 watt frosted bulb.
8. Connecting wires.
Determination of Planck’s constant:
All the necessary circuit connections are made as shown in the following figure.
Determination of electrical characteristics of photovoltaic cell:
To determine the electrical chracterisyics of the photovoltaic cell the
connections are made as the following figure:
A graph will be found after plotting the data by using the circuit of the
previous slide. The graph will be same as the following figure:
Finally to determine the P-V characteristics of the cell a circuit connection
is made as the following circuit.
A graph will be found after plotting the data by using the circuit
of the previous slide. The graph will be same as the following
figure: