HoJo DIY Solar Panels

How to Construct a Solar Panel for Your Home

http://HoJoMotor.com

Warning and Disclaimer Please use caution when working on any of the projects outlined within this manual. By reading this manual you agree that you are responsible for your own actions. HoJoMotor.com, the publisher, and the author will not be held accountable for any loss or injuries. Moreover, every effort has been made to make this digital book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an as is basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this digital book. Furthermore, by reading this digital book, you CONFIRM that you have READ, UNDERSTOOD, and ACCEPTED fully (without any exceptions) our Terms & Disclaimer found at: http://HoJoMotor.com Copyright 2011 by HoJoMotor.com All Rights Reserved. No part of this digital book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this digital book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for error or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Trademarks All terms mentioned in this digital book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. The Publisher cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this digital book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5 So How Does Solar Power Work? ................................................................................................................. 6 Building Your Own Solar Generator .............................................................................................................. 8 Different Solar Panel Applications .............................................................................................................. 10 Application 1: Portable Solar Power System ......................................................................................... 10 Application 2: Grid-Intertied Solar Power System ................................................................................ 12 Application 3: Grid-intertied Solar Power System with Battery Backup.............................................. 12 Application 4: Off-grid Solar Power Setup ............................................................................................ 13 The Parts in a Solar Panel............................................................................................................................ 14 (1) Solar panels ....................................................................................................................................... 14 (2) Array DC disconnect .......................................................................................................................... 14 (3) Charge controller .............................................................................................................................. 15 (4) Deep cycle battery ............................................................................................................................ 15 (5) System meter .................................................................................................................................... 15 (6) Main DC disconnect .......................................................................................................................... 15 (7) Inverter .............................................................................................................................................. 16 (8) Generator .......................................................................................................................................... 16 (9) AC breaker panel............................................................................................................................... 17 (10) Kilowatt per hour meter ................................................................................................................. 17 (11) Grid (utility grid) ............................................................................................................................. 18 (12) Household loads ............................................................................................................................. 18 How to Get Free Solar Panels ..................................................................................................................... 19 How to Build Your Own Solar Panels .......................................................................................................... 22 Getting Solar Cells For Cheap...................................................................................................................... 23 Making the Solar Panel Box ........................................................................................................................ 28 Applying a Plexiglass Cover ......................................................................................................................... 32 Mistakes Happen! ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Applying Protection to the Panel ................................................................................................................ 34 Preparing the Solar Cells ............................................................................................................................. 36 Installing the Cells on the Panel .................................................................................................................. 40 Testing Your Solar Panel before Finishing................................................................................................... 47 3

Installing the Panels and Connecting the Wires ......................................................................................... 48 Sealing our Solar Panel................................................................................................................................ 56 Total cost of our Solar Panel ....................................................................................................................... 58 Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................................. 60 Optional Section How to Build Your Own Solar Cells............................................................................... 61

Introduction As time goes on, more and more people are beginning to realize something... We soon wont be able to rely on fossil fuel as our main energy source. With oil price hikes becoming more and more common, wars being fought over oil reserves, and the excessive use of the Earths natural resources; the need to find alternative energy sources is becoming more and more apparent. People have caused irreversible damage to our planet and were beginning to see the severe effects of this now. But if we dont start looking for a solution to our energy crisis now, the reality is that our kids may have to deal with some serious challenges in the future if they don't have an alternative to fossil fuels. But what can we really do about this? Even if there are suitable alternatives, the cost of mass production will not be cheap. So the real question is Can you as an individual make a difference and can you use alternative energy sources to supply your own personal power needs today (even if they arent being mass produced yet)?

Well, this book has the answers to those questions and also exactly how we built our own alternative energy source A Homemade Solar Panel! By following along in this book, you can use it as a guide to see exactly how we built our own solar panel and how you can too! Just follow along with us as we build our own solar panel and do exactly like we do and in no time at all (and for really cheap) you can build one just like us! So How Does Solar Power Work? The miracle of solar power is truly amazing! The heat energy being radiated by our Sun on the Earths surface in one day packs more energy than all the worlds oil reserves combined. However, the cost to build and operate a solar power plant is not realistically achievable yet. But once costs come down in the future and technology makes this more practical, solar power can potentially be used as our primary source of energy. In fact, heat is one of the most common forms of energy in the Universe and solar panels basically work by collecting heat from the Sun and converting it into electrical energy that, in turn, has many practical uses. Solar panels have the ability to convert solar energy into electrical energy because of their photovoltaic properties.
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Photovoltaic actually means light (photo) and electricity (voltaic). The cells in solar panels are made up of semi-conductors, with silicon currently the most widely used. When the suns rays hit the surface of a semi-conductor, a reaction takes place. The chemical makeup of the solar panel absorbs the energy, and the energy causes electrons to break free of their atoms and in the process they create electricity. With todays technological advancements, the latest solar panel designs have improved their absorbing and retaining properties relative to the Suns energy output.

