Fieldlines.com || 10 watts of Joy

Front Page - [Homebrewed Electricity-- (wind) (solar) (hydro) (steam) (controls) (storage) (mechanical)] - Classifieds - Site News
Everything - Newbies - [Remote Living-- (housing) (heat) (light) (water)] - Reviews - Diaries - Our Products

10 watts of Joy
By Andrew, Section Homebrewed Electricity Posted on Mon Oct 06, 2003 at 12:17:42 PM MST
First Panel Up!!! Homemade!!!

HI!!!
10 watts doesn't seem like much, but when one builds it from a chunk of aluminum, some fiberglass and a handful of solar cells, it really means a lot!!!
Those Silicon Solar cells I posted about a while ago finally got put to use! After a day's worth of machining, etching copperclad fiberglass, and a whole lot of soldering, the panel is complete. It is sitting in the sun right now, charging my batteries, and running a small portable tv.
I used the technique I explained a couple of posts back about copperclad pcb solar panels. It turned out to work very well! I made little 1 volt 2 cell boards, and then epoxyed them on the the machined aluminum, and soldered them all together without putting any stress at all on the cells. Not one cracked, and all are performing flawlessly! I will have pictures shortly.
Hopefully more of these to come!!!
Already have over $400 in the solar panel budget. By this time next year, my whole house will be off grid!
-Andrew

10 watts of Joy | 6 comments (6 topical)

Re: 10 watts of Joy (none / 0) (#1)
by troy on Mon Oct 06, 2003 at 03:10:26 PM MST

Wooo hooo, go Andrew!

I don't care if they're commercial or homebrew, electricity from the sun is just fundamentally better than electricity from dinosaurs.

I have two 110 watt panels now and plan to add six more next year.

Best regards,

troy

Re: 10 watts of Joy (none / 0) (#2)
by Andrew on Mon Oct 06, 2003 at 04:22:22 PM MST

Well, after almost a day worth of charging, I decided I need two more cells to get in the peak power range... The panel voltage is just a shy low, so I am not getting full current. I was having fun lighting up small halogens, and florescents. It was kinda weird running the inverter directly off the solar panel, as it would just shut off if the current was to high, because the panel went under voltage. Luckily it was a nice sunny day, so I got a lot of use already.
When I find the usb cord to my digital camera, I'll upload the pictures.
You should look at the fiberglass mounting idea... It really works out great!

-Andrew

[ Parent ]

Re: 10 watts of Joy (none / 0) (#3)
by sean on Mon Oct 06, 2003 at 04:59:22 PM MST

Hey 10 watts is 10 watts!!! And im only using a 15w panel but when the suns out its a superb battery charger. Where did you get your cells from? And how much cheaper did it work out building it yourself? And how big isthe panel? Sorry for all the qeustions but im into solar if it can be made cheap enough. Well done though andrew and getting off the grid is something i just dream off but im so limited with space and solar is so expensive in the uk i just keep dreaming.......one day it may come true.....sean

Re: 10 watts of Joy (none / 0) (#4)
by Tom in NH on Mon Oct 06, 2003 at 10:58:03 PM MST

Way to go! I'm eager to see the photos. What do you think one might draw from your technique that would be applicable to larger installations of hundreds or thousands of watts?

I'm looking for ways to streamline building of 100 watt panels which actually are only 87 watts in full sun, less if they're not aimed right, but you probably already know how that goes.

Tom

Re: 10 watts of Joy (none / 0) (#5)
by johnjach on Tue Oct 07, 2003 at 07:54:16 AM MST

I appreciate the photos of your fine work. Are you or anyone else out there familiar with a website called www.knowledgepublications.com ? This author claims there are many sources for getting used solar cells for free. He said some of these sources would include local governmental agencies such as public works departments, county and state highway departments and the like. Any truth to all of his claims?
I would buy his book if I knew his claims were true.

Re: 10 watts of Joy (none / 0) (#6)
by Andrew on Tue Oct 07, 2003 at 10:01:01 AM MST

Well, I left my usb cable in wisconsin somewhere, so I am heading to the computer store to get another one... Photos will be posted today.
As for getting solar cells and panels for free, I doubt it. You can get old highway sign panels for cheap, but not free. Gov. auctions rarely have that stuff here. (Mostly old cars, and furnature)
Also, I just bought 36 cells from silicon solar. I think they are 0.5v @4.5A peak power
5A short circuit. It was pricy, but the total for a 120 watt panel with shipping, and materials is only $220. Thats about %40 less than the cheapest panel I could find. (Astropower 120, at $410)

The link for the cells is: http://www.siliconsolar.com

Now to answer the other questions...

For mounting the cells on fiberglass, I did have much success. It seemed quick, and less stress on the cell the bare soldering. (I use the analogy of soldering to a potato chip) I would etch the boards, apply solder paste, and lay the cells on. Cook in a (toaster over :) ) and let the solder paste flow. This would pull all the cells in alignment becasue of the sirface tension, and it didn't require any manual handling of the cells. Once the cells were mounted on the fiberglass, I would then solder to the surface contacts, since they are now a lot more rigid. You can see this on the pictures.
As for trying to mass produce this, I haven't tried big cells yet, but it seems that everytime I use bigger cells witht this method, it gets harder to lay them correctly, etc. You could give it a try, as I had nothing but success so far.
If that doesn't work, I know solar companys use this method sometimes: Lay the cells on a sheet of teflon, solder all top contacts, lay teflon sheet on top, and flip, solder all bottom contacts, flip again, cover entire set with epoxy, (like a mold) and then mount in aluminum case, and add more epoxy.

-Andrew

[ Parent ]

10 watts of Joy | 6 comments (6 topical)

Menu

� create account
� How to use the board
� FAQs
� search the board
� Google search the board

Login

Make a new account

Username:

Password:

Total Views

��97 Scoop users have viewed this posting.

Related Links

� Also by Andrew

You must be a registered user to post here. It's easy and free, and the link is on the upper right side of your page.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Postings are owned by the poster, but may be deleted or moved at the ADMIN's sole discretion. The Rest � 2009 Forcefield.
You can Email the board ADMIN here. PLEASE include the username you signed up with!