Homemade Solar Panel

When considering to build a homemade solar panel, you should pay attention first on planning and preparation. Determine the scope of the project you will be doing, also consider the time and space that will be available to you. The project success will depend on how experienced you are in the field. Planning for a successful project will greatly depends on how accurate you are in your goal, how much time you plan to allocate the project and the preparation of your workplace. It is easy to learn how to build a homemade solar panel at the comfort of your own home, doing it in the backyard or in the garage.

1. First to consider before attempting to start the project is to determine how many solar panels you will build in a single time. If this is your first time building, it is a good idea to start in a small scale project like one or two solar panels. Remember, learning through experience along the way as you do your project is a priceless asset you can have.
2. Decide on where you will be making your first panels, prepare that workplace and the necessary tools needed as well. A section in your garage could serve a good workplace. While doing the work, you will need an access to power outlets as you will be using soldering iron in soldering the solar cells. A well-ventilated area is recommended to disseminate the fumes produced by the flux of the soldering iron.
3. Time is another one to be considered, especially if you are a newbie and first time builder. Not only you will allocate certain amount of time on building your panels, but there is a need for an extra time for learning. Sometimes it can be tough to estimate how much learning curve you are going to pass. But with proper time planning, allocation and doing it more often can shorten lessen the time frame for learning. Practice makes it perfect.

Upon succeeding all the initial preparation for project on how to build a homemade solar panel, it is now time to gather all the materials and the necessary tools needed to start the project. You might have already in your toolbox some of these basic tools you will use.

Homemade Solar Panel Basic Toolkit Include;

• Low-wattage soldering iron (65Watts)
• Soldering lead
• Screw driver
• Tabbing wire to connect the solar cells altogether
• Bus wire to connect the solar to connect the solar panels in series (if you are building more than one solar panels)
• Multimeter to measure and test output voltages of each solar cell and your finished product, the solar panel
• jigsaw, use to cut the plywood for the base of the solar cells
• UV resistant paint to seal the panel
• Paintbrush for the paint application
• Drills to make holes on panel frame
• Some screws and staple gun

Now that you have all your necessary tools, it is time to get your hands on solar cells, the most common solar cells are crystalline silicon and indium copper selenide. Although it is entirely possible to build solar  panels using broken solar cells that came from broken solar panels, some point of views differ as to how much you can save over re-using these solar cells that are still intact and have been voltage rated. These are inexpensive as advertised by its vendors. But if you consider the cost of receiving pieces of cells that don’t work plus the additional cost of solder and wire to connect them together and the amount of time spent on assembling it altogether, you might want to opt buying solar cells with predictable voltage output. But, the cheap solar cells from broken solar panels can be very useful and a good way for experiment, this way you can have the best experience, hands-on and gain expertise.

To cover your solar cells, a plexiglass is need and a tempered glass is recommended as this can withstand strong winds or a branch of tree breaks and lands on it. Also check that the plexiglass you will be using is resistant to the sun’s ultra violet rays. As this can cause discoloration when continuously expose to sunlight and can reduce the efficiency of your homemade solar panel.

Plywood is commonly used for the strong and hard base for the homemade solar panel. Either metal or wood can be use to frame. The frame will encapsulate both your homemade solar panel base (plywood) and the plexiglass that cover the solar cells. Make sure this frame is sealed by applying that UV resistant paint. This is necessary so that water and dust cannot enter inside the panels. Also, you can easily clean the panels with water when this become dirty overtime.

Once you finished your first homemade solar panel, it just gets even easier on the next one. A feeling of satisfaction will rule over you and keep you aiming to make more homemade solar panel for your home solar power system. By this time you already have a good workplace and a complete toolkit so you can start to build your homemade solar panel.

Complete Guide To Build A Homemade Solar Panel

Advantages and disadvantages of homemade solar panel

Something is misleading about the name Solar Power. All forms of energy is derived from the sun some way or the other. Without the sun, there would be no life on earth, as the sun provides the energy that sustains all plants and animal life. Like all technologies and systems, solar power, too, has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of solar power, by far, outweigh its disadvantages.

