To Make Solar Panel For – A Quick And Easy 101 Guide to Solar Energy Production

Free Online Articles Directory

Why Submit Articles?
Top Authors
Top Articles
FAQ
ABAnswers

Publish Article

0 && $.browser.msie ) {
var ie_version = parseInt($.browser.version);
if(ie_version Login

Email

Password

Remember me?
Lost Password?

Home Page > Home Improvement > To Make Solar Panel For – A Quick And Easy 101 Guide to Solar Energy Production

To Make Solar Panel For – A Quick And Easy 101 Guide to Solar Energy Production

Edit Article |

Posted: Feb 07, 2011 |Comments: 0
|

]]>

Making a solar panel at home is quite a daunting task and something that shouldn’t be attempted without fully committing oneself to a great deal of work. It may not be rocket science but it is certainly a tricky and laborious process. If you are the type of person who thinks a hammer is nothing but an odd-shaped door stop, it may be in your best interest to leave the solar panel construction to professionals.

Having said that, making your own solar panels can really be a rewarding home project and by taking on such a project yourself you can significantly cut your costs – by 50 to 80% – over a commercially available solar panel.

Since the prohibitive cost of solar panels is in large part due to the high price of solar cells, you will achieve most of your cost reduction by purchasing damaged and used solar cells from sites such as eBay. After that, using your ingenuity and some handy DIY skills, the only thing between you and a working solar panel is time and effort.

For now however, let’s take on a much simpler task and make a single solar cell. This project is great fun and can show the basic and simple concept behind solar energy.

What You Will Need:

1. Copper sheeting.
2. Two alligator clip lead cables.
3. A sensitive micro-ammeter (you can find this at Radio Shack).
4. An electric stove or a one burner hot plate should you have a gas stove. If you are buying a hot plate make sure it’s at least 1100 watts.
5. A large clear plastic bottle. Think 2 Liter Coke or Mineral Water bottles with the top cut off.
6. A few tablespoons of salt.
7. Water.
8. Sand paper, steel wool or a wire brush attachment for an electric drill.
9. Metal sheers.

How it’s done:

1. Cut a piece of copper sheeting at approximately the size of the stove burner. (Make sure to thoroughly clean the copper sheet using sandpaper or steel wool to remove any sulfide and/or light corrosion.

2. Heat the copper sheet on the burner (on the highest heat setting)

As the copper increases its’ temperature the color will turn black with a layer of cupric oxide. This is normal. Let the copper “cook” for around 30 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes turn off the burner and let the copper cool. It will shrink – also quite normal. The black cupric oxide will begin to flake and detach as both the oxide and copper shrink. It will take approximately 20 minutes for the copper to cool, at which point you will need to remove any excess cupric oxide black film left on the copper. You can scrub lightly with your hands under your tap.

At this point cut another piece of copper at exactly the same size and dimensions as the “cooked” copper.

4. Place both copper sheets into the plastic bottle, bending them carefully to fit and ensuring they do not touch.

5. Attach the two alligator clips to each sheet, connecting the positive lead (from the “Clean copper sheet”) to the positive terminal of the meter, and the negative lead (the “cooked” copper sheet) to the negative terminal of the meter.

6. Mix your 2 tablespoons of salt in with some hot water. Stir until the salt is dissolved.

7. Carefully pour the salt water into the plastic bottle being careful to avoid pouring onto the leads. A good rule of thumb is to leave at least an inch between the water and the leads so you can move around the device with relative ease.

A solar cell is a battery, so you can expect that even in the dark your meter will show a few micro amps of current. Don’t expect that it will light a baseball field though, and it would take acres of these (literally) to power your house. I sincerely doubt there would be enough power generated by this to power a light bulb. However, once you put this device in the sunlight you will see the meter jump to 30 micro amps of current – which would be enough to use your new solar cell as a light meter or light detector.

Creating a solar panel is an entirely different beast from this; however you now have a basic idea of how a single solar cell works. To create a solar panel you will want to purchase a great deal of prefabricated solar cells – second hand (as outlined above) if you wish to save money. Once you have the cells, you will need a water tight and robust enclosure to keep the elements from damaging your solar cells. Solar cells are quite delicate. The process of making the cells work within your panel enclosure is a rather simple process.

So there you have it, Solar Power 101. Just for fun, give this a try one day when you’re bored. There’s nothing more satisfying than creating power from nothing but sunlight.

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/to-make-solar-panel-for-a-quick-and-easy-101-guide-to-solar-energy-production-4181110.html”

(ArticlesBase SC #4181110)

Watch your traffic increase just by submitting articles with us, click here to get started.
Liked this article? Click here to publish it on your website or blog, it’s free and easy!

Anne –
About the Author:

Home energy saving ideas offers a complete package for all your energy saving needs. Visit http://www.homeenergysavingideas.net/ to get more information about “Energy Efficient Heating” and other effective energy saving tips including setting up for your own alternative source of energy at home.

]]>

Questions and Answers

Ask our experts your Home Improvement related questions here…

Ask

200 Characters left

How is solar energy converted into usable energy ?
How is solar energy converted into chemical energy ?
How is solar energy converted into useful forms of energy ?

Rate this Article

1
2
3
4
5

vote(s)
0 vote(s)

Feedback
RSS
Print
Email
Re-Publish

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/to-make-solar-panel-for-a-quick-and-easy-101-guide-to-solar-energy-production-4181110.html

Article Tags:
energy saving tips, energy saving products, energy efficient heating

Solarpowerenergyplans.com

To Make Solar Panel For – A Quick And Easy 101 Guide to Solar Energy Production

Leave a Reply Cancel reply