Solar energy is just great, but here’s the problem: even one battery costs a lot of money, and for a good effect you need more than one, or even two. That's why the idea comes - to collect everything yourself. If you have a little soldering skill, this is easy to do. The entire assembly consists of sequentially connecting the elements into tracks, and securing the tracks to the body. Let's talk about the price right away. A set for one panel (36 pieces) costs around $70-80. And complete DIY solar panels with all the materials will cost you about $120-150. Much less than factory ones. But it must be said that they will also be less powerful. On average, each photoconverter produces 0.5 V, if you connect 36 pieces in series, it will be about 18 V.
The biggest problem is purchasing photovoltaic converters. These are the same silicon wafers that convert sunlight into electricity. Here you need to understand a little about the types of photocells. They are produced in two types: polycrystalline and monocrystalline. Monocrystalline are more expensive, but have more high efficiency- 20-25%, polycrystalline - cheaper, but their productivity is less - 17-20%. How to distinguish them externally? Polycrystalline have a bright blue color. Monocrystalline ones are a little darker and they have not a square, but a multifaceted shape - a square with cut edges.
About the release form. There are solar cells with already soldered conductors, and there are kits where the conductors are included and you need to solder everything yourself. Everyone decides what to buy, but it must be said that without skill you will damage at least one plate, and most likely more than one. And if you don’t know how to solder very well... then it’s better to pay a little more, but get parts that are almost ready for use.
Making photocells for solar panels with your own hands is unrealistic. To do this, you need to be able to grow silicon crystals and then process it. Therefore, you need to know where to buy. More on this later.
Now about the quality. All Chinese sites like Ebay or Alibaba sell rejects. Those parts that did not pass tests at the factory. That's why you won't get a perfect battery. But their price is not the highest, so you can put up with it. At least at first. Assemble a couple of test solar panels with your own hands, get your hands on it, and then you can take it from the factory.
Some sell solar cells sealed in wax. This prevents them from being damaged during transportation, but it is quite difficult to get rid of the wax without damaging the plates. You need to dip them all together in hot, but not boiling water. Wait until the wax melts, then carefully separate. Then bathe each plate one by one in a hot soapy solution, then dip it in clean hot water. You may need several such “ablutions”; the water and soap solution will have to be changed, and more than once. After removing the wax, place the clean plates on a terry towel to dry. This is a very troublesome matter. So it's better to buy without wax. It's much easier this way.
Now about shopping on Chinese sites. Specifically about Ebay and Alibaba. They are verified, thousands of people buy something there every day. The system is no different. After registration, as usual, enter the name of the element in the search bar. Then you choose the offer you like for some reason. Be sure to choose from those options where there are free shipping(in English free shipping). If there is no such mark, then delivery will have to be paid separately. And it is often more than the cost of the product and certainly more than the difference that you gain on the price.
You need to focus not only on the price, but also on the seller’s rating and reviews. Read carefully the composition of the product, its parameters and reviews. You can communicate with the seller, but you need to write messages in English.
Regarding payment. It is transferred to the seller on these sites only after you sign off on receiving the goods. In the meantime, while delivery is underway, your money is in the account of the trading platform. You can pay with a card. If you are afraid to reveal your card data, use intermediate services. They are different, but the essence is the same - your card will not light up. There are also returns on these sites, but this is a long story, so it is better to buy from trusted sellers (with good ratings and reviews).
Yes. The delivery depends on the region. And the point is not so much how long it will take from China, but how soon the mail will deliver it. At best, three weeks, but maybe a month and a half.
Assembling a solar battery with your own hands consists of three stages:
The frame can be made from aluminum corners or wooden slats. But the shape of the frame, materials, and manufacturing sequence depend on the installation method.
The battery is hung on a window, on a frame from inside the room or outside, but also on the window. Then you need to make a frame from an aluminum corner, and glue glass or polycarbonate to it. In this case, at least small gaps remain between the photocells, through which some light penetrates into the room. Choose the frame dimensions based on the size of your solar cells and how you are going to arrange them. The dimensions of the window may also play a role. Please note that the plane must be flat - photoelectric converters are very fragile and will crack at the slightest distortion.
Having unfolded the finished frame with the glued glass face down, apply a layer of sealant to the surface of the glass. On the sealant, again front side down, lay out the rulers assembled from photocells.
Make a mat from thick elastic foam rubber (thickness at least 4 cm) and a piece of plastic film (200 microns): cover the foam rubber with film and fasten it well. It is better to solder polyethylene, but you can also use tape, but all joints should be on the same side. The second one should be even and smooth. The size of the mat should fit well into the frame (without bending or effort).
We laid the mat on photocells embedded in sealant. There is a board on it, which is slightly smaller in size than the frame, and a solid load on the board. This simple device will help expel air bubbles that are trapped under the photocells. Air reduces productivity, and greatly. Because the fewer bubbles there are, the better. Leave the entire structure for 12 hours.
Now it's time to remove the weight and unstick the mat. Do it slowly and without haste. It is important not to damage the soldering and conductors. Therefore, pull smoothly, without jerking. After the mat has been removed, the panel must be left for a while to dry. When the sealant stops sticking, you can hang the panel and use it.
Instead of a long procedure with sealant, you can take special film for sealing. It's called EVA. Simply spread the film on top of the battery assembled and laid on the glass and warm it construction hairdryer until completely sealed. It takes much less time.
In this case everything is different. Back wall must be dense and non-conductive. Possibly - wooden, plywood, etc. Therefore, it makes sense to make the frame from wooden blocks. Only the height of the body should be small so that the shadow from the sides does not interfere.
In the photo, the body consists of two halves, but this is not at all necessary. It's just easier to assemble and lay short rulers, but in this case there will be more connections. Yes. A few nuances: you need to provide several holes in the housing. At the bottom you need several pieces for the condensation to escape, as well as two holes for the conductors from the battery.
Then paint the battery case with white paint - the silicon wafers are quite wide range operating temperatures, but it is not unlimited: from -40 o C to +50 o C. And in the summer in a closed box +50 o C easily rises. That's why it's needed White color so that the photoconverters do not overheat. Overheating, like hypothermia, leads to reduced efficiency. This, by the way, may explain an incomprehensible phenomenon: it’s noon, the sun is hot, and the battery began to produce less electricity. And she just overheated. For the southern regions, you probably need to lay down foil. It will be more effective. Moreover, productivity will most likely increase: radiation reflected by the foil will also be captured.