The Advantages
Solar energy saves you money. During its construction you will have to invest some amount of money but this can be easily recovered in the long run. Once installed and running, you are now using a free energy from the sun. If your home is not yet self-sufficient, it will greatly contribute in lessening your monthly power bills, this will depends on how large your solar panels, the combined area of all your solar panels. However, if your home solar power system is already sufficient for your all power needs, monthly bill can be totally eliminated. Additionally, if you are producing more power than you need, you can sell this extra power to the utility company. This is called net metering, not all power utility supports this. This can be a very good source for additional income. You save money and earn money along with it, government give incentives to clean energy users.
Since production of solar energy does not require any fuel, you aren’t affected by its supply and demand, or the ever-increasing price of oil and gasoline which are use in production of conventional power source. It is clean, renewable and sustainable.
Solar energy is environmentally friendly. Unlike the traditional forms of electricity generation, it doesn’t pollute the environments with carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide or mercury. These the contributors to global warming that we experience at present. It contributes to the decrease in emissions of greenhouse gases. Solar power systems can operate independently, without any dependence on a power or a gas grid. Not only does solar energy reduce your electricity bill, it is available at all times and is not affected by power outages.
Solar energy systems are practically maintenance free. Though, you are required to clean the surface of the solar panels as a regular maintenance basis, mostly this depends the condition of the area. Overtime, dirt and foreign objects may accumulate and cover the surface. It must be clean at all times, so that it is continuously exposed to the sunlight. Once installed and running, it can last for 20 to 30 years with no recurring costs. They are silent in operation and do not create any offensive smells. Furthermore, if you demand more power, you can add build and add more solar panels to your existing system and this will produce more additional energy. If you keep building and adding more solar panels, its area will be larger and it can convert more energy efficiently.

The Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of solar energy systems is their initial installation costs because the semi-conducting materials are expensive, the solar cells. To achieve a good level of efficiency, solar panels require a large area for installation. The location of the sun also affects the efficiency of the system, but this can be compensated by installing some additional components, this will be an additional cost.
Thick air pollution, as well as the presence of clouds can affect the production of solar energy. There is no production of solar energy at night. However, this can be taken care of with a battery backup system or net metering.
By far, these are the most obvious of solar power disadvantages. Expect in the future with the continuous effort in the development of this technology, these drawbacks can be readily be remedied.

Once you have you solar panels installed in place, you might be worried now about the time consuming and costly regular maintenance for your panels. Solar panels use in households is rigid and there are no moving or mechanical parts on it. If you make the solar panels, yourself, you can tell those are sealed for dust and water. So maintenance required is minimal and occasional.

The condition of your area affects on how often you will have to clean your solar panels. This depends on weather conditions and whether your place has a lot of trees around your yard, falling leaves and small twigs can fall on the surface of the panels. For instance if you live in a region where heavy snow falls on winter occurs. Or, your area is frequently visited with storms and typhoons. All these conditions can affect your solar panels’ efficiency. These acts of nature we cannot prevent, these can cover the significant portion of the panels, preventing sunlight to directly hit on it, thus reducing the energy conversion.

At all times solar panels should be fully exposed so that it can receive the sun’s direct light, so it can convert energy efficiently. The surface of the panels should be kept clean always as possible. Overtime, this can accumulate dirt through the conditions mentioned above and can cover the solar panel’s surface and you may observe power output reduction. We have to check it from time-to-time if its surface is somewhat dirty. If you find that your solar panels have been covered by some foreign objects, you have to clean the solar panels. A visual inspection of the surface will show if it needs cleaning.

For falling leaves from the trees, swiping it with a broom will do the trick. Bird dropping is also common to be on the surface of the panels at the same time dirt and dust can also be accumulated, especially if the season is changing from wet to dry. Cleaning this type of dirt do not require special skills, equipments or chemicals. There are simple ways to clean it and materials can be readily available on your kitchen.

Remember that the solar panel’s solar cell is inside or under the tempered glass, it is sealed. So, what you will be cleaning primarily is only the glass surface. Using a car wash brush will do the job. You may use water or warm water and dish washing soap with the car wash brush in order to easily remove the accumulated dirt, especially bird droppings which are sometimes hard to remove without water. Do this to all the solar panels you have. You don not need to do this everyday or every week. Do this only when you see the surface needs cleaning. Clean solar panel surface means efficient energy conversion. The solar cells itself, theoretically can last up to 25 to 30 years.

Of course, the solar panels are not the only components in the system. If you have an off grid system, it will include storage batteries and perhaps a back up generator. These components will require more monitoring and ongoing maintenance than the solar panels themselves. It’s always a good idea to plan for regular inspections to make sure that your entire solar energy system is properly and efficiently running at all times.

If your solar panels are tied to the grid, you will still have an inverter as part of your system. It converts the electricity that your solar panels generate into alternating current that your appliances can use. Even though it has no mechanical parts, it is an important component and should be regularly inspected.

Also, do not forget to inspect from time-to-time your electrical wirings that connect the solar panels and the inverter.

Solar panels are commonly installed up on the roof, exercise extra caution when you do cleaning on it.

For comprehensive information regarding detailed maintenance and care of solar panels and the home solar power system, this Complete Guide can help you more to maintain you home solar power system and run it efficiently at all times.