Several long time ago , my male parent — Don Adams , the co - writer of this article — and I had arrived early on to set up for our first do - it - yourselfsolarpresentation . Looking at the quarrel of empty chairs , he require , “ How many mass do you opine will show up to this ? How many would really be unbalanced enough to stress this on their own ? ”
As the time arrived for our public lecture , though , it was stand room only . The convention organizers had us announce that our event was at capability . The hallway dealings had stopped move . People had difficulty get to other events .
Since then , we have give dozens of presentation and stay to get the same amount of interest , despite the fact that prices are considerably more affordable now .
I ’d wish to cogitate that we ’re good utterer and imbibe crowd . I believe , though , so many hoi polloi attend because few matter talk so powerfully to self - sufficiency as energy independency .
We started in do - it - yourself solar because of the associated costs . When we set about look intoa 6 - kW system of rules , the averageprice , install , wasmore than $ 45,000 ( ~$7.55 per watt ) . The salesperson couched the disbursement in full term of an “ investment funds . ” Over 14 years , it would pay for itself .
I was n’t especially concerned , however , in that variety of investment , so we calculate into work up DIY solar panels ourselves . My Church Father is an electric locomotive engineer who build and designs gamy - baron transmission systems for TV station . He is customary to dealing with power in the kitchen stove of those systems , so he feel well-off tackling this .
Dan Adams
After hear a listing on eBay for ground level - A solar cells at $ 0.27 a watt , we were sell on the DIY route . For those with some basic soldering skills and electric knowledge , this is a practicable selection .
Why DIY?
Again , it pass back to toll . The cost to reconstruct our own DIY solar panel came to around $ 0.67 a W , easy 10 percent of the toll ( at that time ) to buy Modern and installed .
damage have changed substantially since we started building our own panels . There are now some implausibly low prices on finished panel , and if you ’re uncoerced to watch for deal , you could buy panels for less than it be us to go the DIY itinerary several years ago . DIY solar panels can still save you money , though , through bulk purchase and sourcing your materials .
If , after reading this article , you opt to just purchase the panel outright and not go DIY , that is utterly satisfactory . It ’s a great clock time to get into solar , either way .
Dan Adams
In this article , we ’ll cover the design decision we made and give step - by - step instructions on how you’re able to do the same .
Solar Cells & Frame Size
We purchased ourcells(6 kilowatts worth ) from someone who had pick them up at vendue . The cells were 3 by 6 inch and 0.5 volts at 1.8 Watt .
It ’s helpful to call up of solar cell like batteries , with a positive and a negative . The negative connection end is on the front Earth’s surface , and the positive connection end is on the back control surface .
These can then be wired either in series or parallel . In serial , the potential bestow , while the current rest the same . In line of latitude , the flow adds , while the potential drop stays the same .
We get the voltage we need — typically a 12- or 24 - volt surgical process — with fuse stream by connecting cells in series as well as parallel . We solder tabbing conducting wire from one surface to the other for serial — front to back — and paralleling string together .
The size of the strings and routine in analog is determined by the size of the shape we use . Almost everything is based on 3 - by-6 - inch or 6 - by-6 - inch solar cells , and you may purchase smaller glass or frames .
Much of this is determined by what you may find on the bum . For the frame , the critical part is the solar drinking glass .
Once again , we did some searching and found someone selling them in bulk . ( He had bought them in bulk and was looking to recoup some of the price . ) They were 3 by 5 foot , so we purchase enough to build out a 6 - kW system—30 DIY solar panels , at roughly 200 watts each .
establish on the size of the frame we planned to build , here is the layout we issue forth up with :
Building the Frame
When research DIY solar , we had seen several people build wooden frames .
Do n’t do this . If you spend the clock time to establish your own DIY solar panels , use materials that will last . Almost all commercial units use aluminum skeletal system .
We settle on1⁄8 - in aluminum 50 – 1 - by-½ inch as a trade - off of cost versus rigidity . We used leftover aluminum that we had in our shop , but you’re able to find what you call for from local metal provider .