After the paint has dried, you can lay the assembled paths. But this time face up. How to attach them? Place a drop of heat-resistant sealant in the middle of each plate. Why not apply it over the entire surface? Due to thermal expansion, the plate will change dimensions. If you glue it only in the middle, nothing will happen to it. If there are at least two points, it will burst sooner or later. Therefore, carefully apply a drop in the middle and gently press the plate. Don't press - it's very easy to crush.
In some cases, the plates were first attached to a base - a sheet of fiberboard painted the same white color. And then they were fixed to the body with screws on the base.
After all the rulers are laid, connect them in series. To prevent the conductors from dangling, they can be fixed with a few drops of sealant. You can remove the wires from the elements through the bottom or through the side - whichever is more convenient. Pull them through the hole, and then fill the hole with the same sealant. Now you need to let all the connections dry. If you cover it too early, a coating will form on the glass and photocells, which will greatly reduce the battery's efficiency. Therefore, we wait at least a day (or as long as indicated on the sealant packaging).
Now all that’s left to do is cover everything with glass or transparent plastic. How to attach it is up to you. But don't seal it at first. At least until the test. There may be a problem somewhere.
And one more nuance. If you plan to connect batteries to the system, you will need to install a diode that will prevent the battery from discharging through the battery at night or in bad weather. It is best to install a Schottky diode. I connect it to the battery in series. It is better to install it inside the structure - at high temperatures its voltage drop decreases, i.e. in working condition it will reduce the voltage less.
A little about handling silicon wafers. They are very, very fragile and easily crack and break. Therefore, you need to handle them with extreme caution and store them in hard containers away from children.
You need to work on a flat, hard surface. If the table is covered with oilcloth, place a sheet of something hard. The plate should not bend, but its entire surface should rest firmly on the base. Moreover, the base must be smooth. Experience shows that the ideal option is a piece of laminate. It is hard, even, smooth. They solder on the back side, not on the front.
For soldering, you can use flux or rosin, or any of the compounds in the soldering marker. Everyone here has their own preferences. But it is desirable that the composition does not leave traces on the matrix.
Place the silicon wafer face up (face is the blue side). It has two or three tracks. You coat them with flux or a marker, an alcohol (not aqueous-alcohol) solution of rosin. Photoconverters usually come with a thin contact tape. Sometimes it is cut into pieces, sometimes it comes in a reel. If the tape is wound on a reel, you need to cut a piece equal to twice the width of the solar cell plus 1 cm.
Solder the cut piece onto the flux-treated strip. The tape turns out to be much longer than the record; the rest remains on one side. Try to hold the soldering iron without lifting it off. As much as possible. For better soldering, you should have a drop of solder or tin at the tip of the tip. Then the soldering will be of high quality. There should be no unsoldered areas; warm everything up well. But don't push! Especially around the edges. These are very fragile products. Solder the tapes to all tracks one by one. Photoconverters turn out to be “tailed”.
Now, actually, about how to assemble a solar battery with your own hands. Let's start assembling the line. There are also tracks on the back of the record. Now we solder the “tail” from the top plate to the bottom one. The technology is the same: we coat the track with flux, then solder it. So we connect the required number of photoelectric converters in series.
In some versions, on the back side there are not tracks, but platforms. Then there is less soldering, but there may be more quality complaints. In this case, we coat only the areas with flux. And we also solder only on them. That's all, actually. The assembled tracks can be transferred to the base or body. But there are many more tricks.
For example, a certain distance (4-5 mm) must be maintained between photocells, which is not so easy without clamps. The slightest misalignment, and there is a possibility of breaking the conductor or breaking the plate. Therefore, to set a certain step, construction crosses are glued onto a piece of laminate (used when laying tiles), or markings are made.
All the problems that arise when making solar panels with your own hands are related to soldering. Therefore, before sealing, and better yet, before transferring the ruler to the case, check the assembly with an ammeter. If everything is fine, you can continue working.
Now you know how to make a solar battery at home. The matter is not the most difficult, but it requires painstaking work.
Hello community! This kit was purchased solely for educational and self-development purposes. Below is the assembly process and basic measurements based on the results of balcony tests.
The parcel came with a track and was tracked without problems at every stage. Delivery time is quite standard - 1 month. Packed tightly and conscientiously - not a single part of the kit was damaged. Actually, that's all I got. 
1) Flux pencil. I haven’t used this before, but I wasn’t particularly delighted, although I won’t say a bad word. Basically convenient. The algorithm is simple: grease and solder. When you shake, you can hear a liquid of unknown origin splashing inside, the composition is not indicated! From the useful information from the pencil case, you can only get a link to the vendor’s website and support e-mail: and [email protected], respectively. Out of curiosity, I took a walk, it didn’t seem to be cheap. 
2) Tire (small 2 mm) for soldering photocells to each other. I didn’t measure the length, but there is a lot of it. After complete assembly of the kit, visually there was as much left as there was. Since the battery in my pocket spectral device ran out :_), the metal from which it was made could not be determined. But the tape is tinned and soldered very easily. 
3) Busbar (large 5 mm) for soldering assemblies of photocells and/or solar panels. Although I know for certain what ohmic losses are, I did not use it; I made the “+” and “-” terminals from a small bus. And even though because of this I will miss 0.000018 W, but honestly I was just lazy) 
4) Well, in fact, the photocells themselves (as many as 42! pcs.) were lovingly rewound by the Chinese in packaging film. 
The geometric dimensions correspond to the declared ones. 
But there were several elements with minor chips. It’s a shame, of course, but the loss of area (read power) is less than 1%, I think. Since when an element is destroyed, the voltage it generates remains the same as that of the whole, it can be mounted in a circuit with (slightly less) success. 
Since the seller stated that at the equator at noon on a cloudless day, each such socket is capable of delivering 0.5 V, it was decided to sequentially assemble 36 elements to generate ≈ 18 V.
