Video showing the sun and a solar panel

Runner-up: The Physics of Solar Panels

Congratulations to our 2022 runners-up, Amit, Shaantanu and Vedant from King Edwards VI Five Ways School. The group produced a video explaining the physics behind solar power and how it’s generated. Take a look at their entry here:  

“Physics is the language of the universe and by understanding it, we can find the answers about the true nature of reality.   A substantial complication that can be resolved through Physics is the growing concern over climate change. Ranging from rising sea levels to the destruction of habitats, climate change has imperceivable consequences. Methods of tackling this global issue have been implemented worldwide with the use of renewable energy resources. The most prominent one being solar power, with over 92.7 billion solar panels installed across 40 different countries.  As a group, we explored the applications of Einstein’s photoelectric effect and its use in photovoltaic cells, which provides clean, non-harmful energy using the sun’s radiation. Within our video, we made an animation incorporating an informative demonstration of this complex theory, suggesting that electrons are ejected from the surface of a metal upon the firing of photons(light). These ejected electrons are then captured, resulting in an electric current.   It is evident that humanity’s desire to find shortcuts to ease our lives, may be manufacturing our downfall. Elon Musk, a world-renowned entrepreneur, once said that we will have the choice of the collapse of civilization or we find something renewable.”