How To Build Solar Panels

We tested 11 solar panel kits so that you don’t have to!

How do I build solar panels?

Posted by admin on Mar-10-2010

I need to know what materials I need and instructions on putting it together

The following steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their homes on solar power, reducing their monthly utility bills or even selling power back the electrical companies. The entire guide is available at http://www.agua-luna.com/diy_guides.html. It’s pretty simple but if you have any problems feel free to email us directly at info@agua-luna.com we can walk you threw the process.

Materials you will need…

A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store. This normally costs about $5.00 per square foot. We will need about half a square foot.
Two alligator clip leads.
A sensitive micro-ammeter that can read currents between 10 & 50 microamperes. Radio Shack sells small LCD multimeters that will do, but I used a small surplus meter with a needle.
An electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won’t work — mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot.
A large clear plastic bottle off of which you can cut the top. I used a 2 liter spring water bottle. A large mouth glass jar will also work.
Table salt. We will want a couple tablespoons of salt.
Tap water.
Sand paper or a wire brush on an electric drill.
Sheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet.

The first step is to cut a piece of the copper sheeting that is about the size of the burner on the stove. Wash your hands so they don’t have any grease or oil on them. Then wash the copper sheet with soap or cleanser to get any oil or grease off of it. Use the sandpaper or wire brush to thoroughly clean the copper sheeting, so that any sulphide or other light corrosion is removed.
Next, place the cleaned & dried copper sheet on the burner & turn the burner to its highest setting.
As the copper starts to heat up, you will see beautiful oxidation patterns begin to form. Oranges, purples, & reds will cover the copper.
As the copper gets hotter, the colors are replaced with a black coating of cupric oxide. This is not the oxide we want, but it will flake off later, showing the reds, oranges, pinks, & purples of the cuprous oxide layer underneath.
The last bits of color disappear as the burner starts to glow red.
When the burner is glowing red-hot, the sheet of copper will be coated with a black cupric oxide coat. Let it cook for a half an hour, so the black coating will be thick. This is important, since a thick coating will flake off nicely, while a thin coat will stay stuck to the copper.
After the half hour of cooking, turn off the burner. Leave the hot copper on the burner to cool slowly. If you cool it too quickly, the black oxide will stay stuck to the copper.
As the copper cools, it shrinks. The black cupric oxide also shrinks. But they shrink at different rates, which makes the black cupric oxide flake off.
The little black flakes pop off the copper with enough force to make them fly a few inches. This means a little more cleaning effort around the stove, but it is fun to watch.
When the copper has cooled to room temperature (this takes about 20 minutes), most of the black oxide will be gone. A light scrubbing with your hands under running water will remove most of the small bits. Resist the temptation to remove all of the black spots by hard scrubbing or by flexing the soft copper. This might damage the delicate red cuprous oxide layer we need to make to solar cell work.
Cut another sheet of copper about the same size as the first one. Bend both pieces gently, so they will fit into the plastic bottle or jar without touching one another. The cuprous oxide coating that was facing up on the burner is usually the best side to face outwards in the jar, because it has the smoothest, cleanest surface.
Attach the two alligator clip leads, one to the new copper plate, & one to the cuprous oxide coated plate. Connect the lead from the clean copper plate to the positive terminal of the meter. Connect the lead from the cuprous oxide plate to the negative terminal of the meter.
Now mix a couple tablespoons of salt into some hot tap water. Stir the saltwater until all the salt is dissolved. Then carefully pour the saltwater into the jar, being careful not to get the clip leads wet. The saltwater should not completely cover the plates — you should leave about an inch of plate above the water, so you can move the solar cell around without getting the clip leads wet.
now place in the sun with the magnified on top.
The solar cell is a battery, even in the dark, & will usually show a few microamps of current.
That’s it it’s that simple. If you’d a more detailed process & some pics (couldn’t put them here) it’s available along with some other DIY alternative energy projects at www agua-luna com

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the

How To Build A Solar Panel?

Posted by admin on Mar-10-2010


Its actually not as difficult as you think. At first I looked at buying some but the costs seemed high so I did a little research on assembly myself. I ended up going with the guide from http://www.ebooksreviewed.info/earth4energy and it worked out well. It included places to get the cheapest parts along with instructions. I saved a lot of money and it was not so complicated as I first thought.

I have seen DIY software which explains everything for novices. Specifically, how to build your own solar panels and tie them into your home electrical system for about $100 in parts.

Has anyone tried doing this? Was it easy?

The local codes in most areas in the US won’t allow you to install a homemade solar panel on your house, it needs to be UL listed. Don’t believe all of those bogus sites that promise you can power your house for $200, you can’t. Also, besides the solar panel, you also need an approved inverter to convert the DC power from the solar panels to AC that your appliances need.

Factory built solar panels are generally guarantied for 20 - 25 years, with a life expectancy of twice that. You will never get that life from a homemade panel.

To save money on a solar installation, you may be able to install at least part of it yourself, but the equipment needs to be UL listed or equivalent.

You can see an example of a very small grid-tied electric system here. You can see that the solar panel is just one component. http://www.altestore.com/store/Kits-and-Package-Deals/Grid-Tied-Systems/Alt-E-Designed-Grid-Tie-Packages/AltE-Grid-Tied-Package-Micro1/p5642/ The output of this system will be very small, but it is a staring point.

