What to Look Out For When You Build a DIY Solar Panel

January 22nd, 2010 | aelara | Solar Panels

When you build a solar panel, there are a number of things that need to be taken into consideration before you actually start. Start your project on the right foot. Get all the components together before you start; get a tool box with all the right tools and a manual which gives step by step instructions.

However, before all that it is important to understand what it is you want to end up with. There are many things you can do when you build a solar panel, you can build a small one for charging up re-chargeable batteries, or you can build larger 200, 300 or 400 watt panels to run home appliances and store excess electricity in a battery bank, or you can build 1000 watt panels and start a little business feeding electricity back to the grid.

The process is exactly the same when building a low wattage yield solar and a high wattage panel, besides time and space, the only other thing you need is more solar cells. Most of us, who build our own solar panels to generate electricity for our homes, do it so that we can drastically reduce the expense of actually fitting solar panels as they can be prohibitively expensive.

Having decided the size of panel or panels you are going to produce, the next part of the process and the critical part is to establish where you can acquire low cost if not free solar cells. Auction sites can be a good place to find low cost solar cells and other stuff, you have to do your due diligence and check out the seller thoroughly, making sure you don’t get ripped off. However, this process is a bit hit and miss and only about 50% of the time can you find something that you are looking for.

The best option is to contact companies in your local area who use solar panels to power remote pieces of electrical equipment. Find these organizations, contact them and start building rapport. Explain your project goals and the tight budget you are working to, so when they do get damaged solar cells, they will contact you to take them away. One of the major users of solar cells are the road and traffic signs, often you see them on the side of the road, and often they will have the company’s contact details on them. Repairs are frequently carried on damaged signs.

Should the solar cell part of the sign get damaged, they won’t repair it, they will just replace the whole thing. If you have a good training manual which shows you how to build a solar panel, it won’t take much for you to repair a damaged one.

Finding a cheap supply of solar cells is the only major problem you need to solve if you are looking to build a solar panel on a shoestring, so start searching for those local businesses today.

Remeber what I said earlier, know what outcome you want to end up with, have a clear picture even sketch it out on a piece of paper. If you don’t have that clear picture, you will build an array which has no useful purpose. It will be chaos and you will have a disorganized mess. Know what you want and go and build it.

Different Types of Solar Panels