Making Your Own Solar Panel Is Surprisingly Easy.
Solar energy is truly magical. You place a bulky panel in the sun and electricity is created out of thin air, ready to power whatever you need. It is cheap, pays for itself in a relatively short period of time and is completely renewable. Of course, the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home can be daunting—on average, it will cost you around $25,000 . Most of these costs come from labor and other materials, but solar panels themselves aren’t exactly cheap, ranging in price from $200 to $300 depending on the wattage and type of panel.
These prices may make you wonder if you can’t just make solar panels yourself. Answer: You’re sure you can. If you’re handy enough, have ever used a soldering iron, and understand basic electrical principles, you can definitely build your own solar panels. Everything you need can be ordered online or found at your local hardware store, and the process is not very difficult. However, keep in mind that building your own panel will likely cost as much, if not more, than buying a professionally assembled panel, so you shouldn’t think of it as a way to save a lot of money.
Materials for making solar panels with your own hands
Solar panels are surprisingly simple things. You will only need a few basic materials:
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Photovoltaic (PV) cells. It’s a silicon-based material that actually absorbs sunlight and converts it into electricity. You can buy them online quite easily, so you just need to decide how much power you want to generate and buy enough to get you there. If you’re looking for a super cheap DIY approach, you can even buy a bunch of solar lights at the dollar store for $1.50 and extract little cells from them to make a cheap solar cell array.
If you’re really ambitious, you can go full DIY: using copper sheets, you can create your own photovoltaic cells . But the elements you make in your kitchen won’t last as long or produce as much energy as even the cheapest manufactured elements, so if your goal is to gain power over your DIY credit, you should just buy your elements.
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Mortise wire. This is a flat wire used to connect cells into “strands”.
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Liquid silicone. It will be used to seal the connected photovoltaic cells. John Burke, chairman of the photovoltaic division of the American Solar Energy Society , recommends DC 184 from Dow for this, but any clear liquid silicone will do.
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Solder and soldering iron. If you don’t already have them, you can buy lead-free solder and iron at any hardware store.
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Seal or glue. Use 100% silicone caulk to seal the panel. In a pinch, you can also use a strong adhesive, but it will not be as waterproof as caulk.
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Encapsulation material. Once you’ve stranded your cells and sealed them with silicone, you’ll need to further encapsulate them: solar cells are fragile things and need to be protected from dirt and damage. It is best to seal them between two sheets of glass . But if you have or have access to a laminator , you can also laminate the panel . It won’t be as strong as glass, but it will do just fine.
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Multimeter. A multimeter is not necessary, but is recommended as you should check connections throughout the entire build to ensure nothing is broken or disconnected and that you are getting the expected power.
If you’re more interested in the fun of building your own solar panel, keep in mind that you can purchase DIY kits that come with everything you need to assemble a small panel.
How to make solar panels with your own hands.
When you have all the materials, you can start assembling the solar panel with your own hands:
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Place photovoltaic cells in a grid. You create “chains” of cells – a series of cells that will be connected together into one connected row. A typical panel layout consists of four rows of nine cells each, for a total of 36 cells. A good idea is to use a ruler and create a neat grid so that all the wires line up perfectly. You can use tile spacers to ensure a tight installation.
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Measure the wire so that you have two lengths that will run from top to bottom along the strings.
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Solder a wire from the front of the first photocell to the back of the next , connecting the plus to the minus . Repeat until all rows of cells are soldered together. If you are using multiple strings, connect them by running wire at the top and bottom where the wires stick out and soldering them all together.
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Test. This is a good time to grab a multimeter and make sure your connections are good and you’re getting the power you expect from them. if not, investigate and re-solder where necessary.
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First encapsulation with liquid silicone. Mix the silicone and then carefully apply it with a soft brush. Be sure to leave our wires outside so they can be connected to the battery or anything else you plan to charge. Let the first coat dry, then apply the second coat.
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Second encapsulation. Place the cell strands on a glass plate. After making sure that no dirt or other contaminants have gotten inside, place the second glass plate on top. Again, make sure your wires are outside the encapsulation so they can be connected. Seal with caulk.
That’s all. If you’ve connected everything correctly, you should now get some healthy juice when you place the panel in the sun. If desired, you can build a plywood frame for the glass panels for added strength.
If you want to get a little fancy with your DIY solar panel, you can use stronger frames, perforated plates for a very tight mesh, and other enhancements . If you’d like to dive a little deeper into the science and technology behind solar energy and DIY solar panels, you can download the free PDF “Catching the Sun” written by Lonnie Grafman , lecturer in environmental resource engineering and related technologies at State University Humboldt and Joshua Pearce , professor at Western University in Ontario.