Solar Panel – How To Build Your Own Solar Panel
With continuing price rises on energy, solar panel is coming more to the fore; providing practically free power. It can be expensive to have these installed however, so is a good idea to build your own solar panel.
The first thing is ensure you have the necessary tools and equipment. This will mean sourcing the best solar cells for you, which should be given a good portion of time to decide. There are many out there.
Other than this, you will need plywood, a circular saw, good sized length of 1 x 1, screws and screwdriver, caulk, outdoor paint, soldering equipment and solder, glue, copper wire, diode, batteries and Plexiglas.
The first step will be to draw a grid, suitable to your solar cells, on the plywood, (use them as a template). Having determined the size of the panel by this, you can cut the plywood to size and the fun can really start.
Take your 1 x 1 and cut to size; determined by the size of your plywood panel. The panel should be attached to these using your screws, and applying suitable amounts of caulk and painted with outdoor paint to protect from the elements.
Before applying the cells, they need to be soldered together; using tabs at the back to attach one to the other. This work needs to be very careful, as the cells are very delicate at this point. Once in a suitable series, they can be applied with glue onto your plywood grid.
Once all set into place, the copper wire and diode line can be attached from the panel to the electrical system. The diode is necessary here, as it will prevent power being lost through reverse transfer from the batteries.
Finally, a suitable sized piece of Plexiglas should be attached with caulk. This will ensure it is weatherproofed, and cannot be damaged by debris and the like. Having learned to build your own solar panel, perhaps you’ll make enough power to sell back to the grid?
By learning to build your own solar panel you can save money, help the environment, and generate electricity using free energy from the sun with do it yourself solar panels. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service