Building Your Own Solar Generator But what most people dont even consider when thinking about getting a solar panelis building their own! Its not hard to do, its cheap, and it will provide amazing results! And while most people probably think its too hard or technical to build their own solar panelthe truth is, anyone can build their own! Most people dont realize they can build a panel that can easily rival commercially built ones but for $1,000s less... But before we start going over how to build a homemade solar panel, you first need to get acquainted with the different ways you can use solar panels. So to start with, we are going to go through a number of practical applications that solar powered systems have Some of these setups are more complicated and expensive than others; however, we want to make you aware of all the ways you can use your solar panel before you actually build your own. *If you dont understand how everything works together in the different setups we talk about below, dont worry because
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youre not suppose to yet! This will all be explained in detail later. Just read about the different setups below and try to absorb as much as you can. By the end of this guide everything will make sense and youll see us actually complete and hookup a finished solar panel

Different Solar Panel Applications *note: in case youre not familiar with the individual parts listed in this section, please refer to the next section for complete descriptions. Application 1: Portable Solar Power System This system is excellent for outdoor use. The best place to store your battery bank and electrical equipment would be the garage or you can build a custom made shed instead. By installing a DC-AC inverter you can run your appliances from a second loop fed by the solar generator. The portable solar power system can even handle an 800 watt refrigerator, so just imagine how much you will save if you run your fridge off of this system. In fact, this type of solar system guarantees you your money back after just a few weeks of service. Listed below is the basic setup for this system but there are other add-ons you can consider if you happen to have extra money to spend (which well talk about later). You can also use multiple solar panels and batteries with this if you want. Here is how this system connects Connect the (1) energy source (in our case a Solar panel 12V is fine) to a (2) Charge controller to a (3) Battery to a (4)
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Inverter to the (5) Household loads (Laptop, TV, DVD player etc.) This is a cheap and simple way to set up a solar power system that costs less than $200. You have the option to either buy an expensive solar panel from a store and use it in this manner or (what we recommend) follow our do-it-yourself guide in this book and build your own. Then you can connect your solar panel to your household loads (well show how to do this later)! Options: In this set-up you may need to construct a battery box because batteries are optimized for warmer temperatures. This will also help protect your kids or pets from electrocution and also keep your entire system organized and tucked it. Adding a system meter is also a good idea. This will measure the power distribution between the inverter and battery. The system meter will be able to detect the status of your battery as well as power usage (more about this later though).

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Application 2: Grid-Intertied Solar Power System You should use this solar power system if you still want to be connected to the main power grid. *this system is also known as on grid, grid-tied or a utility interactive solar electric system. If the solar power system can generate more power than what the household appliances can consume then this will cause your electric meter to turn backwards. This in turn will credit your account and you can use those credits for future power consumption when less electricity is produced because of uncertain weather conditions. This arrangement is called net metering or net billing. *Please consult your local electricity provider or stats regulatory agency for further information. This is how the system comes together: (1) Energy source Solar panels (2) Array DC disconnect (3) Inverter (4) AC Breaker panel (5) Household loads (6) Kilowatt per hour meter (7) Grid Application 3: Grid-intertied Solar Power System with Battery Backup Below is a flow chart of a grid-intertied solar power system including the battery backup.
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The backup battery serves as a temporary power supply when maintenance is done on the system or if cloudy weather yields low electrical output. (1) Energy source Solar panels (2) Array DC disconnect (3) Charge Controller (4) Deep cycle battery (5) System meter (6) Main DC disconnect (7) Inverter (8) AC Breaker panel (9) Kilowatt per hour meter (10) Grid (11) Household loads

Application 4: Off-grid Solar Power Setup The flow chart below is for the off-grid solar power system setup. A backup generator is required in this setup because there will be times when the Sun wont shine its brightest. (1) Energy source Solar panels (2) Array DC disconnect (3) Charge Controller (4) Deep cycle battery (5) System meter (6) Main DC disconnect (7) Inverter (8) Generator (9) AC Breaker panel (10) Household loads

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The Parts in a Solar Panel In this section we will be discussing the basic parts and terminologies associated with solar panels. We will give you a quick overview about the items and their uses. This should help you familiarize yourself with these terms so when we reference them later youll know what were talking about. (1) Solar panels Photovoltaic panels or PV panels, as they are commonly called, are the core component of a solar power system. PV panels capture and converts sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity. PV panels, just like all other electric-generating machines, are measured in watts. Furthermore, the maximum power output of the panels will depend on the weather conditions (since they rely on sunlight to produce energy). You must determine the total amount of household loads that you use and match it to the rated output of your PV panels in order to get the panels you need. There is a method thats called array where you can neatly combine the PV panels to save space. *We will talk about different wiring configurations later in this book. (2) Array DC disconnect