“They write on the Internet” that the most convenient platform for assembling such a solar panel is an A4 (photo) frame. Which was purchased in an off-line store at a reasonable price. But let's get back to editing.
The "+" contacts of the photocells are on the back and have different lengths. 
Therefore, I took a piece of a small tire (cut by eye ≈ 1.5 times the width of the module). I tinned it using ordinary rosin (it was somehow inconvenient and unusual to use a flux pencil. I put it aside...) 
After which I applied it in place along the length of the contact and ironed it with a soldering iron. 
The work is quite painstaking, and the material does not like to be rushed at all; I didn’t even expect that these panels were so fragile - almost like eggshell. Therefore, stock up on kvass beer and patience. 
To prevent short circuits, I did the soldering of the “negative” contacts the other way around - I tinned the photocell track and ironed the busbar to it. 
Of course, by the end of the work I had already acquired a certain skill, but neither this nor the six (42-36) element head start saved me from collapse - I broke more solar panels than were available. That's the kind of handyman I am. A cruel joke was also played by the rivets of the photo frame latches, which went right through the working surface of the PCB and, although I had sealed it with electrical tape, still protruded quite strongly, so much so that they probably damaged a couple of elements; not less. 
However, I was pleasantly surprised by the result. Because even in the absence of direct sunlight
the entire visible horizon was covered with a veil, haze
Conclusion: this kit is ideal (all included) for educational and educational purposes, and the device assembled on its basis is quite capable of powering undemanding consumers.
P.S. I will then solder the Schottky diode when I fill it with sealant.
p.p.s. There are really a lot of consumables (tires and flux) left
ppfs test took place on July 6, 2015 at 17:15 hours in the northern hemisphere, at a latitude of approx. 60 degrees N (Leningrad region)
All the best and light)
I'm planning to buy +52 Add to favorites I liked the review +71 +135There is probably no person who would not like to become more independent. The ability to completely manage your own time, travel without knowing borders and distances, and not think about housing and financial problems- this is what gives you a feeling of real freedom. Today we will talk about how, using solar radiation, you can relieve yourself of the burden of energy dependence. As you guessed, we will talk about solar panels. And to be more precise, about whether it is possible to build a real solar power plant with your own hands.
Humanity has been nurturing the idea of converting solar energy into electricity for a long time. Solar thermal installations were the first to appear, in which steam superheated by concentrated solar rays rotated generator turbines. Direct conversion became possible only in the mid-19th century, after the Frenchman Alexandre Edmond Baccarelle discovered the photoelectric effect. Attempts to create an operating solar cell based on this phenomenon were crowned with success only half a century later, in the laboratory of the outstanding Russian scientist Alexander Stoletov. It was possible to fully describe the mechanism of the photoelectric effect even later - humanity owes this to Albert Einstein. By the way, it was for this work that he received the Nobel Prize.
Baccarelle, Stoletov and Einstein are the scientists who laid the foundation of modern solar energy
The creation of the first solar photocell based on crystalline silicon was announced to the world by employees of Bell Laboratories back in April 1954. This date, in fact, is the starting point of technology, which will soon be able to become a full-fledged replacement for hydrocarbon fuel.
Since the current of one photovoltaic cell is milliamps, to generate electricity of sufficient power they have to be connected in modular structures. Arrays of solar photocells protected from external influences are a solar battery (due to flat shape The device is often called a solar panel).
Converting solar radiation into electricity has enormous prospects, because for every square meter The earth's surface requires an average of 4.2 kW/hour of energy per day, which saves almost one barrel of oil per year. Initially used only for the space industry, the technology became so commonplace already in the 80s of the last century that photocells began to be used for domestic purposes - as a power source for calculators, cameras, lamps, etc. At the same time, “serious” solar-electric installations were created. Attached to the roofs of houses, they made it possible to completely abandon wired electricity. Today we can observe the birth of power plants, which are multi-kilometer fields of silicon panels. The power they generate can power entire cities, so we can say with confidence that the future lies with solar energy.
Modern solar power plants are multi-kilometer fields of photocells capable of supplying electricity to tens of thousands of homes.
After Einstein described the photoelectric effect, the whole simplicity of such a seemingly complex physical phenomenon was revealed to the world. It is based on a substance whose individual atoms are in an unstable state. When “bombarded” by photons of light, electrons are knocked out of their orbits - these are the sources of current.
For almost half a century, the photoelectric effect had no practical application for one simple reason - there was no technology for producing materials with an unstable atomic structure. Prospects for further research appeared only with the discovery of semiconductors. The atoms of these materials either have an excess of electrons (n-conductivity) or lack them (p-conductivity). When using a two-layer structure with an n-type (cathode) and a p-type (anode) layer, the bombardment of light photons knocks electrons out of the n-layer atoms. Leaving their places, they rush into the free orbits of the atoms of the p-layer and then, through the connected load, return to their original positions. Probably each of you knows that the movement of electrons in a closed loop represents an electric current. But it is possible to force electrons to move not thanks to a magnetic field, as in electric generators, but due to the flow of particles from solar radiation.
The solar panel works thanks to the photovoltaic effect, which was discovered back in early XIX century
Since the power of one photovoltaic module is not enough to power electronic devices, then to obtain the required voltage, a series connection of many cells is used. As for the current strength, it is increased by parallel connection of a certain number of such assemblies.
The generation of electricity in semiconductors directly depends on the amount of solar energy, so photocells are not only installed under open air, but also try to orient their surface perpendicular to the incident rays. And in order to protect the cells from mechanical damage and atmospheric influences, they are mounted on a rigid base and protected with glass on top.
The first solar cell was made based on selenium (Se), but the low efficiency (less than 1%), rapid aging and high chemical activity of selenium solar cells forced the search for other, cheaper and more efficient materials. And they were found in the form of crystalline silicon (Si). Since this element periodic table is a dielectric; its conductivity is ensured by inclusions of various rare earth metals. Depending on the manufacturing technology, there are several types of silicon photocells:
The first ones are made by cutting off the thinnest layers from silicon ingots of the highest purity. Externally, monocrystalline photocells look like single-color dark blue glass plates with a pronounced electrode grid. Their efficiency reaches 19%, and their service life is up to 50 years. And although the performance of panels made on the basis of monocrystals is gradually falling, there is evidence that batteries manufactured more than 40 years ago remain operational today, delivering up to 80% of their original power.
