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BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF MATHS & PHYSICS AN ASSESSMENT OF MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE USE OF SOLAR CELLS AS SOURCES OF ELECTRICITY. A CASE OF GUTU HIGH SCHOOL ‘A’ LEVEL STUDENTS BY MARASHA TAPESANA B1544992 SUPERVISOR: MR NDLOVU A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN HONOURS BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN PHYSICS. (BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION) SEPTEMBER 2018 APPROVAL FORM The undersigned certify that they have supervised the Student research project entitled, An assessment of misconceptions in the use of solar cells as sources of electricity; A case of Gutu High School A Level students. Submitted in Partial fulfilment of the requirements of HONOURS BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN PHYSICS at Bindura University of Science Education. ………………………………/…………… …………/………………….. Student Signature Date ………………………………/…………… …………/………………….. Supervisor Signature Date …….…………………………/…………… …………/………………….. Chairperson Signature Date ………………………………/…………… …………/…………………. External Examiner Signature Date RELEASE FORM i Name of Student : MARASHA TAPESANA Reg number : B1544992 Dissertation Title : AN ASSESSMENT OF MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE USE OF SOLAR CELLS: A CASE OF GUTU HIGH STUDENTS Degree Title : HONOURS BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN PHYSICS Year This Degree Granted : 2018 Permanent Address : Gutu High School Bag 901 Gutu Cell: 0775 301 357 Permission is hereby granted to Bindura University of Science Education Library to produce single copies of this dissertation and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purpose only. The author reserves other publication rights and no extensive extracts from it may be printed or reproduced without the author’s written permission. SIGNED.......................................... DECLARATION ii I, MARASHA TAPESANA declare that: this is my original work and it had not been submitted to this or any other University. Signature…………………………. Date…………………………………… iii DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my loving wife Beatrice Mabhiza, my mother and my children; Rutendo, Anotida Mufaro and Anashe Marasha. They always supported me throughout the study. Sometimes I had to sacrifice family time with them but were always appreciative. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge the following people who rendered invaluable information as I was carrying my study; Mr Ndlovu my supervisor for the relentless support and guidance throughout. Mr Mnyati and all the teachers of Gutu High School. Mr Masinire the Administrator of Gutu Mission Hospital. Mr Munamati for supplying me with helpful information about learners’ conceptions. The pupils and all the people who were involved in the study in one way or another. The research could not have been successful without the help of all these people. v ABSTRACT This study is an assessment of misconceptions of cells in pupils at Gutu High School. The researcher was interested in establishing if these misconceptions exist. The researcher also wanted to find out causes of these misconceptions and their effects to implementation of solar cells to communities in Gutu District. In this study learners at Gutu High were used as a sample to collect data. It was discovered, through literature review and the actual investigation that misconceptions really exist. It was found out that above 50% of the sample had misconceptions, and the misconceptions exist strongly in learners with a town background. The causal of these misconception were knowledge gap. Only 43% of the sample had better knowledge about solar. Another causal of the misconceptions was found out to be the syllabus coverage on solar cells. This study would add a lot of information to the existing board of knowledge regarding the same concept. As a result teachers at Gutu High could be helped in teaching solar energy and solar cells. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents APPROVAL FORM ...................................................................................................................................... i RELEASE FORM .......................................................................................................................................... i DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Statement of the problem. ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Hypothesis............................................................................................................................................... 3 1.5 Research Questions. ................................................................................................................................ 3 1.6 Assumptions ............................................................................................................................................ 4 1.6 Significance of study ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.7 Limitations of the study. ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.8 Delimitations of the study. ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.9 Definition of terms (Dictionary of science, 2000) .................................................................................. 5 1.10 Summary. .............................................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 7 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Misconception on Solar PV Cell. ............................................................................................................ 7 2.4 How a solar cell work. .......................................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Types of Solar Panels ............................................................................................................................ 11 2.5.2 Advanced Mono Crystalline .......................................................................................................... 11 2.5.3 Poly Crystalline (polycrystalline c-Si) ........................................................................................... 11 vii 2.5.4 Thin Film - Cadmium Telluride Thin-Film panels (CdTe) ............................................................ 11 2.5.5 Thin Film - Other ........................................................................................................................... 11 2.6 Solar PV cell usage in Gutu area .......................................................................................................... 13 2.7 Summary. .............................................................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 16 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 16 3.1 Introduction. .......................................................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Approach. .............................................................................................................................................