How to Build a Solar Panel

		Solar Power for Energy Savings
	By Contributing Editor Ty Adams		Sunforce Solar Shed Light Price: $44.00		Suntech 45w Solar Panel Price: $460.00		Sunling Folding Solar Panel Price: $95.00

Solar Power for Energy Savings

By Contributing Editor
Ty Adams

Sunforce Solar Shed Light

Price: $44.00

Suntech 45w Solar Panel

Price: $460.00

Sunling Folding Solar Panel

Price: $95.00

We all know by now that there are tremendous benefits to be had from harnessing solar power, but have you ever tried making a solar panel at home? With as little as $100 to $300, depending on what you have around the house, if you have the time you can create a homemade solar panel that can translate into real, usable energy. For a simple home project, try the below 12V solar panel. If you like the results, there are services that can help you safely develop a comprehensive do-it-yourself home system. Under no circumstances should you try to connect the solar panel to your home without the help of a licensed professional. However, you can connect it to a solar battery or a power-storage unit with an inverter and adapters for your personal electronic gadgets.

Don't have time to see if all this works? Get a couple of science-crazed high schoolers or college kids together and let them use your garage, materials and gadgets as a home lab!

Materials
solar crystalline cells (36)*
lumber, screws and other basic hardware tools
interconnection wire
silicone adhesive
low-wattage soldering iron
alligator lip leads
ammeter
Plexiglas

*You can purchase solar crystalline by the brick or fashion your own cells using damaged solar cells from Ebay. Using scrap solar crystalline is growing into a popular way to access bulk amounts of your semiconductor. Keep in mind, however, that you will still need to solder these pieces together, and that can become frustrating if you end up with a bunch of tiny pieces. What you use for solar crystalline will depend on your individual time and money allowances.

Assembly
Build a shallow frame out of lumber that will be used to house your solar cell. When creating your casing, you will want to leave enough room your cells, depending on whether you use the square brick kind or the circular kind. For a 12V panel, you will want room for 36 cells. Cut out your ABS sheet and Plexiglas to form the base and cover to house the solar cells.

Lay out the framework for you solar cells by taking your first cell and soldering three equally separated strips of connection wore on its front. When soldering, be very gentle as the semiconductor is easily breakable. Place another soar cell face down, then solder together. Create a tightly bound network of these cells, either using parallel or series connections, affixing them onto the ABS paneling. For a good explanation of these connection options, click here.

Outside, set the panel into the wooden tray, then hook up your alligator clip leads to the ammeter to measure the voltage. If all went well, the ammeter should pick up some power.

Applications
If you plan to use solar paneling in the home, you will have to find out how many kilowatt ours you use in a day, then purchase your materials accordingly. There are several online solar calculators that can help you determine your needs. You also will want to consider hooking up your panel to a battery, so that power can be stored and you won't have fluctuations based on whether the sun is outside. In addition, consider whether you need AC or DC power for your device, because you may need an inverter. Brunton makes a series of portable batteries for solar power systems with built-in inverters, including the Brunton Solo 7.5 and the Brunton Solo 15. You may also opt to build a homemade generator or charge controller. Alternatively, you may buy a controller, such as the Brunton solar controller.

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How to Build a Solar Panel