You should consider solar water heating as a way to save on your energy bills. Heating your water accounts for about 25% of your energy use. If you can cut that by 75%, you will save a lot of money. Depending on where you are and how many are in your household, it may cost about $5000 for a do-it-yourself installation. There are tax incentives available that could potentially pay for as much as half of the system. These systems can pay for them selves in as little as 4 - 5 years.

Visit http://Snurl.com/SunPower and Learn How to make your own solar panels for less than $200
How to make Solar Panels - Make Solar Panel and Wind Power. How to make your own solar panels - Make Solar Panel and Wind Power

This site can give you instructions to make solar panel and wind turbine at home. There is a guide at this site that will teach you how to make a power producing solar panels and reduce your electricity bill.
How to make Solar Panels - Renewable Energy and Electricity

Duration : 2 min 32 sec

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Build Your Own Solar Panel Reviews

Posted by admin on Mar-10-2010

http://buildyourownsolarpanelsreview.com/ Get your Build Your Own Solar Panels Review build solar panels At Home Review of Power4Home Solar & Wind Energy Solution Images by Build Your Own Solar Panel Reviews http://buildyourownsolarpanelsreview.com/

Duration : 1 min 5 sec

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Solar Power for Home - DIY Home Make Solar Panel

Posted by admin on Mar-10-2010

Visit http://Snurl.com/SunPower and Learn How to make your own solar panels for less than $200!
If you are interested in learning exactly how to generate power and reduce your bill then this site is the perfect resource for you! With the ever increasing costs of living, there is no better time than right now to stop throwing money out the window and start generating our own electricity.
Check it out! Visit http://Snurl.com/SunPower

Solar Power for Home - DIY Home Make Solar Panel

Duration : 2 min 32 sec

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http://top-3-products.info/solar ← ← SOLAR ENERGY FOR UNDER 200 DOLLARS – IS IT POSSIBLE??? - Building Making Solar Panels - Dummies Guide to DIY Solar

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Duration : 1 min 23 sec

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4 Panel Super Ii Solar Heating System Aboveground

An SPP Solar Heating system increases the temperature in your pool by up to 15°, using FREE heating energy from the sun. When used with a Solar Blanket, it’s all the heat you’ll need! Easy toinstall and built to last, our Solar Heating systems feature super efficient 2′x 20′ Solar Panels made of a lightweight, durable black polyolefin to collect the sun’s heat. Your pump circulates a portion of your pool water through theseheated panels, then back into the pool. Each Solar Panel connects easily, and additional Panels can be added at any time. Systems include Solar Panel(s), caps and clamps. Hoses sold separately. Includes a 10-Year Warranty.

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We live in a world where green energy is becoming increasingly popular and there are reasons to introduce it to your own home or business.   One of the best ways to benefit from green energy is to install solar power. If you want to eliminate some of the cost of solar you should look at the possibility of Do-It-Yourself installation.   This review will examine the benefits of the Earth 4 Energy solar energy start-up guide and inform you on why this option is definitely worth considering.

Solar energy is natures way of harnessing heat from the sun. This natural source of energy generation has been used by human beings since ancient times and more sophisticated technologies are emerging all the time. Solar panels contain a mass of solar cells or a form of heat absorbing plates that are used to convert the Suns natural radiation into energy use for lighting or heating buildings for example. There are hundreds of green energy Do It Yourself (DIY) guides or manuals available in today’s marketplace and Earth 4 Energy is considered the first and most original of those products.

Solar power will save you money - a very tempting reason in itself. The initial cost of installation is quickly recovered by the savings you will make with lower energy bills on a monthly basis. It does not matter whether you choose a full solar panel installation or a smaller solar harnessing plan, the savings will still be considerable. A larger solar panel installation might even save your entire energy bill.

The Earth 4 Energy guide will enable you to take advantage of solar energy by giving you the latest information on the best solar technology available. The package includes everything you need to know in order to:

- Build your own solar panel from scratch

- Make your own wind turbine so you can generate electricity

- Connect all your own devices to a home power grid.

- Sell any excess electricity back to your local electricity generation company

- Plus other much needed information.

All of this information is of great assistance in guiding you in learning “how to make solar panels”.

Other great things about solar energy are the ethical benefits. If you reduce your energy consumption you help make the environment healthier for everyone.  Second, fossil fuel such as oil is declining in supply and more countries are making heavy demands on the resource. If we reduce our individual demand on fossil fuels where possible we play our part in reducing the risk of global conflict over oil.  One the best things about the sun is that it will always be there it will never run out of its ability to supply energy for all.

Finally, in a world where the cost of all other types of energy is constantly increasing having your own solar alternative makes a lot of sense.  Earth 4 Energy http://app-products-info.webs.com makes it relatively easy by giving you the know-how to Do-It-Yourself in an easy to understand way. You really do not need to be a highly proficient home-handy-man to follow the Earth 4 Energy guide. The videos explain how to assemble solar panels and other forms of green energy in clear detail. Learning “how to make solar panels”  is a skill well worth having and will benefit you well into the future.

 

 

Anthony Philip Parker

Has anyone out there actually done this? The guide says anyone can figure it out and its only a few hundred dollars per panels, but it seems like if it were that easy everyone would be doing it.

Whats the truth?

Brilliant deduction! Yes, if it were that easy, we would see at least a few people doing it. I don’t personally know a single person who has homemade panels on their house, although I would say I do know a good number that have commercially-made panels. Including our family.