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Jan 05, 2016
dania shah
Are you tired of paying handsome amounts of hard earned cash as your electricity bill? Do you want to get renewable and clean energy without paying a dime as the monthly bill? You should definitely try building a solar panel for yourself; they are definitely an economical choice and work great to cut down your power costs. This article will guide you on how to build a solar panel by yourself in easy steps so that you can gradually understand the process and follow each step carefully.
For those who are yet to evaluate their decision about switching to solar technology, this one is a must read. Let’s start generating clean and infinite energy by learning how to build a solar panel.
These are all the things that you will need if you are looking for DIY on how to build a solar panel :
Buy the solar cells from an online store or a local supplier if you know of one. The best solar cells that are cost efficient are polycrystalline. Make sure you note down the consumption and usage so that you can make the purchase accordingly. Consider buying a few extra as these are quite fragile.
Measure the size of the solar panel you need and cut a board made of non-conductive material. Arrange your cells on the box and measure the dimensions to cut the size. Always leave an extra inch or so at the end for the wires.
Estimate and measure how much wire you will need and cut it. On the polycrystalline cells you will need the wires to connect the longer lines and take it back to the next cell in the array. Measure the length of the longer lines and double the size so that you can get two pieces for each cell.
These are the materials you will need in order to build a solar panel; the rest of the article will show you how to build a solar panel using these materials.
Connecting the Cells
Once you have the materials, the first thing you will do is connect the cells together. Use glue to attach the cells on the board and the tabbing wire should be in a single straight line with each row. The ends of the tabbing wire should be free to move. Remember that you will have to arrange the tabbing wire in alternate rows so that if one row has the wire end on right then other should have it on the opposite side.
Solder your cells together by applying the flux to the length of contact pads for each cell. Take the free ends of the wire and solder them to the length of the pads.
Now is time to connect your rows using the bus wire. When you are soldering the first row, make sure to keep your tabbing wire about an inch longer than needed to cover the extra gap between the lines. Use the same process for all the rows and finally connect all four wires to the bus wire.
Once you have understood how to build a solar panel on your own, you might also want to know how to install a solar panel at home.
Building Your Panel Box
Now that you are half way through the process of how to build a solar panel, you should move forward to building the case for your panel. Measure the size of your solar panel and add one inch on all sides to be the size of the box. Also leave a margin for the bus wires at the ends.
Use deck screws to screw the top of the sides into the base to make a safe shield. The number of screws will depend upon your length of the panel but use at least three screws on each side.
Attach your panel to the box in a way that solar cells are facing upwards and placed at a 14 degree angle so that they can get maximum sun exposure and absorb most sunlight in order to perform efficiently. This is critical if you are to learn how to build a solar panel at home.
Wiring Your Panel
Now you will need to connect your wire with a diode as the solar panels work on the PN junction principle. You should know how does a solar panel work to better understand and execute how to build a solar panel. The diode you use should be bigger than the ampere of your panel and should be secured with silicone. The white end of the diode should face the negative of the battery and the other end should be wired to your panel so that the energy does not travel back from the battery when solar panel is not charging.
Connect the diode with a black wire and take it through the terminal block to mount on the side of the box. After that, connect a white wire from the bus wire to the opposite side of the block.
The last step in order to make the best use of how to build a solar panel by yourself, you will need to connect your panel to a charge controller. Make sure you join the negative and positive ends correctly.
Enjoy free unlimited power!These steps should be enough for you to understand how to build a solar panel on your own. You should also get familiarity with the Installation
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