Background

Society is moving rapidly towards the use of renewable energy resources. Australia has one of the world’s greatest uptakes of solar photovoltaic roof installations.

In this program students will investigate the science behind solar cells, wind power and other renewable technologies. They will model solar and wind power systems and investigate hydro and wave resources in order to gain a greater understanding of emerging trends in renewables.

Prior Knowledge

Some basic knowledge of energy forms and conversions would be an advantage.

Learning Intentions

In this activity students will:

• Be able to explain the underlying principles behind the operation of a solar power system. 
• Investigate the optimal conditions for a wind turbine to operate.
• Learn about the generation of electricity from a range of renewable and non–renewable resources

Activities

The students will:

• Investigate the optimum conditions for solar photovoltaic cells to operate.
• Conduct experiments that examine the optimum conditions for wind turbines.
• Examine a range of alternate energy resources such as hydro-electricity and wave power.

Victorian Curriculum

• Scientific knowledge and understanding of the world changes as new evidence becomes available; science knowledge can develop through collaboration and connecting ideas across the disciplines and practice of science (VCSSU089) [1]
• Science and technology contribute to finding solutions to a range of contemporary issues; these solutions may impact on other areas of society and involve ethical considerations (VCSSU090) [2]
• Energy appears in different forms including movement (kinetic energy), heat, light, chemical energy and potential energy; devices can change energy from one form to another (VCSSU105) [3]