Author Topic: New DIY Build (Read 46052 times)

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **on:** February 24, 2010, 02:20:07 PM »

Hello all,

I'm starting to build my own panel and will get some pictures up here soon.

I have 36 3x6 Evergreen cells wired in series 4 wide 9 long on my panel, and have bus wires comming off them instead of normal insulated wire just due to the thickness of the wire... you will see later...

I'm planning on sandwiching the panels between to sheets of EVA (still in the mail) and then sandwiching that between UV resistant LEXAN and then putting an aluminum frame around it.... my biggest questions is... should I glue the EVA sandwich to the backing and then leave a gap between the front of the cells and the face or do you think I could leave no gap and just sandwich it all together and then the total thickness would be about 1/4".....

I will be building 2 panels and wire them in series for my 24vdc system.

Airstream · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2010, 03:27:00 PM »

I urge you to reconsider using plastics - Lexan or other resins have UV blockers that rob from the most energetic bandwidths out of sunshine... Plus they expand a lot when heated, it will bow or try to buckle the frame at 160°F or pull through at -20°F...

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2010, 04:05:00 PM »

what is the exact thing i should use?

Volvo farmer · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2010, 06:00:35 PM »

Tempered glass?

willib · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2010, 04:41:12 AM »

Pardon the interruption Sr WiNdTeCh I need to ask Bob a question.

VF, having never wired a set of cells together i was wonderin if ya could briefly explain how they are wired , cuz i can't see the connections between the cells?

On the underside , i can see that you have alternated between the top and the bottom , on the end ones anyway?

Volvo farmer · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2010, 05:56:24 AM »

The Evergreen cells come with two 4" long ribbons attached to the front of the cells. Simply solder these ribbons to the back of an adjacent cell on the three pads. Rinse and repeat.

kurt · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2010, 10:37:23 AM »

Volvo farmer you have been around long enough to know the photo posting rules as far as size i have to asume it was just a accident on your part posting a 1000+ pixel wide photo in a comment. i am gonna leave it as photo posting is mostly busted these days anyway but if you wanna be nice you can resize it and reupload it to your photo uploads with the same file name that will fix the image in your comment automatically.

Volvo farmer · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:55:43 PM »

I have removed the photos to comply with Otherpower policies. I hope you will accept my sincere apology.

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2010, 05:24:23 PM »

Should I leave a gap between the panels and the front glass then?

Airstream · « **Reply #9 on:** February 26, 2010, 04:40:48 AM »

resize it and reupload it to your photo uploads with the same file name

ghurd · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2010, 06:11:21 AM »

I stumbled upon this again, figured someone wold find it interesting.

"The system had been operational for about a week..."

Most probably HomeBrew PVs, plastic caught fire in a high voltage GT setup.

http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?t=4524

I am not saying everyone will have a fire if they make their own PVs,

and I can hardly imagine it happening on a low voltage system,

but the pics are there.

There are some interesting closeup pics of the tabbing failures.

"about a week"

G-

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #11 on:** March 07, 2010, 06:34:42 AM »

Well.... What do you think... It's not perfect by any mean's but I think it is very nice.. total thickness is 1/4"

36 3x6 Grade A Evergreen cells sandwiched between EVA film and 2 sheets of UV Lexan, and then the 1/4" aluminum C channel frame is glued on using glue for Lexan. I have Bus wire running out of the panel so I keep the same thickness all the way around the panel plus I feel I get a better seal with the EVA this way.

I can get very up close pictures of anything if you ask.

In winter sun I got 19 volts, just holding the panel up while holding my meter in the other hand...So it wasn't 90 degrees to the sun by any means. I have nothing on Amps yet... They claimed these cells were 1.75w cells.. Oh and something weird... I put my meter over to amps and it read 19 amps... something goofy there... although it is a FLUKE Scope meter and haven't had issues before... but that can't be possible.... can it?

Hope you like it...

Please let me know if you think I can improve anything. EVA Film is NOT EASY at all to do nicely for the DIY'er.

ghurd · « **Reply #12 on:** March 07, 2010, 07:28:16 AM »

That does not look bad at all.

At the most, the amps will be around 3.5A.

Is it possible the meter adjusts its own scale, and was 19ma?

It is possible a bad joint in there somewhere causes it to read full voltage, but have a very low output. (bite my tongue)

Or you could not see the decimal point in 1.9A?

