Solar Cells
How to Build Your Own Solar Cell
Once you have learned the simple & inexpensive way to make your own solar cells you can make as many as you like to generate as much electricity as you need.
The solar cell is able to convert energy from the sun’s rays into electricity by, what is known as the photovoltaic effect & can be made quite easily at home in your kitchen.
Furthermore, not only is solar energy an efficient way to power your home, but it is environmentally friendly & can provide independence from the national power grid.
What is Needed to Make a Homemade Solar Cell
You probably have most of these materials & equipment but what you don’t have you can easily purchase from your local hardware store;
- A sheet of copper flashing about 15cm²
- Shears with which to cut the copper sheeting.
- 2 x Crocodile clip leads
- A multimeter that is sensitive enough to read currents between 10 and 50 micro amperes.
- An electric stove.
- A large plastic bottle similar to a 2 litre plastic Coke bottle
- Normal table salt
- Tap water
- A wire brush attached to an electric drill
How to Make a Solar Cell
- Cut the copper sheet to fit the burner on your stove
- Wash the sheet so that is free of dirt & grease
- Turn the stove’s hot plate onto its highest setting & place the sheet on it
- As the hot plate gets red hot the sheet will be covered with a layer of black cupric oxide
- After about 30 minutes of this turn the heat off & leave the copper sheet on the hot plate to cool naturally & slowly
- As the cooling process gets going the black cupric oxide coat will start to flake off the copper
- Once it has cooled to room temperature you may have to rub off some of the stubborn oxide with your hands under running water – do not scrub it off or bend the sheet as it may damage the red cuprous oxide layer which is necessary for the successful working of the solar cell work
- Now cut another piece of copper sheeting the same size & put them both into the plastic bottle that has had the top cut off (bent slightly to assume the contour of the sides of the bottle) without them touching each other
- Attach the crocodile clips one to each sheet & fill the bottle up with warm water that has had a few table spoons of salt mixed into it, without getting the clips wet
- Make sure that the clip from the clean copper sheet is attached to the +ve terminal of your multimeter & the clip from the cuprous oxide sheet to the -ve terminal
- The solar cell you have just made will give you a reading of a few micro-amps in the dark and at least 30 micro-amps in sunshine
See the finished article of your homemade solar cell in the picture above.
This is an example of how easy it is to make your own solar cells at home and with little expense – in fact you could place as many as you need on your roof to provide energy for your household.
Can Solar Cells Produce Usable Power?
It should be noted that while making your own solar cells is totally feasible, it may not be worth the effort as the energy generated by a single solar cell, or multiple cells, may not produce enough power to be practicable or usable.
A better course of action might be to build your own solar panels which can provide usable energy for your home.
On the other hand, if your application requirement is relatively small than a solar cell could be the best solution for your needs.
However, you can go to the following link for more information on Solar Cells here…