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It is also important to integrate a DC disconnect into the system whenever youll need to do maintenance. Turning the power off is much easier when you use a DC disconnect mechanism. (3) Charge controller Using a charge controller will prolong your battery life. This device automatically protects battery overcharging. It can detect when the battery bank is fully charged and then it opens the circuit to stop the current from flowing endlessly. There are also smart charge controllers that restrict night time discharging of the battery. (4) Deep cycle battery This is the ideal battery to use in your solar power system because this type of battery has the ability to store all of the energy your PV panels produce. You can also purchase deep cycle batteries in junk shops (*theyre also commonly found in golf carts and forklifts). (5) System meter A System Meter measures how full your battery bank is. This unit also allows you to see how much power is currently being distributed. This device basically lets you know that your solar electric system works. (6) Main DC disconnect
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This device serves as a bridge or switch between the inverter and the battery bank. The main DC disconnect is for maintenance purposes. (7) Inverter Your PV panels collect the Suns energy and store it in the battery bank as direct current (DC) electricity. The inverters job is to turn the DC signal into an AC signal so that youll be able to run your household appliances (because devices such as Refrigerators, TVs, VCRs, Computers, etc. run on AC electricity). However, should you decide to not use any appliances that run on AC electricity, you could substitute it for a DC input. *Most car parts stores sell DC input devices at an average price of $10. There are also inverters which you can buy at most electronic shops which can be plugged into power sockets. These inverters actually feed electricity back into your home through a normal power socket. (8) Generator You may have to use a generator if your solar electric system is not tied to the main power grid. A slight disadvantage with solely relying on sunlight for your electricity is that it changes all the time and if you decide to completely remove yourself from the power grid, the generator can be your alternative energy
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source when its cloudy or night time. You can also use it when youre doing maintenance work. (9) AC breaker panel The AC breaker panel is where all the electrical wirings of your house converge and are fed by the main electrical source. The electrical source can be from the grid, solar power system, a windmill electric generator, or our energy producing motor. You can usually find this device outside of a building, in the garage, or in the utility room encased in a metal box. There are different standards by each country or state that specify how a solar power system can be connected on the AC breaker panel so check with an electrician or your power company before you do this. *note: in most countries the law requires you to be a professional electrician to assemble your own grid inter-tied solar electric system and connect it to the AC breaker panel, otherwise its illegal. If you dont want to connect your system to your breaker panel, you can just have your appliances run from the AC inverter. It is actually cheaper and easier to run your appliances through the AC inverter anyway. (10) Kilowatt per hour meter
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If you have a grid-tied connection you most likely will have a kilowatt per hour meter installed on your home. It monitors both the incoming electricity from the grid and the outgoing electricity to the grid from your solar power system. Your solar electric system may sometimes produce more electricity than what youre using and in turn it reverses this meter! (11) Grid (utility grid) The utility grid is a distribution system that provides the main power supply from power plants into your house and your local area (unless of course youre an off-grid user). (12) Household loads All household loads are AC powered and these include everyday household appliances (*note: these devices are plugged in an AC socket). Well that pretty much wraps up some of the basic terminology we will use in this book so its about time to start building our solar panels! However, we have a special little trick we want to teach you first!

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How to Get Free Solar Panels Now that weve talked covered: How solar panels work Common applications for solar panel systems And common parts in a solar panel Were about ready to show you how we build our own homemade solar panel (and how you can too)! But before we get into how to build a solar panellet me first tell you about a cool trick to possibly get some free solar panels If you happen to pass by construction sites, you may have noticed that all their signs are typically solar powered. But as time goes by these signs get damaged from weathering, bad drivers, or natural causes. Now, if you take a closer look at these signs (you will have to pull your car over and get out) you will find a tiny sticker which has the phone number of the traffic sign rental contractor in it. Call this number and ask for the shop maintenance manager or head mechanic. Then ask if they have any damaged panels for free. Its almost certain that all traffic rental sign contractors have slightly damaged or cracked PV panels.
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Since they dont have the budget to fix these most of the time, they often replace them and just throw the old damaged ones away! And even though these panels dont work 100% efficiently theyre free (or greatly discounted)! If youre lucky enough to score a few of these free panels you can: Reseal the cracks with silicon glue Soldered electrical wirings back into place. Try to be friendly and make sure that you give them your contact number and ask them to give you a callback in case theyll have more panels to give away for free in the future. The second best place to get free (or discounted) PV panels is at solar panel distribution centers themselves. The on-going technological advances in solar panels give you an opportunity to get your hands on the distributors outdated panels because, believe it or not, most of these outdated panels will be marked for the trash if they cant give them away! We know this may be hard to believe but only brand new panels are allowed on the store room floors and these distributors only have so much storage room. So as you can see, there are a few ways to get amazing deals on solar panels. All you have to do is make a few calls and ask a few people if theyre willing to give you their damaged or outdated panels and before you know it you may have a few $1,000 solar panels for free (or for a huge discount)!
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So before you build your own solar panels with our instructions below, we recommend that you try your luck with the techniques we mentioned in the above section first (because you cant beat free solar panels!) however, if you arent able to find any free/discounted solar panels then its time to build your own! So lets get started

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How to Build Your Own Solar Panels The rest of this book will focus on how we constructed a customized solar panel. Our main goal when we built our solar panel was to construct a quality system that could rival a commercial unit (but for a fraction of the price). We definitely accomplished this and youll see exactly how we did it so you can follow along and build your own too! So if youre ready, we want to take you all the way from the start of our project until we finished it so by the end of this book, you have your own solar panel built and powering your home and appliances as well! Lets begin We were able to acquire many of the materials we used in our solar panel for free or for volume discounts and because of this we were able to build our solar panel for a very low cost. Well show you where we bought most of our supplies later but try to be resourceful and search around for the lowest prices you can find.

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Basically our solar panel is set up as a box that houses multiple solar cells in an array formation (*note: the devices responsible for doing the actual energy conversion from thermal to electrical energy are the solar cells). And we arrange those solar cells into panels because the panels are designed to protect the solar cells from outside elements. Getting Solar Cells For Cheap One of the main stumbling blocks people have when building their solar panel are getting solar cells for a good price. However, one thing a lot of people fail to realize is that these solar cells can be found for very low prices on Ebay. Why Ebay? Well, because people use Ebay to sells their old cracked or slightly damaged solar cells at a fraction of the price of unblemished solar cells (*note: other sites also sells cheap used solar cells so check around. We recommend Ebay because thats where we bought ours). But as long as the solar cells you find dont have too bad of defects, they should work perfectly fine. *note: weve also provided instructions at the end of this book that show you how you can build homemade solar cells in case you dont want to purchase them. However, for an easier, cheaper, and faster way to get your own solar cells wed recommend you buy them from Ebay. But if youre more of a Do It Yourself kind of person than you will find instructions at the end of this book to build your own. Building your own can get bit technical though so we recommend you just buy them from Ebay instead
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In any case let us proceed!

