How to Make Inexpensive DIY Home-Built Solar Panels with Damaged Solar Cells from Ebay
Photo: Michael Davis, with permission
Making Cheap, Inexpensive DIY Solar Panels at Home
Mike Davis is an astronomer. To practice his hobby away from the light-pollution of cities, he bought some land in a remote part of Arizona. But there was a problem: No electricity.... But he's a resourceful fellow. He built some home-made solar panels using inexpensive blemished and damaged solar cells from eBay! That might be even cooler, though less romantic, than the couple who got their solar panels via their wedding registry.Read on for more photos and some technical details to give you an idea of how he did it.
Photo: Michael Davis, with permission
I bought a couple of bricks of 3 X 6 mono-crystalline solar cells. It takes a total of 36 of these type solar cells wired in series to make a panel. Each cell produces about 1/2 Volt. 36 in series would give about 18 volts which would be good for charging 12 volt batteries. (Yes, you really need that high a Voltage to effectively charge 12 Volt batteries) This type of solar cell is as thin as paper and as brittle and fragile as glass.
Photo: Michael Davis, with permission
A solar panel is really just a shallow box. So I started out by building myself a shallow box. I made the box shallow so the sides wouldn't shade the solar cells when the sun comes at an angle from the sides.
Photo: Michael Davis, with permission
Next I cut two pieces of masonite peg-board to fit inside the wells. These pieces of peg-board will be the substrates that each sub-panel will be built on. [...] To protect the solar cells from the weather, the panel will have a plexiglass front.
