Why don't solar powered calculators work with low energy light bulbs?

Question

They worked with standard filament bulbs.

john h don't you mean asinine?

Answer 1

Hi!

Solar cells do not convert all light into electricity. They need light of specific frequencies to work.

Incandescent light has lots of light in the red end of the spectrum and this is what solar cells need.

Fluorescent lights, including the low-energy ones, produce most of their light at the blue end of the spectrum. Unfortunately solar cells are not very efficient at these wavelengths. That is why you can get it to work, but need to hold it almost under the light to get enough light on it.

If we could get solar cells to work at more frequencies, then their efficiency would improve enormously!

I hope this helps?

Answer 2

I haven't had any problems with this, but I have found if you hold the calculator directly under the light for a few seconds it should come on, as these bulbs are actually stronger than ordinary bulbs as they act like fluorescent tubes and you can always press the on button on the calculator to help it along. Also if you have only just turned the light on, you have to let it warm up as it takes a few seconds to reach full brightness.

Answer 3

Solar cells require photons of a certain energy to excite the molecules enough for them to jump the band gap and actually function. Perhaps the low energy light bulbs do not emit enough photons with enough energy to power the calculator.

Answer 4

Too easy, but the answer is simple, the low energy light bulbs don't put out enough light energy for the solar powered calculator. They are called low energy since they don't use much electrical energy and in turn they don't emit much light energy.

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

just wrong sort of light, they are more "efficient" so lack some part of the light spectrum solar cells need

Answer 7

THATS AN ASSININE QUESTION. THINK ABOUT IT