We purchased several bricks of 3 x 6 mono-crystalline solar cells. It took 36 solar cells wired in a series to make one panel. And each cell produced about a 1/2 Volt. An array of 36 mono-crystalline solar cells in series connection will produce about 18 volts of DC current which is more than enough to charge a 12 volt battery. (Yes, you really need that high a Voltage to effectively charge a 12 Volt battery). *note: these mono-crystalline solar cells were as thick as paper and were as brittle as glass. They were very easy to damage so be careful when you get yours. Furthermore, once you find some solar cells you want to buy you should note that they are typically dipped in wax before they are shipped to help stabilize them during shipment to
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prevent any damages. Removing the wax to extract the panels can be quite challenging. So if you get solar cells that do not use wax to ship them you will find that its much easier to assemble them; however, theyll also have a much greater risk of being damaged while their shipped (*so keep that in mind when youre buying your solar cells). Youll also notice that most PV cells you find have metal tabs on them. This is good and we encourage you to look for cells with metal tabs because these serve as electrical conductors. Keep in mind that you will be soldering a lot of wires onto the metal tabs so if you purchase solar cells that dont have this feature you will have a lot more soldering to do. So wed recommend you spend a little extra for the metal tabs as it is for your benefit.

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We ended up buying enough solar cells to make two panels. We also bought extra cells because we figured some would be damaged during shipping (and in case we accidentally damaged any of them during building). Even though we got the 3 x 6-inch sized solar cells, you can get bigger or smaller cells if you want. However, when you buy your solar cells take these things into consideration:

PV cells under the same category gives off the same amount of voltage regardless of their size. So, the number of cells required will not change as well. The electrical pressure (current) which is measured in Amperes varies with cell sizes. Total power output is equated as Power (Watts) = Current (Amperes) x Load (Volts).

So the more space the cells occupy the more power they supply, unfortunately, theyre going be considerably heavier. On the other hand opting for smaller cells will save you space but at the same time will be lousy at producing the power required. If you attempt to mix different sized cells it will only hurt you because the current capacity will be limited by the smallest cell and this will limit the entire panel. The 3 x 6 inch PV cells topped our choice because they make about 3 amps of electricity each. We should be able to get at least 18 volts if we connect 36 of them in series. In the brightest day the whole solar panel should be able to deliver around 60 Watts of power. And this power will be fed into our battery
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banks which can then run our household appliances. *keep in mind that 60 Watts is achieved at optimal weather conditions. Once youve received the delivery package for the solar cells, make sure that you store them in a safe place so that they wont get damaged before you install them in the panel. You must understand that these solar cells must be handled with care at all times. Mishandling and carelessness will turn your money-saving investment into a useless pile of tiny crumbled blue glass.

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Making the Solar Panel Box

Basically a solar panel is just a shallow box. So we built the box as shallow as possible so that the edges would not block the Suns light throughout the day. We got a 3/8 inch-thick rectangular plywood board and surrounded the edges with a x inch-thick wood (we used wood glue and some screws to hold them into place). It has just enough space to lock-in 36 pieces of 3 x 6 inch solar cells. Also, right down the middle we made a separator to turn the whole platform into a 2 sub-panel contraption that fits 18 cells in each sub-panel. We did this to assemble the cells more conveniently. Each sub-panel is the same size as the other.

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Above is the original sketch we did for the complete dimensions of the solar panel. Weve also decided to have the dimensions in inches (sorry to all metric system users). The side pieces are 3/4 by 3/4 and go all the way around the edges of the plywood substrate. And across the center we placed another piece to separate the panel into two sub-panels. The overall design and the dimensions of this will not affect the power production of your solar panel in anyway. So you can design your solar panel differently than this if you want. We actually encourage you to explore and use your own creativity to see if you can come up with your own (possibly better) design!

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This is what half of the main panel looks like in this photograph. This has enough space to hold 18 pieces of solar cells. If youll notice weve also drilled holes along the edges of the wooden borders. This is going to be the bottom of the panel (*note: we took the shot while the panel is inverted). These holes are actually for ventilation purposes. They will help the moisture escape and balance the air pressure with the surrounding area. The reason why these holes are placed at the bottom of the panel is to prevent rain and dew from getting inside. The center divider that separates the two sub-panels should have holes as well. Update: Since we built this solar panel, we now recommend that you increase the diameter of the vent holes to at least inch. And to keep any insects, pests and dust from getting in the panel, insulate the holes with fiberglass material at the
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bottom rail of the panel. However, the center divider holes do not need to be insulated.

After that we cut two masonite peg-boards and matched their dimensions with the sub-panels. They will become the substrates where the sub-panel will be built on. We precisely cut the peg-boards to loosely fit in the wells. But you can use any other material for this and not just peg-boards. It just so happened that we had a spare peg-board at our disposal. Although, any thin, rigid and non-conducting material can be a perfect alternative.

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Applying a Plexiglass Cover

The next thing we need to do is cover the panels with plexiglass to prevent the solar cells from weather corrosion. We had to cut two pieces of plexiglass because we didnt have one that could cover the whole panel. Also, its important to note that ordinary glass is too brittle to use for this. It doesnt have the durable properties of plexiglass which can withstand the force of falling objects that would normally shatter ordinary glass. *The picture above is what the finished panel should look like.

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Mistakes Happen!

