This month a short two-lesson curricular unit entitled Exploring Solar Power provides a hands-on activity for students to learn about renewable power generation, an increasingly important aspect of power engineering. The unit allows students to explore the use of solar thermal energy and solar energy to create electricity utilizing photovoltaic panels. The unit is designed for grades 6 through 8 but can easily be scaled for older students.

In the first lesson, Using Heat from the Sun, students explore the three types of heat transfer (conduction, convection, and radiation) while building a solar oven during the activity, Cooking with the Sun. The oven must maximize collection of heat in the form of solar radiation, and minimize losses from conduction and convection. High School students may be asked to perform detailed experiments on the ovens to measure how quickly they heat up and how clouds affect their performance.

In the second lesson, From Sunlight to Electricity, students learn how photovoltaic panels can be used to generate electricity. During the activity, Racing with the Sun, students put their knowledge of photovoltaic power and basic circuits to the test when designing their own solar cars. Older students may be interested in exploring more complex aspects of the solar cars such as utilizing a potentiometer or multiple resistors to create an IV (current vs. voltage) curve for the panel. Middle School Students who build solar cars may also participate in the National Renewable Energy Laboratories Junior Solar Sprint competition.

This curricular unit is brought to you by the new Engineering Pathway, a part of the National Science Digital Library. The portal provides high-quality teaching and learning resources in applied science and math, engineering, computer science/information technology and engineering technology — for use by K-12 and university educators. The Engineering Pathway brings together quality engineering education materials from all over the internet allowing teachers to search all of these documents in a single location. This curricular unit is from the TeachEngineering Digital Library for K-12 engineering curricula.