Before you actually begin to build a solar panel, bear in mind that there are a few potential problems to keep an eye on. Start your project on the right foot. Get all the components together before you start; get a tool box with all the right tools and a manual which gives step by step instructions.
But before even those basic steps, it is more important to have a clear picture of what your solar panel is going to end up looking like and where you are going to use it. Decide how big your dream is. Do want to start a solar farm, building 2000 watt panels and feed electricity back to the national grid or do you want to build 500 watt panels for running specific appliances in your home or do just want a small one; to build a solar panel for re-charging your digital camera batteries?
The process is exactly the same when building a low wattage yield solar and a high wattage panel, besides time and space, the only other thing you need is more solar cells. The main reason for many people wanting to make their own solar electricity is that they can save on the cost of having to actually by them because they are very expensive.
Now you know how large you solar panel is going to be, we now have to find a ready source of solar cells. Now you don’t want to pay a lot of money for them. The first port of call for me is eBay, sometimes you can get lucky and find someone who is selling a pile of solar cells at a very good price. However, this process is a bit hit and miss and only about 50% of the time can you find something that you are looking for.
The best option is to contact companies in your local area who use solar panels to power remote pieces of electrical equipment. Contact these companies and make yourself known to them, tell them what you want to do so at a later date should they have any broken cells they want to dispose of, they will contact you. A big user of solar cells are the companies who repair roads or make street signs for roads. These signs get damaged on a regular basis and have to be repaired.
If the solar panel is damaged they will throw the old panel away replace it with a new one. These damaged panels will still work fine, and if you know how to build a solar panel, it doesn’t take much to repair them in most cases.
Finding a cheap supply of solar cells is the only major problem you need to solve if you are looking to build a solar panel on a shoestring, so start searching for those local businesses today.
Remeber what I said earlier, know what outcome you want to end up with, have a clear picture even sketch it out on a piece of paper. From my experience, if you don’t have this, you build an odd panel for this and an odd panel for that. You will make life very hard for yourself and will probably be disappointed. Stick a picture on the wall and go and build it.
Different Types of Solar Panels
- Monocrystalline Solar Panels
- Polycrystalline Solar Panels – String Ribbon Silicon
- Thin Film Solar Panels – cadmium telluride