Oops! This photo is a close up of where the two halves of the plexiglass cover meet. In this photo we were drilling countersunk holes around the edges of both plexiglass pieces to screw them onto the panel using 1-inch drywall screws. But be cautious when youre drilling round the edges of the plexiglass. Unlike falling debris, remember that youre continuously applying force on it when you drill and too much force can break it (just like we did in this picture). Anyways we decided to keep this cover and just glue the shard back into place and drill a new hole close by.

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Applying Protection to the Panel

Applying several coats of paint comes next. Make sure you dont miss a spot because you want your solar panel to remain protected from moisture and the weather. In the photo above you can see that the entire shallow box we built has been completely covered in paint!

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We also painted the peg-board. We made sure to put several coats of paint on each side because the peg-board will curl with prolonged exposure to moisture. And because the solar cells will be glued to the peg-board, any curling could damage the solar cells. So we took extra caution to make sure we really covered it well!

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Preparing the Solar Cells The solar panel platform should now be constructed so its time to get the solar cells ready

As weve mentioned before, separating the wax from the cells is a troublesome job to do. However, we came up with an unorthodox but extremely effective way to take care of this! 1. First, get a large pot and fill it with hot water 2. Bathe the cells in the hot water 3. Wait for the wax to melt and for the solar cells to separate *important: dont boil the water because boiling water creates bubbles and these bubbles will cause the cells to jostle against each other and possibly cause damage. Also, boiling water may be hot enough to loosen the electrical connections on the cells.
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We also recommend you put the cells in the water when the water is only mildly warm and gradually heat it up on a stove to prevent thermal shock to the cells. Use plastic tongs and spatulas also when attempting to separate the cells from one another. But be careful in separating the cells because pulling them apart too hard may cause the metal tabs to come off.

Hungry Anyone? ;)

Heres a photograph of our full wax removal station! In the upper right corner is the first wax melting stage of the process In the lower left corner of the photo is the next stage which is hot soapy water for bathing the cells.
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 And the final wax removal stage is the pot of hot clean water on the lower right section of the photo. *note: we maintained all the water temperatures to just below the boiling point.

Using the plastic tongs and spatulas we slowly teased the cells apart after bathing them in the hot water. Next wed transfer them to the hot soapy water to remove the remaining wax. Finally wed give the cells a final rinse in a pot of hot clean water on the lower right corner of the picture. After you do this, set the cells to dry on towels and be sure to not throw the used water down your sink because the wax might cause it to get clogged when it re-hardens. The above process should remove most of the wax on the cells. However, there still may be a thin film left on them. Dont worry about this though because this will not be a problem when you solder the cells (and it wont hurt the cells functionality). *note: giving the cells a solvent bath might do the job; however, we wouldnt advise this because the kind of solvents that can remove wax effectively are either toxic, flammable, really smelly or possibly all three of these!

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Heres a photograph of the cells left to dry on a towel after going through the hot water baths. At this point we would advise extra caution in handling them because theyre extremely fragile without the wax. If youre not going to install them any time soon, it may be best to leave them in their brick form for the time being. This should prevent any accidental damages.

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Installing the Cells on the Panel

Before installing the cells we carefully drew a pattern on the peg-boards. We used a pencil to mark the spots so that the 18 cells would be spaced evenly on the sub-panel. Then we laid the cells in an inverted position on the grid pattern and soldered them together. Its important to remember that all of the 18 cells in each sub-panel must be soldered and connected in a series. Then both sub-panels have to be tied in a series connection as well to max out the voltage required. You may find this stage in the building process a little difficult but dont get frustrated

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Try soldering two cells upside-down. Lay the solder tabs of one cell across the solder points on the back of the other cell. Also, space the cells carefully to match the grid pattern.

For this step we used a low wattage soldering iron and fine rosen-core solder. We also marked the solder points on the back of the cells with a rosen pen before proceeding. *note: we soldered the cells as gently as possible because they easily break when you push too hard.

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**important: if you are not sure how to solder the cells together dont misinterpret the photographs and think we soldered the cells in a parallel connection because theyre actually in series. The sketch above shows the negative and positive nodes of the cells and this is how a series connection actually looks. As you can see, the negative nodes on top have been soldered to the positive nodes on the bottom of the cells. This is a series configuration and it increments their voltage output. We kept soldering this way until we had a string of 6 cells. And 3 strings of 6 make a half panel.

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By repeating the process above we were able to solder a string of six solar cells together. We soldered tabs from scrapped cells to the solder points on the back of the last cell in the string of six. Then we repeated the whole process two more times to get three strings of six cells for a total of 18 for this half of the panel. Since all of the three cells needed to be configured in a series connection, the middle string had to be rotated to 180 degrees with respect to the other two. Furthermore, we got the strings oriented the way we wanted them (still upside-down) on top of the pegboard panel before the next step of gluing the cells in place.

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To glue the cells in place we first had to put some clear silicone caulk on the center of each solar cell in the string. Then we placed a small blob of clear silicone caulk in the center of each cell in a six cell string. Then we flipped the string over and set it in place on the pencil line grid we laid out earlier. Then we pressed lightly in the center of each cell to get it to stick to the pegboard panel. *Flipping the floppy string of cells is tricky so be careful. *Always keep in mind that the cells are very fragile so gently apply pressure when youre putting them on the peg-board. Apply the glue only at the center of the cells and dont use too much of it. Both the cells and the panel will undergo physical changes because of varying temperatures and humidity which
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will lead to flexing, contracting, expanding, and warping. Gluing the cells too closely to the substrate will cause them to crack after a while. But gluing them at only one point in the center allows the cells to float freely on top of the substrate. This allows them to expand and flex more independently and the delicate solar cells won't crack. *note: you may find it easier to instead solder tabs onto the backs of all the solar cells. Then glue all the cells down in their proper places. And lastly, solder the tabs together.

