small solar panels

small solar panels

« Previous12345Next »

Homemade solar panels are becoming a more common sight on rooftops and in yards across the country. Partly, this is due to the increasing concern for our climate.

However, there is also a strong financial draw. It is common knowledge that solar power systems are great ways of saving money and by making your own small solar panels, you could be saving even more.

The good news is that you can make your very own panel with objects that are readily available in your local hardware or DIY store.

In order to demonstrate how easy it is to make a homemade panel, the instructions below will provide step-by-step instructions on how to make a simple small panel.

To make this solar panel you will need:

• A small copper plate or copper sheeting that can be cut to size
• An ammeter (current reader)
• Sandpaper, emery cloth or a wire brush
• A glass jar
• Salt

If you are using copper sheet, then you will need to cut it to size. Once you have a copper plate, wash your hands and the copper, to ensure that there is no grease or debris on either. Then, take your sandpaper and brush away the oxidized coating.

Once the top layer of the copper has been removed, you will need to expose the plate to a source of heat to create another oxidized layer. This may seem counterintuitive, but the layer you are about to add is a cuprous oxide. The easiest way to do this is to hold the copper over an electric stove until a black crust forms.

Next, you should remove the black crust on the oxidized copper by tapping it gently on your work bench and brushing away at it with your fingertips.

Take another piece of copper plate that has not been treated to a cuprous oxide and place it in a glass jar next to the oxidized plate. It is imperative that the plates do not touch, so ensure that you have a jar large enough to hold both pieces of copper comfortably.

Then, fill the jar with water and add the salt. Ensure that the salt is mixed into the water and then take your jar outside into the sun. You now have a miniature homemade panel. Next, it is time to test it.

Take your ammeter and attach the positive lead to the non-oxidized copper and the negative lead to the cuprous copper. The ammeter will display how much electricity your tiny panel is creating. You will obviously notice the more sun the jar is exposed to the greater amount of power that the solar panel creates.

This is an example of how simple it is to make a homemade solar panel. However, of course, your jam jar solar system will not supply you with enough energy to supply your household needs.

Thankfully, creating homemade panels on a larger scale is no more complicated than building small solar panels.

Now that you've learned how easy it is to build small solar panels, you're ready to save thousands on energy costs by easily and cheaply making your own residential solar panels.

Small Solar Panels - Make Solar Panels For Electricity