Monocrystalline solar cells have a uniform dark color and cut corners - these signs do not allow them to be confused with other photocells
In the production of polycrystalline solar cells, less pure, but cheaper silicon is used. Simplification of technology affects appearance plates - they do not have a uniform shade, but a lighter pattern that forms the boundaries of many crystals. The efficiency of such solar cells is slightly lower than that of monocrystalline ones - no more than 15%, and the service life is up to 25 years. It must be said that the decrease in basic performance indicators did not at all affect the popularity of polycrystalline solar cells. They benefit from a lower price and less dependence on external pollution, low clouds and orientation to the Sun.
Polycrystalline solar cells have a lighter blue tint and a non-uniform pattern - a consequence of the fact that their structure consists of many crystals
For solar cells made from amorphous Si, it is not a crystalline structure that is used, but a very thin layer of silicon, which is sprayed onto glass or polymer. Although this production method is the cheapest, such panels have the shortest lifespan, which is caused by fading and degradation of the amorphous layer in the sun. This type of photocells is also not pleased with its performance - their efficiency is no more than 9% and during operation it decreases significantly. The use of solar panels made of amorphous silicon is justified in deserts - high solar activity offsets the drop in productivity, and the vast expanses allow the placement of solar power plants of any size.
The ability to deposit a silicon structure onto any surface allows you to create flexible solar panels
Further development of photovoltaic cell production technology is driven by the need to reduce prices and improve performance characteristics. Film photocells today have the highest performance and durability:
It is too early to talk about the possibility of using thin-film photocells in homemade devices. Today, only a few of the most technologically “advanced” companies are engaged in their production, so most often flexible solar cells can be seen as part of finished solar panels.
Homemade solar panels will always be one step behind their factory-made counterparts, and there are several reasons for this. Firstly, famous manufacturers Photocells are carefully selected, eliminating cells with unstable or reduced parameters. Secondly, in the manufacture of solar electric batteries, special glass with increased light transmission and reduced reflectivity is used - it is almost impossible to find this on sale. And thirdly, before starting serial production, all parameters of industrial designs are tested using mathematical models. As a result, the effect of cell heating on the battery efficiency is minimized, the heat removal system is improved, the optimal cross-section of connecting busbars is found, ways to reduce the degradation rate of photocells are explored, etc. It is impossible to solve such problems without an equipped laboratory and appropriate qualifications.
The low cost of homemade solar panels makes it possible to build an installation that allows you to completely abandon the services of energy companies
Nevertheless, self-made solar panels show good performance results and are not so far behind their industrial counterparts. As for the price, here we have a gain of more than twice, that is, at the same cost, homemade products will provide twice as much electricity.
Taking into account all of the above, a picture emerges of which solar cells are suitable for our conditions. Film ones are no longer available due to their lack of availability on sale, and amorphous ones due to their short service life and low efficiency. What remains are cells made of crystalline silicon. It must be said that in the first home-made device it is better to use cheaper “polycrystals”. And only after testing the technology and getting the hang of it, you should switch to monocrystalline cells.
Cheap, substandard photocells are suitable for testing technologies - just like quality devices, they can be bought on foreign trading platforms
As for the question of where to get inexpensive solar cells, they can be found on foreign trading platforms such as Taobao, Ebay, Aliexpress, Amazon, etc. There they are sold both in the form of individual solar cells various sizes and performance, as well as ready-made kits for assembling solar panels of any power.
Sellers often offer so-called class “B” solar cells, which are damaged mono- or polycrystalline solar cells. Small chips, cracks or missing corners have virtually no effect on the performance of the cells, but allow you to purchase them at a much lower cost. It is for this reason that they are most profitable to use in homemade solar energy devices.
Rarely does anyone home handyman there is no treasured box with old radio components. But diodes and transistors from old receivers and televisions are still the same semiconductors with p-n junctions, which, when illuminated, sunlight generate current. By taking advantage of these properties and connecting several semiconductor devices, you can make a real solar battery.
To manufacture a low-power solar battery, you can use the old element base of semiconductor devices
An attentive reader will immediately ask what the catch is. Why pay for factory-made mono- or polycrystalline cells when you can use what is literally under your feet. As always, the devil is in the details. The fact is that the most powerful germanium transistors allow you to obtain a voltage of no more than 0.2 V in bright sunlight at a current measured in microamps. In order to achieve the parameters that a flat silicon solar cell produces, you will need several dozen, or even hundreds of semiconductors. A battery made from old radio components is only suitable for charging a camping LED flashlight or a small mobile phone battery. To implement larger-scale projects, you cannot do without purchased solar cells.
Thinking about building your own solar power plant, everyone dreams of completely abandoning wired electricity. In order to analyze the reality of this idea, we will do some small calculations.
Finding out your daily electricity consumption is easy. To do this, just look at the invoice sent by the energy supply organization and divide the number of kilowatts indicated there by the number of days in the month. For example, if you are offered to pay for 330 kWh, this means that daily consumption is 330/30 = 11 kWh.
Graph of solar battery power depending on illumination
In your calculations, you should definitely take into account the fact that the solar panel will generate electricity only during daylight hours, with up to 70% of the generation occurring between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. In addition, the efficiency of the device directly depends on the angle of incidence sun rays and the state of the atmosphere.
Slight cloudiness or haze will reduce the efficiency of the solar installation's current output by 2–3 times, while a sky overcast by continuous clouds will cause a drop in performance by 15–20 times. Under ideal conditions, a solar battery with a capacity of 11/7 = 1.6 kW would be sufficient to generate 11 kWh of energy. Taking into account the influence of natural factors, this parameter should be increased by approximately 40–50%.
In addition, there is another factor that forces us to increase the area of the photocells used. Firstly, we should not forget that the battery will not work at night, which means that powerful batteries will be needed. Secondly, for nutrition household appliances you need a current voltage of 220 V, so you will need a powerful voltage converter (inverter). Experts say that losses on the accumulation and transformation of electricity take up to 20–30% of its total amount. Therefore, the actual power of the solar battery should be increased by 60–80% of the calculated value. Taking an inefficiency value of 70%, we obtain the rated power of our solar panel equal to 1.6 + (1.6×0.7) = 2.7 kW.
