Solar Battery Charging

Lead Acid Battery
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Intended Grade Level(s):
7-12
Energy Content:
Batteries & Storage,
Circuitry,
Electrical Energy,
Electricity Generation,
Solar Photovoltaic
Learning Goal(s):

Students will build series, parallel, and parallel series circuits from a schematic diagram. Students will master the basic concept of battery charging. Students will be able to plan and build solar battery chargers for a given battery system. Intermediate students will calculate time to charge a depleted battery to its full capacity given specifications of a solar module. Students will be able to explain how a solar cell works with diagrams and words. Students will use a digital multi-meter to measure voltage, current, resistance, and diode polarity.

Unit:
Solar Battery Charging
Pedagogy & Practice:
Hands-on Materials,
Group Work/Collaboration,
Engineering Design
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
2: Developing and Using Models,
3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,
5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking,
6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions,
8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Relevant NGSS PE:
MS-ETS1-1,
HS-ESS3-4,
HS-ETS1-2,
HS-PS3-3
Other Subjects Covered:
ELA: Vocabulary Development,
Math: Algebra,
Math: Measurement
Estimated Activity Length:
9 hours
Relevant Common Core Standard(s):
6-8.RST.7,
9-10.RST.7,
11-12.RST.4
Files Associated with this Activity:
PDF icon Solar Battery Charging - Data Collections .pdf
PDF icon Solar Battery Charging - Lesson Overview.pdf
PDF icon Solar Battery Charging - Off-Grid Systems.pdf
Description:

Students will become familiar with circuits, cells, batteries, and photovoltaic cells, then plan, build, test, modify, and re-test a small solar battery charger designed to maintain batteries from a particular device. 

Science Kit Material(s) Used:
2-Volt, 500mA Solar Modules
LEDs
Multimeter
Other Material(s) Used:
Diodes, halogen work lamps, 2-volt mini incandescent bulbs, fuses, solar cell fragments at least 1 cm^2, battery packs, various sizes of batteries