Berkeley Scientific Journal

There has been increasing interest in solar convertors, mostly for energy. A further and in some cases primary advantage for many applications is the immunity to noise and interference. Many research disciplines that are dependent on sensitive research instrumentation can benefit from it, since solar power precludes the 60Hz (and multiples) noise of grid power. In this paper, we present a study that implements solar direct current (D.C.) power to eliminate such background disturbances. We measured and analyzed the electrical characteristics of a set of three industrial solar panels (by SHARP, model NU-U235FI) as a function of load resistance, sun intensity, and varying weather conditions. Since a significant decrease in noise is observed when batteries are used, these solar panels will be used in future projects to continuously recharge such batteries to power the amplification and data acquisition stages of experiments.