Building Solar Panels

With increasing interest in ‘going green’ to save the planet, many people are seeking ways to preserve the environment. One of the ways to do so is to use alternative methods of generating electricity instead of relying on traditional methods where electricity is generated from the burning of fossil fuels like coal. Producing electricity this way pollutes the environment. In addition, fossil fuels will not last forever. At the rate we them use up, it’s a matter of time before they are completely depleted. Thus the only solution is to find alternative renewable energy sources. 

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One source of renewable energy is solar energy.   It is clean and efficient but few people make use of solar energy mainly because of its cost.  However, the cost of utilizing solar energy has been decreasing and these days it is quite possible to build your own solar panel and generate electricity for yourself.

The first step is to buy some solar cells, also known as Photovoltaic (PV) cells.  To buy new PV cells is very expensive but you can purchase just as useful albeit slightly blemished ones from eBay.  They work just fine except they can’t be sold at commercial prices because they may be slightly chipped or damaged.  Solar cells are usually silicon wafers or some other type of semiconductor.  There are 2 types of solar cells that you can buy – the tabbed ones and the untabbed ones.

If you are just starting out, it is advisable to buy the tabbed solar cells as making a solar panel with tabbed cells is easier because it’s faster to assemble.  But if you don’t mind doing extra soldering, you can buy the untabbed ones.  A tab is the special length of flat wire that you attach to the solar cells in order to conduct the electricity generated by the cells.  The act of soldering the tabs to the cells is called ‘tabbing’. 

You will also find that solar cells come in various sizes like 3x6, 3x5 or 5x5 inches.  I recommend buying 3x6 inch cells.  How many?  Buy 36 of them.  What type?  Buy mono-crystalline ones.  They are the most efficient, producing the most power compared to their size.  The seller will usually throw in a few extras because you are bound to damage some of them as you DIY.  Solar cells are like batteries.  They come in voltage sizes; therefore you need to buy the ones that are strong enough to power at least your basic appliances.  So buy the ones that each have the capacity to produce at least 0.55 volts and 3.98 amps of electricity. 

I’m sure you know what completed solar panels look like.  If you have 36 solar cells to work with, you could place them in a square panel of 6 cells by 6 cells.  A solar panel is basically a shallow box that houses the solar cells.  You can build your solar panel out of plywood.  Make your box shallow so that the sides do not cast a shadow on the solar cells when the sun is shining at an angle.  Remember to make some ventilation holes at the bottom edge of the box so that the any heat or moisture build-up will have an outlet. 

For the base of the solar cells, you can use an insulator material like glass or softboard to attach your solar cells to.  You will also need to paint your panel and your insulator base on both sides with weather proof paint to prevent heat and water damage.  When you have assembled the solar cells into your panel, you will later cover them with a transparent material like plexiglass.  Avoid using glass because it’s heavier and shatters easily from hail and other flying objects. 

The next thing to do is to string your solar cells together.  You will find that the solar cells have 2 white lines running down the front of each one.  At the back, there are solder points.  If you bought tabbed solar cells, you will find that the lines in front have the tab wires already soldered onto it.  If your solar cells are untabbed, you have to do the tabbing yourself. 

Assuming you bought tabbed solar cells, you need to string them together.  This is done by soldering the tab wires from one cell to the bottom of the next solar cell.  You place 2 cells side by side upside down, with the tab wires coming out from the bottom.  Using your soldering iron, solder the tab wires of one solar cell onto the solder points of the next solar cell.  When you’re done, your tab wire will run along the white lines of the front of one solar cell to the solder points at the bottom of the next solar cell.  This is called a string of solar cells.  Repeat the process until you have a string of 6 solar cells together.  Solar cells have their negative terminal at the front of the cell while their positive terminal is at the back.  What you have done is joined the cells in series, the negative terminal of one cell is connected to the positive terminal of the next (just like how your batteries are placed in a flashlight).

At the end of the entire process you would have 6 strings, each having 6 solar cells.  Now you need to glue your solar cell strings onto your base.  Mark out the positions of the strings before gluing them in place.  Do not glue your strings until you make sure they are in correct orientation to each other.  You will need to wire them in series later so your strings must be pointing in opposite directions alternately.  The first string faces the top of your panel, the second faces the bottom, the third faces the top and so forth.   

Put a blob of silicone caulk at the center of each solar cell and press them onto your base.  Be careful as you press them in; you wouldn’t want to damage any of them.  Do not put the silicone caulk anywhere other than the center.  Your base may expand or shrink under the heat or cold of the weather so if you glue your solar cells on too many spots, the expansion or shrinkage may crack the cells.

Now you need to wire your strings together.  You do so by joining the tabs from the end of each string with an additional wire such as a length of copper wire.  Solder the copper wire to your 2 tabs perpendicularly so that your wire bridges the 2 tabs.  Your length of wire needs to extend to the 2 tabs of the adjacent string and join those also.  Remember you are wiring your cells in series, so make sure your negative terminal from the first string is connected to the positive terminal of the next string.  If you do not have copper wire you could use extra tab wire or just any wire.  Continue wiring your strings together until you have wired all 6 strings.

Now you can bring your solar panel out into the sun to test them using a voltmeter.  If you have done everything correctly, your solar panel would instantly give you a reading on the voltmeter.  Once your solar panel is working, you need to place a blocking diode in series with the circuit to prevent your solar panel from discharging the battery to which it will be attached.  The final thing to do before affixing it to your roof would be to cover it with your plexiglass.  Just screw your plexiglass onto your solar panel and seal the edges with silicone caulk to prevent any water from seeping in.

That’s it!  You have now made your own workable electricity producing solar panel.

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