Using high-current lithium battery assemblies is one of the most elegant, but by no means the cheapest, ways to store solar electricity
To store electricity, you will need low-voltage batteries designed for voltages of 12, 24 or 48 V. Their capacity must be designed for daily energy consumption plus transformation and conversion losses. In our case, we will need an array of batteries designed to store 11 + (11×0.3) = 14.3 kW×hour of energy. If you use regular 12-volt car batteries, you will need a 14300 Wh / 12 V = 1200 Ah assembly, that is, six batteries rated at 200 amp-hours each.
As you can see, even in order to provide electricity for the household needs of an average family, you will need a serious solar-electric installation. As for the use of homemade solar panels for heating, at this stage such an idea will not even reach the limits of self-sufficiency, not to mention the fact that something can be saved.
The size of the battery depends on the required power and the dimensions of the current sources. When choosing the latter, you will definitely pay attention to the variety of photocells offered. For use in homemade devices, it is most convenient to choose medium-sized solar cells. For example, designed for output voltage 0.5 V and current up to 3 A polycrystalline panels measuring 3x6 inches.
When manufacturing a solar battery, they will be connected in series into blocks of 30 pieces, which will make it possible to obtain the voltage required for charging a car battery of 13–14 V (taking into account losses). The maximum power of one such unit is 15 V × 3 A = 45 W. Based on this value, it will not be difficult to calculate how many elements will be needed to build a solar panel of a given power and determine its dimensions. For example, to build a 180-watt solar electric collector you will need 120 photocells with total area 2160 sq. inches (1.4 sq.m).
Before you start manufacturing a solar panel, you should solve the problems of its placement, calculate the dimensions and prepare the necessary materials and tools.
Since the solar panel will be made by hand, its aspect ratio can be any. This is very convenient, since a homemade device can be more successfully integrated into the exterior of the roof or the design of a suburban area. For the same reason, you should choose a place to install the battery before starting design activities, remembering to take into account several factors:
Of course, a roof-mounted battery looks more organic, but placing the device on the ground has more advantages. In this case, the possibility of damage to roofing materials when installing the supporting frame is eliminated, the complexity of installing the device is reduced, and it becomes possible to timely change the “angle of attack of the sun’s rays.” And most importantly, with a lower placement it will be much easier to keep the surface of the solar panel clean. And this is a guarantee that the installation will work at full capacity.
Mounting a solar panel on a roof is driven more by space constraints than by necessity or ease of use.
When starting to make a homemade solar panel, you should stock up on:
In the work you will need the simplest tool that a homely owner always has at hand - a soldering iron, glass cutter, saw, screwdriver, paint brush, etc.
To make the first solar battery, it is best to use photocells with already soldered leads - in this case, the risk of damage to the cells during assembly is reduced. However, if you are skilled with a soldering iron, you can save some money by purchasing solar cells with open contacts. To build the panel we looked at in the examples above, you will need 120 plates. Using an aspect ratio of approximately 1:1, 15 rows of photocells of 8 each will be required. In this case, we will be able to connect every two “columns” in series, and connect four such blocks in parallel. This way you can avoid tangled wires and get a smooth, beautiful installation.
Electrical wiring diagram for home solar power plant
Assembling a solar panel should always begin with making the housing. To do this, we will need aluminum corners or wooden slats with a height of no more than 25 mm - in this case they will not cast a shadow on the outer rows of photocells. Based on the dimensions of our 3 x 6 inch (7.62 x 15.24 cm) silicon cells, the frame size should be at least 125 x 125 cm. If you decide to use a different aspect ratio (for example, 1:2), the frame can be further strengthened with a crossbar made of lath the same section.
The back side of the case should be covered with a plywood or OSB panel, and ventilation holes should be drilled in the lower end of the frame. The connection between the internal cavity of the panel and the atmosphere will be needed to equalize the humidity - otherwise, fogging of the glass cannot be avoided.
To make a solar panel housing, the simplest materials are suitable - wooden slats and plywood.
A panel of plexiglass or high-quality glass with a high degree of transparency is cut according to the external size of the frame. As a last resort you can use window glass up to 4 mm thick. For its fastening, corner brackets are prepared, in which drillings are made for fastening to the frame. When using plexiglass, you can make holes directly in the transparent panel - this will simplify assembly.
To protect the wooden body of the solar battery from moisture and fungus, it is impregnated with an antibacterial compound and painted with oil paint.
For ease of assembly of the electrical part, a substrate is cut out of fiberboard or other dielectric material according to internal size frames In the future, photocells will be installed on it.
Before you start soldering, you should “figure out” the placement of photocells. In our case, we will need 4 cell arrays of 30 plates each, and they will be located in fifteen rows in the case. Such a long chain will be inconvenient to work with, and the risk of damage to fragile glass plates increases. It would be rational to connect 5 parts each, and complete the final assembly after the photocells are mounted on the substrate.
For convenience, photocells can be mounted on a non-conductive substrate made of textolite, plexiglass or fiberboard
After connecting each chain, you should check its functionality. To do this, each assembly is placed under a table lamp. By recording current and voltage values, you can not only monitor the performance of the modules, but also compare their parameters.
For soldering we use a low-power soldering iron (maximum 40 W) and good, low-melting solder. We apply it in small quantities to the lead parts of the plates, after which, observing the polarity of the connection, we connect the parts to each other.
When soldering photocells, extreme care should be taken, since these parts are highly fragile.
Having collected the individual chains, we turn them with their backs towards the substrate and glue them to the surface using silicone sealant. Each 15-volt photocell unit is equipped with a Schottky diode. This device allows current to flow only in one direction, so it will not allow the batteries to discharge when the solar panel voltage is low.
The final connection of the individual strings of photocells is carried out according to the electrical diagram presented above. For these purposes, you can use a special bus or stranded copper wire.
The hanging elements of the solar battery should be secured with hot-melt adhesive or self-tapping screws.