Heres what it looks like so far.

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In this picture we used copper braid to connect the first and second string of cells together. *You could use solar cell tabbing material or even regular wire. We used copper braid because we had spares. The second and third strings also have the same interconnection but are located at the other end of the pegboard. We used blobs of silicone caulk to anchor the braid and prevent it from flopping around.

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Testing Your Solar Panel before Finishing

At this point you can test this half panel and measure the voltage capacity. we got 9.31 Volts under a cloudy sky which means our panel is working great! Next thing to do is get the other half panel done.

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Installing the Panels and Connecting the Wires After completing the two sub-panels, we went on to install them each in their respective slots on our frame then we connected the wires. *Both sub-panels should have the exact dimensions that fit on the main panel frame.

Then we locked the panels into place by using four small screws just like the ones in the photograph.

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The central divider vent holes provided the space needed for the two sub-panels to be wired together. As before, to maintain the wirings in a neat and clean look, we used small amounts of silicone caulk to stick them into place.

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Each solar panel in a solar power system needs a blocking diode in series with it to prevent the panel from discharging your batteries at night or during cloudy weather. We used a Schottky diode with a 3.3 Amp current rating. Schottky diodes have a much lower forward voltage drop than ordinary rectifier diodes, so less power is wasted. In our example, we got a package of 25 31DQ03 Schottky diodes on Ebay for only a few bucks. Also, you will want to mount the diode inside the panel since the forward voltage drop gets lower as the temperature rises. It will be warmer inside the panel and the diode will work more efficiently. *note: more silicone caulk was used to anchor the diode and wires.
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We also drilled an extra hole in the back of the panel just a notch closer to the top to help get the wires out. We put a knot in the wires for strain relief, and anchored them in place with yet more of the silicone caulk. Keep in mind that you have to allow all the silicone caulk to dry before placing the plexiglass cover on and screwing it down. *note: wet caulk gives off fumes that will leave a thin film inside the plexiglass (as well as on the cells) unless theyre thoroughly dried in open air before putting on the plexiglass cover.

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A silicone caulk was used to seal this exiting wire off of the other side of the panel.

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We also added a polarized male plug to the end panel wires. *note: since we also have a home-made wind turbine generator, we will wire a mating female plug into the charge controller to serve as an alternate power source to charge the batteries (aside from the solar panel itself). *another note: It may have caught your attention that we used a male plug for our solar panel. We understand that a lot of people advise against this because of the risk of short circuits (a lot of people would recommend a female plug instead). However, the reason we used the male plug on the solar panel is because there is a much greater danger of a short circuit on the cable going to the charge controller and battery bank. The solar panel can only supply 3 Amps to a short circuit at most. However, the battery bank could pump hundreds (or possibly thousands) of Amps through a short circuit. That is enough energy to do serious damage. So we put the female end on the cable to the charge controller.

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Although we do not dispute the dangers of putting a male plug on the solar panel, we found this strange looking plug at Radio Shack for a couple bucks and this helps solve the short circuit problem. So now this device doesnt short out even unplugged.

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And this is the final output of the solar panel covered with plexiglass (see the picture below). We havent sealed it shut yet even though the screws are set in place because we wanted to make sure that it worked before we did this.

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Sealing our Solar Panel If everything is working then you can seal it off with more silicone caulk or use an aluminum AC duct tape as an alternative.

Next we tested the panels current output (*note: we did this on a bright winter day). The meter read 3.05 Ampsnot bad!

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This is a photo taken when we finished sealing the edges of the panel with aluminum tape. We wrapped around the edges of the panel enveloping the center seam as well. We also punched holes where the vent holes were. The photo below shows the finished product!

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Total cost of our Solar Panel So how much did this solar panel cost? Well, we kept all of our receipts and our final cost figures are below. Youre costs could be more or less depending on what you already have on hand (also you may choose to not get some of the optional parts we talked about).

The amount weve spent on this solar panel is many times cheaper than its commercial counterpart with a similar power production. And because its so cheap to build your own homemade solar panel, you can also build more panels to get more power! * note: solar cell prices on Ebay constantly change because of factors like oil price hikes (and supply and demand). So if you
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are having a hard time finding solar cells for the same price we got, be patient and keep searching.

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Final Thoughts We've covered a lot of ground in this book and its great to see that people (like you) are ready to make the transition away from fossil fuels. One of the absolute best ways to do this is to build your own solar panel. And guess what You now have all the information you need to build your own! But dont wait too long to start your project because if you put it off for too long or for down the road youll never do it! So just start today (or as soon as possible) and within days you can dramatically lower your electric bills, cut your carbon footprint, and do your part to clean up this planet! We hope you have truly enjoyed this book because we loved putting it together for you. Good luck to you and take care.

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Optional Section How to Build Your Own Solar Cells As we stated at the beginning of this book, we want to show you how to build your own solar cells in case you dont want to buy them off Ebay (or in case youre just more of a Do It Yourself kind of person). Its important to note that we recommend you just buy your solar cells blemished off of Ebay if cost is a concern because building homemade solar cells can be quite technical at times and you will need some additional equipment as well. But with that being said, we want to make sure we give you every bit of information we can to build your own solar panels (all the way down to making your own solar cells)! We tried to make this section as easy as we could but we will warn you that it does get a little technical at times! So lets get started!

