The main author of this paper (J.W.) wrote the original as two separate essays for a Bachelor of Education unit at Northern Territory University (The Teaching of Science: EBE 483) for the second author (B.P.). This unit contains as a major component student/teacher research on children's ideas (misconceptions) in science. This paper seems very worthwhile to me (B.P.) as it deals with content (the solar cell) that I have not seen described elsewhere in the research. No listing of research in this area is apparent in recent bibliographies (Pfundt & Duit, 1994; Driver et al, 1995). It is also in keeping with current ideas in the Northern Territory on introducing technology into education at the primary level. The paper continues a series of papers on children's ideas in science that relate to the Northern Territory. (Isaacs, 1992; Palmer, 1993; Gavin 1994; Bonazinga, 1995). Appended are: (1) Concept maps.