The substrates with photocells located on them are placed in the housing and secured with self-tapping screws. If the frame is reinforced with a cross member, then several drillings are made in it for mounting wires. The cable that is brought out is securely fixed to the frame and soldered to the terminals of the assembly. To avoid confusion with polarity, it is best to use two-color wires, connecting the red terminal to the “plus” of the battery, and the blue one to its “minus”. A continuous layer of silicone sealant is applied along the upper contour of the frame, on top of which the glass is laid. After final fixation, the assembly of the solar battery is considered complete.
After the protective glass is installed on the sealant, the panel can be transported to the installation site
For a number of reasons, a homemade solar panel is a rather fragile device, and therefore requires a reliable supporting frame. The ideal option would be a design that would allow the source of free electricity to be oriented in both planes, but the complexity of such a system is most often a strong argument in favor of a simple inclined system. It is a movable frame that can be set at any angle to the light. One of the options for a frame made of wooden beams is presented below. You can also use it to make it. metal corners, pipes, tires, etc. - everything that is at hand.
Solar battery frame drawing
To connect the solar panel to the batteries, you will need a charge controller. This device will monitor the state of charge and discharge of batteries, monitor current output and switch to mains power in the event of a significant voltage drop. Device required power and the required functionality can be purchased in the same retail outlets where photocells are sold. As for powering household consumers, this will require transforming the low-voltage voltage into 220 V. Another device - an inverter - can successfully cope with this. It must be said that the domestic industry produces reliable devices with good performance characteristics, so the converter can be purchased locally - in this case, a “real” guarantee will be a bonus.
One solar battery will not be enough to fully power your home - you will also need batteries, a charge controller and an inverter
On sale you can find inverters of the same power, differing in price several times. This scatter is explained by the “purity” of the output voltage, which is a necessary condition power supply of individual electrical devices. Converters with the so-called pure sine wave have a more complicated design, and as a result, a higher cost.
Building a home solar power plant is a non-trivial task and requires both financial and time costs, as well as minimal knowledge of basic electrical engineering. When starting to assemble a solar panel, you should observe maximum attention and accuracy - only in this case can you count on good decision question. Finally, I would like to remind you that glass contamination is one of the factors affecting productivity. Remember to clean the surface of the solar panel in a timely manner, otherwise it will not be able to work at full capacity.
In order to take care of the environment and save money, humanity has begun to use alternative energy sources, which, in particular, include solar panels. Buying such a pleasure will be quite expensive, but it is not difficult to make this device with your own hands. Therefore, it won’t hurt you to learn how to make a solar panel yourself. This will be discussed in our article.
Solar batteries are devices that generate electricity using photocells.
Before we talk about how to make a solar battery with your own hands, you need to understand the structure and principles of its operation. The solar battery includes photocells connected in series and parallel, a battery that stores electricity, an inverter that converts direct current into alternating current, and a controller that monitors the charging and discharging of the battery.
Typically, solar cells are made from silicon, but its cleaning is expensive, so Lately began to use elements such as indium, copper, selenium.
Each photocell is a separate cell that generates electricity. The cells are interconnected and form a single field, the area of which determines the battery power. That is, the more photocells, the more electricity is generated.
In order to make a solar panel with your own hands at home, you need to understand the essence of such a phenomenon as the photoelectric effect. A photocell is a silicon wafer that, when light hits it from the last energy level silicon atoms, an electron is knocked out. The movement of a flow of such electrons produces a direct current, which is subsequently converted to alternating current. This is the phenomenon of the photoelectric effect.
Solar panels have the following advantages:
Solar batteries are divided into the following types.
Silicon is the most popular material for batteries.
Silicon batteries are also divided into:
Such batteries are divided into the following types:
Solar batteries from polymers began to be manufactured relatively recently; usually furellenes, polyphenylene, etc. are used for this. Polymer films are very thin, about 100 nm. Despite the efficiency of 5%, polymer batteries have their advantages: low cost of material, environmental friendliness, elasticity.
The efficiency of amorphous batteries is 5%. Such panels are made from silane (hydrogen silicon) according to the principle of film batteries, so they can be classified as both silicon and film. Amorphous batteries are elastic, generate electricity even in bad weather, and absorb light better than other panels.
To make a solar battery you will need the following materials:
These materials are required in order to make a solar battery with your own hands.
To make a solar battery for your home with your own hands, you need to choose the right photocells. The latter are divided into monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous.
The efficiency of the former is 13%, but such photocells are ineffective in bad weather and appear as bright blue squares. Polycrystalline solar cells are capable of generating electricity even in bad weather, although their efficiency is only 9%, are darker in appearance than monocrystalline ones and are cut off at the edges. Amorphous photocells are made of flexible silicon, their efficiency is 10%, their performance does not depend on weather conditions, but the production of such cells is too expensive, so they are rarely used.
If you plan to use electricity generated by photovoltaic cells at your dacha, we advise you to assemble a solar battery with your own hands from polycrystalline cells, since their efficiency is sufficient for your purposes.
You should buy photocells of the same brand, since photocells from several brands can be very different - this can cause problems with the assembly of the battery and its functioning. It should be remembered that the amount of energy produced by a cell is directly proportional to its size, that is, the larger the photocell, the more electricity it produces; The voltage of a cell depends on its type, not its size.
The amount of current produced is determined by the dimensions of the smallest photocell, so you should buy photocells of the same size. Of course, you should not purchase cheap products, because this means that they have not been tested. You should also not buy photocells coated with wax (many manufacturers coat photocells with wax to protect products during transportation): removing it can damage the photocell.
Installing a solar panel with your own hands is not a difficult task, the main thing is to approach it responsibly. To make a solar panel with your own hands, you should calculate the daily electricity consumption, then find out the average daily solar time in your area and calculate the required power. Thus, it will become clear how many cells and what size you need to purchase. After all, as mentioned above, the current generated by the cell depends on its dimensions.
Knowing required size cells and their number, you need to calculate the dimensions and weight of the panel, after which you need to find out whether the roof or other place where you plan to install the solar battery will support the planned structure.
When installing the panel, you should not only choose the sunniest place, but also try to fix it at right angles to the sun's rays.
Before you start making a solar panel with your own hands, you need to build a frame for it. It protects the battery from damage, moisture and dust.
