How to make your own electricity with solar panel

Introduction:

The power remains the same, after all. You just need a minimum of 12 volts to kick-start a 12V inverter for generating 110/220V AC or charge your 12V battery packs. Linking the cell in series will increase the voltage. Then, stick the cells to the board, carefully.

How to Build a Cheap One:

A cheap solar panel system will forever be the best solution to expensive electric bills. Solar cells are getting cheaper each year.

Step 1: Creating a Template & Putting Frame Together

First, I want to make a template for my solar cells. What I used was a spare piece of regular plywood, a piece of regular cardboard the size of a solar cell, some tile spacers, and a staple gun to create my template. I wanted to use the tile spacers to help keep my solar cells

Using a ruler helped to keep everything aligned, and it's easier to cut the plywood using a jigsaw, but a regular hand saw will do fine as well.

Next, once I finished my template, I started to put the frame together. What I used was a 1x2x8 piece of plywood, and cut that to fit my outer frame of the plywood. I wanted to make sure the outer frame was not too high to prevent from loosing any sunlight I could be using. So I then placed the pieces of plywood on top of the 2x4 pressure treated plywood, and screwed those down and sanded the entire frame afterward .After sanding and cleaning up any extra dust left over, I applied the Deck and Siding paint onto the frame. I wanted to give it 2 coats for a nice seal from UV rays, and making it water resistant. I also needed to place 2 coats of the Deck and Stain paint on the 2x4 piece of pegboard.

Next, while my first coat was drying, I started to work on assembling the solar cells. The best way to learn how to assemble the solar cells would be to simply watch the video. A quick overview of it is, the bottom of the solar cell is the positive side, and the top of solar cell is the negative side. I wanted to connect the solar cells in series, with a total of 36 solar cells, which will give me 63 watts. I used tabbing wire with a soldering iron to connect the solar cells together. For my panel I had 3 strings of solar cells. To connect those strings of solar cells, I used what is called a bus wire. The bus wire goes at the end of the strings to create one long string, however, curled up in a way like a snake.

Next, once the pegboard and plywood had 2 coats of Deck and Siding paint, I needed to screw the pegboard down inside the frame (plywood). What I did was first place the solar cells inside my frame to get an idea of where I'd need to place the screws, and then took the solar cells back out once I made my marks, and then screwed the pegboard down. Next I went ahead and drilled 2 holes at the end of my frame for my negative and positive connections to run out.

Step 4: Gluing the Solar Cells Down

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Next, it was time to glue the strings of solar cells down to the pegboard with silicon.

 Afterward, since I had two strings completed, I was able to go ahead and solder my bus wire on one end to bond the two strings of solar cells together. how I went about doing this. Note* after you solder any string together, or make new connections, it is a good practice to check the voltage/current that moment, rather than waiting until you connect all the solar cells/strings together. This is also mentioned in the video as well

Step 5: Soldering Bus Wire

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Next, after hooking all 3 strings of solar cells up in series, I was ready to get my 22 gauge wires (red and black) ready for soldering. On the ends of my leads from my gauge wires, I connected some connectors to make the process of soldering them down to the bus wire a lot easier.

To help give the inside of the solar panel a nicer look, I used 2 strips of wire mold and ran the wires inside those. Afterward, I took the panel outside in the sun to test the voltage/current of the whole panel to make sure I was getting 18 volts and 3.5 amps in an open circuit and short circuit.

Step 6: Visiting the Electric Side

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       I showed the electrical side of the solar system. Basically, what you need is a charge controller, deep cycle battery, and an inverter. I first hooked the solar panel connections up to the solar side of the charge controller, and from the battery connection side of the charge controller, I hooked that up to the deep cycle battery. From the battery, I hooked that up to the inverter, and then I was set to go. Again, watch Part 9 to see the whole process and see devices I was able to power off the solar system.

Step 7: Adding Even Pressure on the Plexiglass

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Next, I found out that to secure my 2x4 piece of plexiglass I would need to provide even pressure around all the edges To accomplish this, I used another set of the same outer frame pieces of plywood I had on the bottom of the plexiglass, and mounted those on top of the plexiglass to provide the even pressure I needed. Be sure to drill slowly into the plexiglass to prevent from cracking the glass, and make sure you have screws that are made for pressure treated lumber.

Step 8: Installing the Junction Box

       I finished connecting my back pieces of plywood that was going to support my whole solar panel when I was ready to mount the panel on my roof. I also installed a junction box onto the back of the solar panel since most solar panels include a junction box. As seen in the video, my junction box came with a blocking diode which prevents the backflow of current when you have the solar panel hooked up to a battery. Most charge controllers prevent the backflow of current already, but if the charge controller does not, you will need to install a blocking diode onto the solar panel. It is best to install the blocking diode on the outside of the panel just in case something was to ever happen to it so you can easily replace it. Lastly, I took my silicon and went around all my edges of the solar panel, as well as the junction box on the back. Next I made a final voltage/current check and was ready to mount the panel to my roof.

Step 9: My Thoughts of the Whole Project

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Overall, the project was a fun experience, and the total amount of money that I spent was around $400-$500, which includes the battery, charge controller, and deep cycle battery. So I saved a large portion by building my own solar system, since a commercial solar panel would have cost $400 on up for just the solar panel itself.