Equipment and Materials List o Safety Glasses o Nitrile Gloves (Supreno)

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o 1 glass squares with conductive coatings (indium tin oxide, ITO) on one side o Degussa P25 titanium dioxide (TiO2) (at least 12 g) o Clear, colorless dishwashing liquid o Distilled white household vinegar (5% acetic acid, ~1 M) o Tweezers o Small metal spatulas o Scotch Magic tape o Glass stirring rod o Boxes of small Kim-Wipes o Paper towels (lots) o Cotton swabs o Eyedroppers o 10 mL graduated cylinder o 20 mL graduated cylinder
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o Ethanol wash bottles o Blender o Deionized water wash bottles o Oven capable of 450 C o Tongs for oven o alumina sample boats for oven o Fire brick where all three sample boats can cool o Small glass petri dishes o Graphite pencils o Blackberries o Thin coffee filters o Two filter setups (each consisting of a large glass funnel, a small glass funnel, a rubber stopper for the latter, and a lab stand) o 20 mL glass vials o Smaller glass vials (if available)
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o Binder clips o Iodide electrolyte solution in squeeze bottles o Digital multimeters with clean, new alligator clips for leads o Large porcelain mortar and pestle o Scale and weighing paper or weighing cup

**WEAR GLOVES AND SAFETY GLASSES AT ALL TIMES UNLESS INSTRUCTED ON THESE PAGES

Preparing the TiO2 Suspension Materials Used: Degussa P25 titanium dioxide (TiO2) Scale Weigh paper or weighing dish Metal spatula Large porcelain mortar and pestle 10 mL graduated cylinder 20 mL graduated cylinder Small glass vial (20 mL, smaller if available) Vinegar
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 Deionized water wash bottle Paper towels (not specifically mentioned, but chances are youll need them)

Steps: 1. Measure out 12 g of Degussa P25 titanium dioxide on the scale using weigh paper or a weighing dish, and put into a mortar and pestle. 2. Measure out 18 mL of vinegar in the 20 mL graduated cylinder. 3. Measure out 2 mL of deionized water in the 10 mL graduated cylinder. 4. Transfer the water to a small glass vial, and add two drops of clear, colorless dishwashing detergent to the vial. Gently stir them so that no foam or bubbles may come up. 5. Add about 30 drops of vinegar to the titanium dioxide in the mortar and pestle. 6. Mix thoroughly until the mixture is uniform and free of lumps. 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all 18 mL of the vinegar is used.
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8. Add small amounts of detergent and water to the paste, and very gently stir it, being careful not to produce bubbles or foam. 9. Let the suspension sit for 15 minutes. Preparing the Blackberry Juice Materials Used: One container of fresh blackberries (containing at least 10-12 berries) Blender 10 mL graduated cylinder 20 mL graduated cylinder Two filter setups (each consisting of a large glass funnel, a small glass funnel, a rubber stopper for the latter, and a lab stand) Two coffee filters Two small glass vials (20 mL) Deionized water wash bottle Paper towels (not specifically mentioned, but chances are youll need them) Steps:
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1. Put one container of fresh blackberries into a blender, counting the number of blackberries. 2. For every 5 blackberries used, add 2 mL of deionized water to the blender, using the 10 mL or 20 mL graduated cylinder (make sure it is clean first). 3. Cover the blender and run it on the lowest setting (1) until the mixture is mostly liquid; then increase the speed to a setting of 3-4, and run for another minute. 4. Ensure that both filter setups are ready and that a fresh coffee filter (in the large funnel) and a clean 20 mL vial (below the small funnel) are in place in each. 5. Pour the liquid from the blender into the large funnel at the top of each filter setup, make sure that you evenly distribute the liquid mix between them; each filter setup will not be filled instantly so wait until the level in the filter drops before you add the remaining liquid mix. 6. Occasionally agitate the filters by bunching up the edges to form what looks like a little back and gently shaking them up and down against the large funnel, in order to speed filtration. The filtration process will take a while so in the meantime this would be a good time to prepare the titanium dioxide coated slides; the filtered blackberry juice will be used later.
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Preparing the TiO2 Films Materials Used: Two 1 square glass slides with special conductive coatings on one side Kim-Wipes Ethanol wash bottle One multimeter set up to measure electrical resistance Scotch tape One glass stirring rod Paper towels Metal spatula Eyedropper Titanium dioxide suspension (made earlier) Glass stir rod Petri dish Oven Tongs for oven Fire brick for oven Steps: 1. Clean both 1 square glass slides gently with ethanol and Kim Wipes.

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2. Using a multi-tester check which side is conductive; normal resistance reading of the conductive side is around 10-30 Ohms, the non-conductive side, however, has a higher resistance that will not register in the multi-tester. 3. Clean the area where youll be placing the square glass slides on, its conductive side needs to face in an upward position, while the other square glass slides conductive side faces downwards. To prevent the slides from coming into contact with one another, tape them to the lab bench with a Scotch tape like in the figure below, leaving most of the surface of the slides exposed and only covering a thin strip (as shown here, about 2 mm wide) on either side:

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Place a third piece of tape over the top of the conductive slide, as shown, covering a larger area (about 5-6 mm wide):

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IMPORTANT THIS IS THE HARDEST STEP, SO PLEASE READ EVERYTHING HERE BEFORE STARTING.

Remember that what were aiming for here is to get a nice, smooth titanium dioxide film on the conducting slide; the nonconducting slide is a non-factor. Using a metal spatula or an eyedropper (depending on how liquid the suspension is), take a small amount of the titanium dioxide suspension you made earlier and spread it in a thin line just below the last piece of tape, on the conductive slide.