The body is assembled from moisture-resistant material: plywood coated with a moisture-repellent agent, or aluminum corners to which plexiglass or polycarbonate is glued with silicone sealant.
In this case, it is necessary to maintain indentations between the elements (3-4 mm), since it is necessary to take into account the expansion of the material with increasing temperature.
The photocells are laid out on the front side of the transparent surface, so that the distance between them on all sides is 5 mm: this takes into account the possible expansion of the photocells as the temperature rises.
Converters having two poles are fixed: positive and negative. If you want to increase the voltage, connect the elements in series, if the current - in parallel.
To avoid discharging the battery at night, a Schottky diode is included in a single circuit consisting of all the necessary parts, connecting it to the positive conductor. Then all the elements are soldered together.
IN finished frame soldered converters are placed, silicone is applied to the photocells - all this is covered with a layer of fiberboard, closed with a lid, and the joints of the parts are treated with sealant.
Even a city dweller can make and place a solar panel on the balcony with his own hands. It is advisable that the balcony be glazed and insulated.
So we figured out how to make a solar battery at home, it turned out that it’s not difficult at all.
You can make a solar battery with your own hands from scrap materials. Let's look at the most popular options.
Many will be surprised to learn that foil can be used to make a solar battery with your own hands. In fact, this is not surprising, because foil increases the reflectivity of materials. For example, to reduce overheating of the panels, they are placed on foil.
How to make a solar panel from foil?
We will need:
After cleaning the copper sheet and washing your hands, cut off a piece of foil, place it on a hot electric stove, heat it for half an hour, observing blackening, then remove the foil from the stove, let it cool and see how pieces peel off from the sheet. After heating, the oxide film disappears, so the black oxide can be carefully removed with water.
Then a second piece of foil is cut out the same size as the first, the two parts are folded and lowered into the bottle so that they have no chance of touching.
Foil can also be used for heating. To do this, you need to pull it onto a frame, to which you then need to connect hoses connected, for example, to a watering can with water.
So we learned how to make a solar panel for your home from foil yourself.
Many people have old transistors lying around at home, but not everyone knows that they are quite suitable for making a solar battery for the garden with your own hands. The photocell in this case is a semiconductor wafer located inside the transistor. How to make a solar battery from transistors with your own hands? First you need to open the transistor, for which it is enough to cut off the cover, so we can see the plate: it is small in size, which explains the low efficiency of solar cells made from transistors.
Next you need to check the transistor. To do this, we use a multimeter: we connect the device to a transistor with well-lit p-n junction and measure the current, the multimeter should record a current from a few fractions of a milliampere to 1 or a little more; Next, switch the device to voltage measurement mode, the multimeter should output tenths of a volt.
We place the transistors that have passed the test inside the housing, for example, sheet plastic and solder it. You can make such a solar battery with your own hands at home and use it to charge batteries and low-power radios.
Old diodes are also suitable for assembling batteries. Making a solar battery with your own hands from diodes is not at all difficult. You need to open the diode, exposing the crystal, which is a photocell, then heat the diode for 20 seconds gas stove, and when the solder melts, remove the crystal. All that remains is to solder the removed crystals to the body.
The power of such batteries is small, but it is enough to power small LEDs.
This option of making a solar battery with your own hands from improvised materials will seem very strange to most, but making a solar battery with your own hands from beer cans is simple and cheap.
We will make the body from plywood, on which we will place polycarbonate or plexiglass; on the back surface of the plywood we will fix foam plastic or glass wool for insulation. We will use photocells aluminum cans. It is important to choose aluminum cans, since aluminum is less susceptible to corrosion than, for example, iron and has better heat transfer.
Next, holes are made in the bottom of the cans, the lid is cut off, and unnecessary elements are folded to ensure better air circulation. Then you need to clean the jars from grease and dirt using special acid-free products. Next, you need to hermetically seal the cans together: with silicone gel that can withstand high temperatures, or with a soldering iron. Be sure to dry the glued cans very well in a stationary position.
Having attached the cans to the body, we paint them black and cover the structure with plexiglass or polycarbonate. Such a battery is capable of heating water or air and then supplying it to the room.
We looked at options on how to make a solar panel with your own hands. We hope that now you will not have a question about how to make a solar battery.
How to make solar panels with your own hands - video tutorial.
Hello Dear blog readers! In our 21st century, changes are constantly taking place. They are especially noticeable in technological aspect. Cheaper energy sources are being invented, and various devices are being distributed everywhere to make people’s lives easier. Today we will talk about such a thing as a solar battery - a device that is not breakthrough, but nevertheless, which is becoming more and more part of people’s lives every year. We will talk about what this device is, what advantages and disadvantages it has. We will also pay attention to how to assemble a solar battery with your own hands.
Summary of this article:
A solar battery is a device that consists of a certain set of solar cells (photocells) that convert solar energy into electricity. Most solar panels are made of silicon since this material has good efficiency in “processing” incoming sunlight.
Photovoltaic silicon cells, which are packaged in a common frame (frame), receive sunlight. They heat up and partially absorb the incoming energy. This energy immediately releases electrons inside the silicon, which through specialized channels enter a special capacitor, in which electricity is accumulated and, being processed from constant to variable, is supplied to devices in the apartment/residential building.
The advantages include the following:
The disadvantages include the following:
As you can see, this energy source still has more advantages than disadvantages, and the disadvantages are not as terrible as it would seem.
Despite the fact that we live in a modern and rapidly developing world, the purchase and installation of solar panels remains the lot of wealthy people. The cost of one panel that will produce only 100 Watts varies from 6 to 8 thousand rubles. This is not counting the fact that you will have to buy capacitors, batteries, a charge controller, a network inverter, a converter and other things separately. But if you don’t have a lot of money, but want to switch to an environmentally friendly source of energy, then we have something for you good news– the solar battery can be assembled at home. And if you follow all the recommendations, its efficiency will be no worse than that of the version assembled on an industrial scale. In this part we will look at step by step assembly. We will also pay attention to the materials from which solar panels can be assembled.
This is one of the most budget materials. If you are planning to make a solar battery for your home from diodes, then remember that these components are used to assemble only small solar panels that can power some minor gadgets. D223B diodes are best suited. These are Soviet-style diodes, which are good because they have a glass case, due to their size they have a high installation density and have a reasonable price.