In building the frame , we used tools you could find a received shop . For cutting the frame , we used a band go out and constructed a jig to tailor the angle .
Everything has been constructed with elaboration in mind . So there is a1⁄8 - in headroom around all of the cell ( we ’ll explain a small later how we get the1⁄8 - inch clearance ) and3⁄16 clearance of the methamphetamine to the frame .
Corner brackets were made using fight aluminum angle . Holes were drilled and tapped for # 8 - 32 stainless steel roll in the hay .
Once we assembled the aluminum frame , we run a bead of silicone polymer caulking on the inside sharpness . verify that the caulk is good for outdoor use , and do n’t use caulk with atomic number 16 . We learned the hard way that it will interfere with the encapsulation .
After caulking the inside frame , we come out the solar glass and follow that with another bead of silicone caulking on the top edge of the glass and frame .
We add together some aluminium 50 material as hybridizing braces to add some more rigidity . The aluminum L cross braces can be removed after the silicone polymer has gear up to tolerate full accession to wire in the solar cells .
Solar Glass
Solar methamphetamine hydrochloride is moderate glass with low iron , specifically made to be more efficient for faint contagion .
Once again , we default to eBay to feel inexpensive options and bump someone who was selling 3 - by-5 - foot sheets for $ 25 each . We ’ve watch some folks choose plastic as an alternative to solar chicken feed , but it ’s not efficient , cacography - resistant or cheaper .
Soldering & Tabbing
For the soldering , you postulate a soldering iron that can accommodate a temperature of around 400 degree Celsius .
This provides good heating using a chisel lead so that the pre - solder ribbon conducting wire adheres to the cells . Make a slow , steady swipe down the palm wire to melt the solder . That collapse it a solid impinging . Dan Adams
Start by attaching the tabbing telegram to the front . employ flux to the cells and the tabbing conducting wire . The surfaces should be sticky and reserve in plaza better .
You need a respectable way to allow for the1⁄8 - inch spatial arrangement between the cells , and solder them together in a twine .
We reach this by creating a jig using1⁄8 - inch roofing tile spacers . This pass on the cells the consistent1⁄8 - inch spacing we wanted .
Once you have enough cells to complete a drawing string , put them in the jig and wire them front to back . After you ’ve completed an entire chain , test the strand with a voltmeter . We get together a idle tabular array with workshop lighting underneath for this purpose .
Encapsulation
Commercially , a cloth called EVA film is used , and everything is laminate together .
That mental process take an oven vacuum sleeping room , so we used a teem , clear , acrylic - like resin . A lot of these subsist on the market , and we try several . We wanted something that was n’t too viscous — as we still wanted to move things around a bit and work air bubbles out — and did n’t countersink too apace to give us time to right problems . The Solar - Tite 384 ended up working best .
First , pour some encapsulant , then lie in the string . Sixteen ounce of solution yields 29 cubic in of country volume .
Two bottles should be enough to lay in 58 three-dimensional inches of area loudness . We expend two to three bottles before laying in the strings . Once it sets , pour more on the backside .
After you lay in the cellular telephone , act upon out any air bubble . The cognitive process is uncomplicated .
Gently press on the cells from the top , and watch from below to see that most of the air bubbles are function out . These cells are like eggshells — they crack up easy — so conjure very gently .
If the cells do crack in the corner , it can still work fine , so test it first .
After that is done , lease everything set . stream a couple of more bottles on the tail and let it lay .
The jail cell should be to the full capsulise at this detail .
In this article , we could n’t cover every aspect of build your own panels , but it covers enough for you to part your enquiry .
Of course , there is a lot more to it such as wiring , junction rectifier protective cover , rise and energy storage . Consider this clause as a starting point to more DIY good .
Dan ’s male parent , Don Adams — who is also an engineer — co - compose this article , which in the beginning appeared in the September / October 2019 payoff ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