Afraid to ask what the UV Lexan cost.

G-

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #13 on:** March 07, 2010, 08:26:53 AM »

I bought the lexan at Lowes and think I spent about 65$ for the two pre-cut halves, I found online where I could of gotten the same size sheets for much cheaper almost half that I believe it was. It's all experimental and still paid less than a factory panel... I wont build another one, until next winter. I will more than likely buy a 60 watt panel so I can series them for now...(24v system) If by next winter there is nothing wrong, I will start to 'mass produce them'... Total build was probably around 150$ and 10hours of time... so really.... if my time is worth anything... then I got ripped off lol... It's just something I've always wanted to do. If I can figure out how to apply EVA a little better that would solve the biggest issue... As for the 19amps... I'm not sure as It was around 0 degrees outside and very windy so I was only out there for a few seconds (was in t-shirt and shorts)... I believe all of my solder joints are very high quality... I'm not worried about them.

my new hobby....THERMOELECTRIC COOLER PELTIER COOLER.. either to make power and/or to cool a solar panel via aluminum backing... not sure... just messing around at this point. They are cheap on E-bay.

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2010, 04:50:31 PM »

Does anybody here believe in DIY Solar?

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #15 on:** March 13, 2010, 06:26:27 AM »

How are you DIY solar guys mounting your solar panels?

TomW · « **Reply #16 on:** March 13, 2010, 06:48:13 AM »

SWT;

I am sure some do. Especially DIY Solar heat. DIY PV has a less than good track record. Lots of talk up front with just a few success stories later. Not sure what that means just an observation.

It is a road less traveled.

Tom

Bruce S · « **Reply #17 on:** March 16, 2010, 03:08:49 PM »

Sr;

Since you were also looking into Pletier units and I've hyjacked a couple of your posting

.

Here's some past posting from people who did build and test.

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2009/2/6/205932/9975

Cheers

Bruce S

MarshallS · « **Reply #18 on:** March 24, 2010, 10:56:49 PM »

Sr windtech

Instead of using EVA on the back of your panel try Tedlar. There is a new product coming out called BioBacksheet made from cotton and lindsed oils instead of petro based based products in Tedlar. Probably 6 months from full production though.

The EVA, solar cells and Tedlar sandwich needs to be vacumn sealed and baked for about 25 minutes. I am working on designing a fiberglass box to accomplish that in now. I'll let you know how it works when we start on the prototype (should be in the next 6 weeks or so (just waiting on the weather to get warmer to build the box).

You might see if there are any sign makers in your area. Some sign machines can vacumn seal and bake your sandwich.

To make your panels stronger try using a white acrylic sheet 1/8 to 1//4 in thick on the back side and 1/4 tempered glass on the front.

For finishing your seal drill your hole in the back of the bottom piece of c channel and pull your wires through. Then use a good silacon and just fill the c channels. When you put your panel together you want the silacon to squish out. It's easy enough to clean off the front of the glass.

Doing the extra steps does add to the cost, but you have a finished panel that will last and produce well for years. Moisture is the killer for solar panels.

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #19 on:** March 25, 2010, 03:15:30 PM »

This was just my first shot at making a panel, I'm happy with how it turned out except the bubbles in the EVA due to me using what I had... A heat gun... but I can buy 60w panels with 25 year warranty from a guy on Ebay for 139$ all day long, I've received 2 already. Same cells as mine, my soldering looks better but with warranty I don't care, I'd assume these are factory defects due to the soldering or tiny chips in the corners, but they are cheaper than me making my own panel, and with 25 year warranty you can't beat it. I'll end up selling my 150 plus cells on Eay and all the other materials I have left.

Thanks for the pointers, many people may read this and use them.

wingman1776 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 25, 2010, 03:53:45 PM »

i would be interested in who you are getting the 60 watt panels for 139 dollars from I do not seem to be able to find them thanks

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #21 on:** March 27, 2010, 06:07:05 AM »

There are a Lot of 60w panels that sell for around 120$ if your bidding on panels, I have a guy that will sell them to me at 139$ just so I don't deal with the hassle of bidding, I doubt he would want me to tell others, as he wouldn't be making as much money, but just get on there and message people selling the panels, most often they will sell to you through Paypal and not Ebay, so it's cheaper for them and fast. Most of them have pallets and pallets of panels, so they got them for probably 1$ a watt. I'm thinking about starting a little business on Ebay doing just that.

ghurd · « **Reply #22 on:** March 27, 2010, 06:27:09 AM »

"60w panels with 25 year warranty from a guy on Ebay for 139$ all day long"

I doubt the manufacturer will be around long enough to supply a very substantial percentage of the 25 year warranty.

