solar cells
I bet you didn’t know that you can learn how to easily build a solar panel. Once you break them down into smaller parts you’ll see that they really aren’t that complicated and are actually quite simple to build.
To start out with you’re going to need to collect some materials. Obviously you’re going to need some solar cells. There’s no need to buy A grade solar cells, but you shouldn’t cheap out and buy broken cells. I’ve had very good results with B grade solar cells. These cells have some minor blemishes and are thus discarded. They work perfectly fine though and your solar panels will still look very good.
You can buy solar cells in two different flavors: tabbed or untabbed. The difference between them is only how long it will take to build your solar panel. Untabbed solar cells require you to solder some tabbing wire to the face of each cell. This is a pretty time consuming process. I recommend you stick with tabbed solar cells because you can build each panel in less than an hour. The good news is that tabbed cells only add about $5 to the cost of each panel.
You’re also going to need a soldering iron, some solder, plywood, plexiglass, silicone and some assorted hand tools.
I’ve learned that the easiest way to make each panel look professional is to make sure the cells are all lined up nice. I always start with this step. Simply lay your plexiglass down and start laying out solar cells in nice evenly spaced strings. After they are all layed out you can put a dab of silicone on each cell to hold it in place. That way when you work on them later they won’t move.
After each cell is secured it’s time to connect them all together. Each cell will have a little piece of tabbing wire hanging off of it that you need to solder onto the back of the next cell in line. Even if you’ve never soldered it’s a pretty painless process. Simply hold down the wire with your soldering iron and touch some solder to it. Take the soldering iron off and the solder will cool and your done. Do this for every cell on the panel.
You’re done that hard parts now. Get your silicone out and put a nice bead around each cell and a large bead around the edge of the panel. The reason you put a bead around each cell is to ensure that each cell is individually sealed.
Place the plywood on to of the cells and put some weights on it. Let the silicone cure for a couple days and than trim the edges off the panel.
You panel looks pretty good now… except for the edges. To pretty them up you’ll need some vinyl J flashing and adhesive silicone. Attach the J flashing to each side of the panel and allow it to dry.
Congratulations! You’ve built your very own solar panel. Take it outside and see if it produces power. It’s always a nice feeling when you’ve built something that can help power your home.
I built my own solar panels and a wind generator and saved well over $30,000. I get a cheque from the power company because I produce more energy than I use. If you’d like to learn how you can do the same check out Build Solar Panels.
Innovalight on Discovery Channel
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