Homemade solar panels are very easy to make and use, because then materials required to make them are so easily available with the DIY guides. The amount of insolation we receive in a day can meet the energy requirements of a 100 earths! If this weren’t true then why would Japan plan to put the largest solar panel array in space?! They call it the Space Solar Power System; the largest source of clean and inexhaustible energy. This ambitious project will be in space by 2030; the array, 5 times more efficient than any on the earth, will collect the solar energy and beam it down to the earth via laser beams and microwaves.
Each solar cell can produce a certain wattage of electricity, when you buy your solar cells check their wattage. To make your own homemade solar panels calculate your energy requirements and then choose the number of cells such that their wattage should total to your requirement. The other things on your list to find or buy are and inverter, wires to interconnect the solar panels, plywood, wood, glass or plexiglass, rechargeable batteries and tools.
Let us begin making our homemade solar panels. You begin by placing your solar cells on a board of ply wood. Check where the two wires are most stretched out, and make a hole in the plywood with a drill. Now pass the two wires to the other side; do this with all the solar cells you have placed on the board. It would help to firmly fix the solar cells in their place with silicon if you don’t have it, Araldite should do too. This prevents strain on the wires and prevents them from shaking, touching each other or breaking due to brittleness. Now when you have all the cells fixed and the wires at the back of the panel, connect them all in a series of parallel series. Fix these wires on the back of the solar cell’s panel; this will make them firmer and fixed in their place. At the end of all this you should have an unconnected wire at the beginning and at the end of the series or parallel arrangement of the solar cells.
Now either you could place another plywood board at the back to cover all these interconnected wires, Or make a frame such that the front or the faces of the solar panels are exposed to sunlight and covered with the plexiglass. The back of the frame could also be covered with a panel carrying the cells, fixed midway between the two covering panels comprising the frame. The later is a better idea as you have to weather proof your solar cells, you do not want rain to get inside your panels! Also, make a hole at the backside bottom of the back panel. This will offer ventilation and remove residual moisture. Now connect the two wires at the beginning and end of the panel you created to the rechargeable battery. Your battery will be charged in approximately 8 hours. Completing your homemade solar panels, attaching the inverter is to convert the DC current to AC which keeps your appliances running safely.
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