Yup, not possible in the home setting. Although if you want to, there's lots of info on the web about how it's done. Here's a summary from memory.
Purify the silicon until it has less than one part per billion contamination. This involves heating the silicon until it is molten (in a clean room environment with a controlled gas atmosphere).
Once it's ultrapure, then heat it up to molten again and insert a seed of ultrapure crystaline silicon. Pull the seed out at the same rate as the molten silicon crystalizes onto the seed, I think a few cm per hour. Temp, atmosphere, growth rates, all have to be controlled extremely precisely. You have to add dopants to the growing matrix, in very carefully controlled amounts so you can end up with two different types of crystaline material (n-type and p-type, one electron rich and one electron poor.)
Once you have a monolithic crystal 4" in diameter and a few feet long, saw it into wafers that are way less than one mm in thickness. Somehow magically join the n-type and p-type, solder on leads, solder individual cells together, encase in low iron glass with an inert potting compound to seal out all the moisture, yet is UV resistant for 50 years or more.
This is not a basement job we have here. It's awe inspiring to think of the folks who did it the first time, because there are almost insurmountable difficulties. Surprising solar panels don't cost more.
Sorry,
troy
