Turnkey workshops to experience solar energy with your students

Last updated on 12 May 2026

Photovoltaic solar panels are increasingly seen on the roofs of houses, car parks and in large areas of former agricultural land. It is a renewable energy with a great future: the government plans to increase French photovoltaic power tenfold by 2050!

To raise your students’ awareness, as planned in the programme, and experience it in the classroom, discover 3 smart turnkey workshops.

Technology, Physics and Chemistry Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Energy, and in particular renewable energy, is on the agenda for Cycle 4. It can be approached cross-cuttingly with colleagues in physics-chemistry, technology and SVT. In these subjects, experience is essential for understanding and the investigative process, but sometimes there is a lack of ideas for mobilising students in a concrete project!

The difficulty, apart from finding the idea, will also be to find the material. Planète Énergies offers three workshops to experiment with photovoltaic solar energy with your students and some useful tips.

Turnkey solar experiments!

1^era something really useful with these workshops: the small photovoltaic solar panels needed to build the proposed objects are sent, free of charge, on simple request to the address of the college (you must create a teacher account).

2^ème strong point: you can download these solar workshops in PDF format free of charge on the Planète Énergies website, and again, it is free of charge. All you have to do is register.

3^ème strong point: you have a choice (you can even submit this choice to the students):

• the small wooden house with a switch, an interior light that works with solar photovoltaic with its panels on the roof
• the smartphone charger that also works with sunlight
• the outdoor garland that illuminates the garden or terrace thanks to the light energy accumulated during the day

4^ème strong point: assembly instructions, necessary equipment, drawing: Everything is detailed. And for the charger and the garland, the file for the 3D printer is obviously offered.

Educational resources to introduce and operate solar workshops

Educational cartoons (motion-design), videos, interviews, articles, … diagrams teachers can find many resources to complement the experience during their classes.

Please note: some materials are reserved for teachers, others are open to all. Students can therefore be sent to watch media from home before starting the classroom experience.

An idea, for example, if you have chosen to have them create the solar smartphone charger: the tutorial, humorous, exists in video and is accessible to them: this could put ‘water in their mouths’.

How to access resources

It’s very simple! All you have to do is create a free account on Planète Énergies or log in to your account, here. Once registered, click on the left-hand menu in the ‘Teacher resources’ tab, then on the ‘Type of teaching resources’ drop-down menu, choose:

• ‘Experimental workshop’ to be able to download the solar energy workshops
• "Solar panels" to order small panels for free

Don’t wait any longer! Join a community of 6,000 teachers committed and make your students discover the challenges of the energy transition.

Useful links:

Organize a solar classroom pedagogical workshop | Planète Énergies

The main focus on solar energy: 11-14 years

Quiz on the Solar

 

 

This article is the result of a partnership with Planet Energy