After purchasing the diodes, clean them of paint - to do this, just place them in acetone for a couple of hours. After this time, it can be easily removed from them.
Then we will prepare the surface for the future placement of diodes. This can be a wooden plank or any other surface. It is necessary to make holes in it throughout its entire area. Between the holes it will be necessary to maintain a distance of 2 to 4 mm.
Then we take our diodes and insert them with aluminum tails into these holes. After this, the tails need to be bent in relation to each other and soldered so that when receiving solar energy they distribute electricity into one “system”.
Our primitive solar battery made of glass diodes is ready. At the output, it can provide energy of a couple of volts, which is a good indicator for a homemade assembly.
This option will be more serious than the diode one, but it is still an example of harsh manual assembly.
In order to make a solar battery from transistors, you will first need the transistors themselves. Fortunately, they can be bought in almost any market or electronic stores.
After purchase, you will need to cut off the cover of the transistor. Hidden under the lid is the most important and necessary element - a semiconductor crystal.
Then we insert them into the frame and solder them together, observing the “input-output” standards.
At the output, such a battery can provide enough power to operate, for example, a calculator or a small diode light bulb. Again, such a solar battery is assembled purely for fun and does not represent a serious “power supply” element.
This option is already more serious, unlike the first two. This is also an incredibly cheap and effective way to get energy. The only thing is that at the output there will be much more of it than in the versions of diodes and transistors, and it will not be electrical, but thermal. All you need is a large number of aluminum cans and a housing. A wooden body works well. The front part of the housing must be covered with plexiglass. Without it, the battery will not work effectively.
Before starting assembly, you need to paint the aluminum cans with black paint. This will allow them to attract sunlight well.
Then, using tools, three holes are punched in the bottom of each jar. At the top, in turn, a star-shaped cutout is made. The free ends are bent outwards, which is necessary for improved turbulence of the heated air to occur.
After these manipulations, the cans are folded into longitudinal lines (pipes) into the body of our battery.
A layer of insulation is then laid between the pipes and the walls/back wall ( mineral wool). The collector is then covered with transparent cellular polycarbonate.
This completes the assembly process. The last step is to install the air fan as a motor for the energy carrier. Although such a battery does not generate electricity, it can effectively warm up a living space. Of course, this will not be a full-fledged radiator, but such a battery can warm up a small room - for example, an excellent option for a summer house. We talked about full-fledged bimetallic heating radiators in the article, in which we examined in detail the structure of such heating batteries, their technical characteristics and compared manufacturers. I advise you to read it.
Moving away from homemade options We will pay attention to more serious things. Now we’ll talk about how to properly assemble and make a real solar battery with your own hands. Yes - this is also possible. And I want to assure you that it will be no worse than purchased analogues.
To begin with, it is worth saying that you probably will not be able to find on the open market the actual silicon panels that are used in full-fledged solar cells. Yes, and they will be expensive. We will assemble our solar battery from monocrystalline panels - a cheaper option, but showing excellent performance in terms of generating electrical energy. Moreover, monocrystalline panels are easy to find and are quite inexpensive. They are different sizes. The most popular and popular option is 3x6 inches, which produces 0.5V equivalent. We will have enough of these. Depending on your finances, you can buy at least 100-200 of them, but today we will put together an option that is enough to power small batteries, light bulbs and other small electronic elements.
As we stated above, we chose a monocrystalline base. You can find it anywhere. The most popular place where it is sold in huge quantities is the Amazon or Ebay trading platforms.
The main thing to remember is that it is very easy to run into unscrupulous sellers there, so buy only from those people who have a fairly high rating. If the seller good rating, then you will be sure that your panels will reach you well packed, not broken, and in the quantity you ordered.
After you have received your package with the main solar cells, you must carefully choose the location for installing your solar panel. After all, you will need it to work at 100% power, right? Professionals in this matter advise installing it in a place where the solar battery will be directed just below the celestial zenith and look towards West-East. This will allow you to “catch” sunlight almost all day.
Once your base is ready, you can place your elements on its surface. Place the photocells along the entire structure with the conductors down (you push them into our drilled holes).
Then they need to be soldered together. There are many schemes on the Internet for soldering photocells. The main thing is to connect them into a kind of unified system so that they can all collect the received energy and direct it to the capacitor.
The last step will be to solder the “output” wire, which will be connected to the capacitor and output the received energy into it.
This is the final step. Once you are sure that all the elements are assembled correctly, fit tightly and do not wobble, and are well covered with plexiglass, you can begin installation. In terms of installation, it is better to mount the solar battery on a solid base. A metal frame reinforced with construction screws is perfect. The solar panels will sit firmly on it, not wobble or succumb to any weather conditions.
That's all! What do we end up with? If you made a solar battery consisting of 30-50 photocells, then this will be quite enough to quickly charge your mobile phone or light a small household light bulb, i.e. What you end up with is a full-fledged homemade charger for charging a phone battery, an outdoor country lamp, or a small garden lantern. If you have made a solar panel, for example, with 100-200 photocells, then we can already talk about “powering” some household appliances, for example, a boiler for heating water. In any case, such a panel will be cheaper than purchased analogues and will save you money.
This section presents photographs of some interesting, but at the same time simple options homemade solar panels that you can easily assemble with your own hands.
Let's summarize in this part everything we learned in this article. Firstly, we figured out how to assemble a solar battery at home. As you can see, a DIY solar battery can be assembled very quickly if you follow the instructions. If you follow the various manuals step by step, you will be able to collect excellent options for providing you with environmentally friendly electricity (or options designed to power small elements).
But still, what is better - to buy or make a solar battery? Naturally, it is better to buy it. The fact is that those options that are manufactured on an industrial scale are designed to work the way they should work. At manual assembly Solar panels can often make various mistakes that will lead to them simply not working properly. Naturally, industrial options cost big money, but you get quality and durability.
But if you are confident in your abilities, then with the right approach you will assemble a solar panel that will be no worse than its industrial counterparts. In any case, the future is here and soon solar panels will be able to afford all the layers. And there, perhaps, there will be a complete transition to the use of solar energy. Good luck!
