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.

So once you have decided what size of solar panel you are going to build, the next step is to determine where you can get a cheap supply of 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. The only problem with this is that if you can’t find the specific size and quantity of solar cells, what do you do then?

A cheap or even a free source of solar cells is from local businesses who either manufacture products or utilize solar cells on a day to day basis. Contact these companies and make yourself known to them, tell them what you want to do so at a later date should they have any broken cells they want to dispose of, they will contact you. The best source of these solar cells are the businesses who put out traffic signs, for example, when repairs are being carried out to roads. The Companies name and telephone number can often be found attached to it somewhere. These signs get damaged on a regular basis and have to be repaired.

Should the solar cell part of the sign get damaged, they won’t repair it, they will just replace the whole thing. The good news is that it is normally very easy to repair a chipped or damaged solar cell, if you know how to build a solar panel, you can easily repair a solar cell.

This is the biggest pitfall you have to overcome, so go and find some local companies who are throwing away their solar cells and recycling them.

A final word, if there is one thing I want to drive home to you, is the fact you need to have a very good picture in your mind’s eye of what it is you want to achieve. From my experience, if you don’t have this, you build an odd panel for this and an odd panel for that. You will make life very hard for yourself and will probably be disappointed. At the beginning and end of each break ask yourself “is this panel going to turn out how I initially intended?

Different Types of Solar Panels

  • Satellite Grade Solar Cells
  • Polycrystalline Solar Panels – String Ribbon Silicon
  • Polycrystalline Solar Panels – Cast Polysilicon

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