If you have plans to build your own homemade solar panels, you should begin by doing a good deal of research on the best way to go about it.
There are numerous styles and types of solar panels, frames and wiring methods used in each type.
For building a really powerful solar panel, you will have to improve your DIY skills significantly to a level where you will be able to do the setup and wiring perfectly.
By making your own solar panels, you can save good amounts of money as their price on the market is fairly high.
Aside from that, making your own homemade solar panels is a great way to improve your DIY skills, build something that earn you money for years, and to save some money in the process.
For building your own homemade DIY solar panels, you would need DIY instructions. You have a option of finding these instructions online, or you can get them with DIY kit that comes with all the parts that you need.
However, buying just instructions will be much cheaper, as DIY kits with parts are much more costly than simple manual that provides step-by-step instructions and installation data.
Homemade Solar Panels - Required Materials
You would need the following items for building your own solar panels:
- Copper wire
- Thin wood strips
- Duct tape
- Copper sheeting
- An electric hob ring
- Clear plastic sheeting (Acrylic, Perspex or Plexiglass)
- Salt water
- A metal guillotine (not essential)
- Emery cloth/Sand paper
- A Band saw
Make Homemade Solar Panels Step-by-Step
1. If you can get metal guillotine, you should use it for cutting 5 to 8 square inch from the copper sheeting. Though guillotine is the best way to do this, but tin snips will also work perfectly.
2. Now wash your hands and dry them as there should be no grease on the or on the copper sheet. Use a cloth for removing grease, dirt and debris from the copper. Now take a piece of emery and rub the copper down on both the sides. When you are done, you will have a bright red copper as oxidized layer would be gone.
3. Now expose copper to heat to form a oxide coating. This is quite different form the oxide layer that you removed in the preceding step. It is cuprous oxide. You will get best results by placing copper at the point of highest temperature on your burner. Once enough black crust is formed, you should leave the sheet to cool. You can use nitric acid for removing black layer of oxide, or else you can simply tap the copper place on a hard surface for removing the loose debris and then rub it using your fingers.
4. Now build a spacer using pieces of thin wood. You can use duct tape for fastening the wood pieces together. Nails should be avoided as it can affect the components of the cells.
5. Stick your copper wire to a small piece of Perspex. You should use thick wire as you want to place it in zigzag form.
6. Now fasten the Perspex front module onto the plate by placing duct tape on one side of copper plate. The oxidized side of copper should face the Perspex. Then, you should seal the entire cell for preventing any leakage, but keep small opening to add water.
7. Finally, add some salt water to the space between the copper and the Perspex and seal this cell completely.
Now you can expose homemade solar cells to sunlight and connect it to multimeter for generating solar power. This is all you need to make your own solar panels and save hundreds of dollars every month!