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Immediately take a glass stir rod, held horizontal as shown, and in contact with the tape, and slide it (dont roll it) in order to spread the suspension smoothly, first moving downwards, then reversing direction. Do this 2-3 times or until the film on the conducting slide is smooth. Add more of the suspension if necessary, but do it quickly, as it will dry rapidly. If something goes wrong, you can carefully wipe the slides off and try again.

When you are successful, you should have something like what is shown below.

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Carefully remove the top piece of tape first, and then place your finger (you should be wearing gloves, make sure theyre clean ones) on the uncoated area where the tape just was (see below), being sure not to touch the film.

You may need assistance in doing this procedure so while you hold the slide down, get somebody else to peel off the two pieces of tape and have them do it gently by pulling it from top to bottom. The non-conducting slide will come loose at some point. Take the slide whose conductive side has been coated with the titanium dioxide film and cover it with a glass petri dish. You may leave it on the bench for this.

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Remove the tape from the other slide then gently wash away the titanium dioxide suspension from it on the sink. Use ethanol and Kim-Wipes to finish cleaning it. Clean the glass rod in the same way.

Once you are done cleaning things, the coated glass slide (above, at right) you placed under the petri dish on the bench should be dry (make sure it has had at least one minute to dry; longer is fine). Take the dried glass slide and put it into an oven at 450 C. The slides need to be taken out of the oven after 30 minutes of heating, and allowed to cool.

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Staining the TiO2 Films with Dye, Carbon Coating the CounterElectrode, and Constructing the Cell Materials Used: Small petri dish Eyedropper Filtered blackberry juice Titanium dioxide coated 1 square glass slide Uncoated 1 square glass slide with special conductive coating on one side Multimeter Special graphite pencil Deionized water wash bottle Ethanol wash bottle Kim-Wipes Paper towels Two binder clips Squeeze bottle of iodide electrolyte solution Cotton swabs

Steps: 1. Put a couple of drops of blackberry juice on a small petri dish using an eyedropper Just enough to cover the entire bottom of the dish and form a pool a millimeter or two thick.
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2. Now put your cooled titanium dioxide coated glass slide into the petri dish and allow it to soak with the juice, ensuring that the coated side is faced downwards. Check the time when you do this because youll need to soak the slide for at least 10 minutes. 3. While you are letting your titanium dioxide film soak in blackberry juice, take your other clean glass slide and identify the conductive side with a multimeter; the resistance of the conductive side will be 10-30 ohms, while the non-conductive side will be too high to measure. 4. After identifying the conductive side of the slide coat it with a graphite pencil. The best way to do this is to position the slide at an angle where light is reflected off of it, that way you will know which part of the surface is graphite-coated and which is not.

Make sure that the slide is completely coated in graphite, including the corners. Once the slide is coated, be sure not to touch the coating with anything. Hold it up by its edges only.

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While working on the other slide, your titanium dioxide coated slide soaked in blackberry juice shouldve reached the 10 minutes threshold. If not, wait until it has. Check the slide to see if the titanium dioxide film it has a deep purple color all throughout. If it does not, wait until it does. Once it does, carefully pick it up, handling it by the edges if you can and ensuring that you do not touch the titanium dioxide film. Examine the film from the other side (the side on which it is coated) in order to verify that it is deep purple throughout on that side as well. If not, put it back in the petri dish as before and let it soak longer, first adding more blackberry juice to the petri dish with an eyedropper if necessary. After being soaked in the blacberry juice, the titanium dioxide film should now have a deep purple hue all over, there should also be no bright white spots visible. This time youll need to wash the slide with deionized water from the wash bottle, but be careful not to touch the titanium dioxide coating and do this over the sink.

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After doing the above steps, repeat the whole process and rinse away all the water using ethanol from a wash bottle. It is very important at this point that no water remains in your film. Next is to place the slide face up on a clean paper towel, using a KimWipe gently dry it. This slide is now ready for use, and must be used very rapidly so as to avoid significant exposure to the air (which results in oxidation of the dye in the blackberry juice and loss of photosensitivity). First is to identify the graphite-coated side of the glass slide. Place this side face down on top of the dry, blackberry juice soaked, titanium dioxide coated side of the other slide, in such a way that the two slides are offset (see the diagram below; the titanium dioxide film should just be covered). Now youre ready to construct the cell. Pick up the two slides carefully, maintain their contact with each other and do allow them to slide off of each other, and use binder clips to attach the two.

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Once theyre firmly clipped together, you can now add the electrolyte solution. Position the cell in a way that one of the steps is faced upwards towards you, using the eyedropper take a few drops of the iodide electrolyte solution at the point where the two slides meet (see below). You will see that the solution is slowly drawn into the cell by capillary action. In order to ensure that the solution completely saturates the cell, loosen one of the binder clips, then clip it on again, then loosen the other binder clip and clip it on again. Repeat this process until the iodine solution has clearly saturated the entire cell, and then ensure that both clips are once more firmly attached.

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Clean away the iodide solution off of the slide from where the droplets first fell using a cotton swab, make sure that no iodide solution remains. It is very important that all of the excess solution is removed.

Your solar cell is complete! *we recommend that you use a multi-tester at this point and attach you cell to the multi-tester using the alligator clips, the figure below shows how its done (be careful not to allow the clips to touch both slides though). Test the cells using the multimeter and determine its behavior in the light and in the shade, check voltage and current output to see if its functioning as it should be.

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