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Hi there,
I have been (as some of you may know) building a batch of solar panels. The build I am doing is based on this website: How I built an electricity producing Solar Panel
I got interested in it because we often experience power outages where I live. My wife and I are also into prepping, so it will also come in handy in a SHTF scenario.
I decided to start small, and as I learn and get better at it, maybe one day go off grid. Researching the subject, I found that going off grid is very expensive. It is one of those all in all at once deals, and generally runs many thousands of dollars right out of the box. So, discussing it with my wife, we decided to start out small, experimenting with the technology as we go, and eventually get a large capable system in place.
So, step one was to build some shallow boxes. I decided to build 4 of them as a batch rather than build one.
Here are some pics of that going together:
I basically took a piece of 3/8" plywood, cut them to size (as per the above website specs) and used common lumber parts I got a Lowell's.
After I had the shallow boxes all built, I painted them with some good outdoor lifetime paint.
I also painted some hole board, that I will be using to mount the solar cells on.
Painted all sides, several coats. For all 4 panels, I used almost one whole gallon.
Next I cut the hold board down, into sizes that will fit into the shallow box, as that is where the actual cells and wiring will be mounted.
After I made sure that all surfaces were soaked in the paint, I started laying out the solar cells, and soldering them together.
Your going to need a few basic tools for this.
Some wire clippers, some GE atv, a meter, Some rosin core solder, a rosin pen, Some solar buss wire, and an adjustable soldering iron.
The process entails, soldering some wires onto the first cell, (the positive side-bottom) to be used for A, testing, B, connecting the panels together and to the main output wiring, that ultimately will for into a charge controller, and to a battery.
I test these as I go, so to make sure that they will work, when I get the whole string of them ( 6 cells per string) gets wired up.
So, to make a panel using the parts I used, you will need 36 cells total, 18 per half as I did it. That gives you about 18.8 volts DC.
Here are a few more pics of the cells going together.
After I soldered all the cells together, then I used the silicone to adhere them to the hole board.
So far so good. I have 2 of the 18 cell panels done, and am letting the silicone to cure.
As I do more work. I will post more pics and what not.
I should mention that I am using "tabbed" cells, as they save a ton of work. The seller is:
http://myworld.ebay.com/stellar393/?_trksid=p4340.l2559
Cheers,
Greg
I have been (as some of you may know) building a batch of solar panels. The build I am doing is based on this website: How I built an electricity producing Solar Panel
I got interested in it because we often experience power outages where I live. My wife and I are also into prepping, so it will also come in handy in a SHTF scenario.
I decided to start small, and as I learn and get better at it, maybe one day go off grid. Researching the subject, I found that going off grid is very expensive. It is one of those all in all at once deals, and generally runs many thousands of dollars right out of the box. So, discussing it with my wife, we decided to start out small, experimenting with the technology as we go, and eventually get a large capable system in place.
So, step one was to build some shallow boxes. I decided to build 4 of them as a batch rather than build one.
Here are some pics of that going together:
I basically took a piece of 3/8" plywood, cut them to size (as per the above website specs) and used common lumber parts I got a Lowell's.
After I had the shallow boxes all built, I painted them with some good outdoor lifetime paint.
I also painted some hole board, that I will be using to mount the solar cells on.
Painted all sides, several coats. For all 4 panels, I used almost one whole gallon.
Next I cut the hold board down, into sizes that will fit into the shallow box, as that is where the actual cells and wiring will be mounted.
After I made sure that all surfaces were soaked in the paint, I started laying out the solar cells, and soldering them together.
Your going to need a few basic tools for this.
Some wire clippers, some GE atv, a meter, Some rosin core solder, a rosin pen, Some solar buss wire, and an adjustable soldering iron.
The process entails, soldering some wires onto the first cell, (the positive side-bottom) to be used for A, testing, B, connecting the panels together and to the main output wiring, that ultimately will for into a charge controller, and to a battery.
I test these as I go, so to make sure that they will work, when I get the whole string of them ( 6 cells per string) gets wired up.
So, to make a panel using the parts I used, you will need 36 cells total, 18 per half as I did it. That gives you about 18.8 volts DC.
Here are a few more pics of the cells going together.
After I soldered all the cells together, then I used the silicone to adhere them to the hole board.
So far so good. I have 2 of the 18 cell panels done, and am letting the silicone to cure.
As I do more work. I will post more pics and what not.
I should mention that I am using "tabbed" cells, as they save a ton of work. The seller is:
http://myworld.ebay.com/stellar393/?_trksid=p4340.l2559
Cheers,
Greg