G-

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #23 on:** March 27, 2010, 02:46:10 PM »

But to make a comparable panel DIY... I would spend the same amount of money... It would take me 10 Hours or so to do... My DIY panel has no warranty..... Tell me whats better?

reef165 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 18, 2010, 06:12:17 PM »

What is this EVA material and whare can I find it? Also, who's the seller on ebay offering the 60 watt panels for $139?

Have you hooked the finished pannel to a volt meter to see what it produces? I have been wanting to get some solar cells off ebay to do a DIY pannel but after reading quite a few post's on here from the haters of the 3x6 cells I'm a bit unsure about doing it now.

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #25 on:** April 18, 2010, 06:45:16 PM »

Just search on ebay for EVA and you will find it, also Lavie solar is where I got my 2 panels for 139$ each when you search for 60 watt solar panel they will come up, just message them and they will send you a paypal invoice, worked for me. I still have some cell's I wouldn't mine selling, PM me and we can talk some more. my panel works just fine, in the spring sun I got 19.2v and 2.92amps (i believe it was, anyways the math came out to 56-58 watts something like that it was a week ago), just a quick test, but hey, it works!!! it has also been in my garage for a few weeks now and has no moisture at all, looks like I just built it, Soon I will have it outside (not hooked up) for a few weeks to test it more.

reef165 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 19, 2010, 12:54:11 AM »

I did the serch on ebay for the EVA and I didn't find anything close to what I would suspect it to be. Is EVA a abreviation for something? I also found the pannel seller and put them on one of my lists. I will give ya a PM tomorrow about your extra cells.

Thank's, Eddie

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #27 on:** April 24, 2010, 09:05:09 AM »

'Solar EVA'

takman · « **Reply #28 on:** April 25, 2010, 11:39:26 AM »

windtech, im about to do what you did....any pointers? specifically the sandwiching the cells with the EVA...need more details!

BTW, congrats on DIY. even if its not perfect, you can take pride in your work, and dont worry what others say ( namely those against building your own solar panels). 10 hours is nothing! how many hours have you sat in front of a T.V..something you will get nothing from? or sat in traffic? etc far exceeds 10 hours.

ohh and yes, please post more pics.

Sr WiNdTeCh · « **Reply #29 on:** April 29, 2010, 07:06:37 PM »

send me your email and I'll send you a DIY manual that the EVA seller sells for 10$ online, but I complained about the EVA and they sent me this manual free, it's PDF, I'll send it to you and anyone else who wants it... now keep in mind... I did my panel before the manual...

phil b · « **Reply #30 on:** May 03, 2010, 02:29:06 PM »

Sr, here is a panel I built some time ago. Some of the pics seemed to disappear into thin air. It was made with garage door panels. It was wired for 12 volts. I got about 3 years of use from it before the voltage started a slow downward slide. I couldn't see anything wrong with the solder joints. I used argon in the panels, as I remember.The solar cells were from a man on Ebay. Several folks back them made their own panels. Might take a look for grins.

http://fieldlines.com/board/index.php/topic,134792.msg885065.html#msg885065

TomW · « **Reply #31 on:** May 03, 2010, 02:47:12 PM »

Quote from: phil b on May 03, 2010, 02:29:06 PM

Some of the pics seemed to disappear into thin air.

phil;

a direct link to your photos from the Scoop board is here:

http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/1110/

Maybe you can find the missing photos there?

Tom

takman · « **Reply #32 on:** May 04, 2010, 06:29:22 AM »

Quote from: Sr WiNdTeCh on April 29, 2010, 07:06:37 PM

send me your email and I'll send you a DIY manual that the EVA seller sells for 10$ online, but I complained about the EVA and they sent me this manual free, it's PDF, I'll send it to you and anyone else who wants it... now keep in mind... I did my panel before the manual...

sent you a PM with my e-mail addy, some days ago...but havent heard from you yet....

News:

Author Topic: New DIY Build (Read 46052 times)

MarshallS