Hello, welcome to these series of posts on how to build home made solar panels.

First you will need a few tools and a comfortable work space. You will be doing some wood work as well as electronic work so a nice comfortable workbench and chair are ideal.

Things you’ll need…

Cordless drill, soldering iron (small pen type), pliers, hammer, caulking gun and miscellaneous nuts and screws

This is a picture of the back of a solar cell, the building blocks of solar panels. Several of these small cells which are about the size of your hand go into the making of a solar panel. Mostly we use monocrystalline solar cells.

Back of solar panel

This picture shows you the component parts of a solar cell. They are small and very fragile until they are mounted.

Solar panel choices

Solar panels are probably the simplest form of renewable energy. There are no moving parts and there are installations in place with only minor maintenance for over 20 years.

How does thes sun make electricity?

Simply put, the cells inside of a solar panel convert the sun’s energy into electricity. Photo Voltaic cells are normally fabricated using special semiconductor materials that allow electrons, which are energized when the material is exposed to sunlight, to be freed from their atoms.

These cells are what you will have to obtain in order to build your own solar panels. Lots of people mistake solar cells for solar panels; just remember, that it takes many small solar cells to make one large solar panel, like putting together lego blocks or piling firewood in your backyard.

Once freed, the electrons can move through the material and carry an electric current. The current flows in one direction (like a battery), and thus the electricity generated is termed direct current (DC).

Just under the surface of a solar panel are small thin pieces of semiconductor material called cells. These cells, usually a series of cells aligned in rows, make up the panel.

The cells that make up the panel are made of silicon in most cases, and are treated with phosphorous or boron. As light strikes the cells it is captured by the semiconductor material. This is known as the photovoltaic effect.

In our next post more about the Photo Voltaic effect. Stay tuned.

Solar energy is a clean and efficient form of energy. The demand for it is greater than the supply.

The cost of supplying electricity to remote locations is expensive and time consuming. Solar power is an excellent alternative. Portable solar power has been referred to as packaging sunlight. The concept is using an adapter to allow you to use solar power that has been accumulated during times when you do not have enough solar energy, which is mainly used at night.

Battery chargers with solar power are very popular. They simply plug into your cigarette lighter and charge your car in minutes.

On a larger scale you can purchase portable generators that will allow you to use energy produced by sunlight when sunlight is not available. These power sources are used by corporations, small businesses, and individuals. They are used to supply power to entire networks or simply to operate your DVD player. The type and size of generator you want to purchase will depend on your individual needs. Within the next three years, it is believed solar panels will be made that can supply power to cell phones as well. However, the cost of such phones is anticipated to be high because it is expensive to design that type of solar panel.

The internet offers information to compare portable solar power products and their uses. This information will be very useful in deciding what products will give you the best deal for your money. If you still have questions, a great resource is the Advanced Energy Group. It is a respected supplier of solar power and portable power systems throughout the United States. They offer quality products and consulting information about solar power options. They also have an excellent rating for their technical support to customers.

While some remain skeptical about the use of solar power, it really does make sense. The portable solar power devices available at reasonable costs make it even more efficient, safe, and worth while to do for the environment. As the solar power industry continues to grow, expect to see new and better portable devices available on the market.

For some of you it may be instructional to start at a basic level in understanding how electricity works in everyday life.

Watts

You might have noticed that the power consumption of electrical devices is measured in watts. Most people are fairly familiar with the term watt, but most don’t know what it describes. A watt is the power produced by current (amps) flowing through a wire multiplied by the pressure (voltage) at which it flows.

Volts

Like water pressure in a pipe, voltage is the pressure of electricity flowing through the wire.

Amps

This is the amount of electricity flowing through the wire.

Power Rates

We are most familiar with the term KWH (or Kilowatt-Hour) as it appears on our monthly power bills. This is the rate of power flowing through a wire. As an example, if a 100 watt light bulb is turned on for ten hours the power rate would be 100 x 10 = 1,000 watt-hours or 1 Kilowatt hour (kilo means 1000)

Direct Current (DC)

We will be discussing both Direct Current (DC) power and Alternating Current (AC) in the planning of your renewable energy system. AC current is what you presently use in your home.

The most important difference between AC and DC power is that DC current can be stored in a battery while AC power cannot.

In the renewable energy system that you are designing to run your home, DC power produced by your wind generator or your solar panel will be converted to AC power by using an inverter. In this way you can still use many of the same AC appliances that you currently depend on.

Common DC voltages are 12, 24 and 48. The advantages of DC appliances are many, but most important is that DC motors are more efficient than AC motors. There are many applications for DC power and the benefit is that we can use this form of energy in our off grid home, while in your present tied-to-the-grid home you cannot.

AC Current

Alternating current is called this way because the current changes direction constantly. AC is the most common form of electricity usage today mostly because it is easier to work with than common DC current.