Hey guys, this is quite an urgent question!

I'm writing a paper (due tomorrow night) on the relation between the surface area of connected solar cells in a solar panel exposed to light and the output power. What I'm doing is covering the entire solar panel with aluminum and uncovering two cells at a time in the order in which they are connected, I then measure the voltage and current and find the power.

What I don't understand is that I'm getting an exponential trend for the first 18 cells or so, then the power flatlines and then jumps up again for the last 2 cells.

Can someone explain this? I've performed over 15 trials with difference multimeters and the results are always consistent.

Thanks

I have been told that each cell is wired in series with the next. If you cover up just one cell you can decrease power output by as much as 90%. Is you consider the current flow through the cells as something like a line of train cars on a track... if you slow down just one of them you slow the entire line.
Take a few minutes and describe in more detail your testing and results... am I largely incorrect or does the above show up in your test data?
I am very interested in your experiment as I expect others are as well.

Sure thing, thanks for the reply!

I have attached a copy an image of the results I obtained from one trial. All others have been very similar. What I find strange is that, as I uncover the 36th cells I have that large jump you can see, after which the power just stays the same. As if half of the panel did absolutely nothing. (Note: that power is in Watts and area in meters squared, I just found the areas of individual cells and added them up accordingly).

I think this has something to do with the wiring of the cells within the panel but I am not sure. I have also attached an image of the metal conductors that I can see on top of the cells; however, it is possible that the cells are also connected on the bottom (which I can't tell without taking the whole thing apart).

I need to find a good explanation so any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks again.