Homework 6 included some problems that illustrate some of the issues involved in converting the energy from electron excitation due to absorbed photons to useable energy. This includes a highly non-linear I-V relationship for the n-p junction and the circuit it is part of.
In problem 7 the current is pretty much constant up to R=16 Ohms and, because of that, the power generated in the resistor is essentially linear in R in that range. At R=32 Ohm there is just a hint of non-linearity. (We also know already from our work with the capacitance that the current drops to zero just before Va = -.5 volts.) At R= 64 Ohm, I think that the current will have dropped a lot. Picturing the graph of I vs V is very helpful here I believe.
Can some people comment on whether my numbers in the table agree with what you got. Please discuss what you learned here. Also, what did you find for the R, I, V values that give you the highest power generated?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_GIlXrjJVn4MVV2VmVnaVI0eFU/view?usp=sharing
From what I remember I got pretty similar numbers. I think the max power for me was around 5.13mW at V = -425mV the resistance that went with that was around 35 ohms I think.
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