How to make a solar battery with your own hands: instructions for self-assembly

How does a solar power plant work?

To assemble a solar battery for a home with your own hands, you need some knowledge in order for the whole structure to function. If a person understands all the principles of work, he will be able to assemble a solar battery more easily.

Solar battery device

A solar-powered station relies on three components:

1. The solar battery itself, which is a block from a set of elements. In them, the incoming energy is divided into electrons with a positive and negative charge. After passing through this procedure, an electric current is generated.
2. The second component is the battery.One battery can contain several batteries at once, up to ten pieces. If you need to increase the efficiency of the solar station, you need to add the number of batteries.
3. The third element is a device that changes the current from a low voltage type to high voltage energy. This device is called an inventory. It is better to buy an inverter with a power of more than 4 kilowatts.

Scheme of installation of solar panels

Photoconverters made of copper sheets

Sheet copper is actively used in radio mechanics. For the manufacture of generators, it is ideal due to its technical characteristics and physical properties.

The work kit comes with the following items:

• copper plates;
• crocodile clips (2 pcs.);
• highly sensitive microammeter;
• electric stove (at least 1000 W);
• plastic bottle (pre-cut off the top);
• food salt (2 tablespoons);
• water;
• sandpaper;
• metal scissors.

The assembly process of the structure includes the following steps.

1. Cut off a piece of copper from a single piece. The size of the workpiece must be identical to the parameters of the heating element of the tile. The cut segment must be cleaned with emery, and then heated on the stove, setting the maximum temperature. At first, multi-colored patterns will become noticeable, after which the details turn black. Their heat treatment continues for 30 minutes. After that, copper is allowed to cool directly on the stove with the burner turned off.

2. After the black oxide has fallen off, wash the copper using running water.

3. Cut another piece of the same size from the copper sheet. Both blanks are placed in a plastic bottle in such a way that there was no contact between them.

four.Fix the plates to the walls of the bottle with special clamps. Bring a conductor from pure copper to the "+" at the output of the measuring device, the processed plate is connected to "-".

5. Dilute edible salt in water, pour the solution into a bottle. The liquid should approximately half cover the attached copper blanks.

The generator is ready for testing!

The feasibility of a homemade solar panel

Understanding these physical properties of silicon will help you build your own solar panel. To get started, you need to prepare.

In any case, a backup source of electricity is always in demand. Moreover, the cost of a solar kilowatt is significantly lower than traditional electricity. Of course, many people want to purchase and install factory-made solar panels. The price of the entire set of equipment for a home power plant scares off. Therefore, the question is very relevant - how to assemble a solar battery yourself?

A more competent approach is to calculate the amount of energy generated by one module:

W = k*Pw*E/1000

Where:

• E is the amount of solar insolation for a known period of time;
• k - coefficient forming in summer - 0.5, in winter - 0.7;
• Pw is the power of one device.

Based on the planned total power consumption and calculated data, the total power consumption of electricity is calculated.

Now, if the result is divided by the estimated performance of one photocell, in the final we get the required number of modules.

Calculate the required power

After making a fateful decision to make a solar battery yourself at home, you need to understand what power is required.The output power of the device is directly dependent on the area of ​​​​the working surface of the solar panels. The more plates with photocells, the more powerful the solar battery.

An individual system that autonomously provides electricity to the house is usually used in areas where there are no centralized electrical networks. The combined system involves the combination of the use of electricity from a traditional source and solar panels as a backup option.

By simple arithmetic operations, the total required power consumption of energy should be determined. Multiplying the generated current (A) by the voltage (V), we get the power of the solar battery (W).

It is known from practice that one square meter of the surface of a solar battery produces about one hundred and twenty watts of electrical energy per hour. Now you need to choose a lead-acid battery of sufficient capacity. The energy reserve in the batteries should be enough for a day of uninterrupted operation of all consumers.

If you have not had to deal with the operation of solar modules, you should not immediately create a large clearing of panels. Let your desires be modest, first make a small module and try to operate it in all modes.

Data on insolation in a particular area will also be required. The inverter should be selected according to the maximum peak load. It is desirable to be able to automatically disconnect loads from the battery and receive electricity directly from the solar panel.

Crafts for cosmonautics day to school for schoolchildren

At school, children are already more consciously approaching work on crafts on the theme of space.They know more about the Galaxy, about the structure of the planet and about rockets. And also students can sit longer at work.

Styrofoam balls of different diameters will help to recreate an accurate picture of the structure of the solar system.

Space crafts can be varied and made from improvised materials. You can even make a planet out of a balloon.

Inflate a balloon of the desired size.

Paste it with white paper, tearing it into pieces, using PVA. It is better to glue over several layers so that the design is denser.

Wait for it to dry and pierce the ball, pull it out by the tail.

Seal the hole and glue the rope or tape. Cut out the ring of Saturn from cardboard.

Children love to sculpt from plasticine, and above all, this is the easiest and cheapest material. Even recreating the solar system is not difficult from a simple box and plasticine.

Whoever has a more developed fantasy can come up with cosmic life by creating several aliens.

High school students can decorate their room with an original space-themed craft.

Materials:

• colored cardboard
• colored paper
• Bamboo twigs
• fishing line
• Threads
• Paints
• Styrofoam balls

From thick cardboard you need to make circles, paint with paints in the color of outer space.

This circle will be the base to which you need to attach the planets on the strings.

Styrofoam balls are painted according to the colors of the planets.

As a basis, you can take a ring made of wood.

With the help of parents, making a themed craft will be much easier and faster.

Materials:

• Wire
• balls
• Plasticine
• fishing line
• Scissors
• Gouache
• Tassels
• Water

The balls need to be painted in different colors that correspond to the planets of the solar system.

To make small planets in size, use plasticine.

We assemble the system with the help of a fishing line.

We twist the snail from the wire and attach the balls in the required order.

Connect adjacent orbits with a fishing line.

Attach this entire system to a large stick.

A couple of hours can be spent to make a funny alien.

Materials:

• Foil
• corrugated paper
• Markers
• Napkins/newspaper
• Wire

Start by making a hand, making a few fingers. We need two hands.

We make the body round - we turn the ball out of paper and wrap it with foil.

With the help of wire we collect our humanoid.

To make the mouth, twist the wire into an oval and wrap it first with foil and then with corrugated paper.

Make three eyes and attach them to the round body too.

Advantages and disadvantages

The benefits of a solar panel include:

• ease of installation and maintenance;
• no harm to the environment;
• small mass of panels;
• silent operation;
• supplies of electric energy independent of the distribution network;
• immobility of structural elements;
• small cash costs for production;
• long service life.

The disadvantages of solar panels include:

• the complexity of the manufacturing process;
• uselessness in the dark;
• the need for a large area for installation;
• susceptibility to pollution.

Although the manufacture of a solar panel is a laborious process, it can be assembled by hand.

Basic working principle

transformation sunlight into electrical energy occurs as a result of the fact that additional carriers of holes or electrons appear in the semiconductor, as a phenomenon of the internal photoelectric effect of absorption of sunlight.

In this case, electrons are collected in the n-region, and holes are concentrated in the p-region. At the border of these regions, a force appears that moves the electrons. By connecting an external load, while illuminating the p-n junction with sunlight, the devices will record the electron current.

It was not profitable business in the last century to develop mass production due to the high cost of raw materials. Today, thanks to the development of technology, experts offer the use of modern silicon solar cells at a very affordable price.

What is a solar panel and what is it used for?

A solar battery is a device whose principle of operation is based on the ability of photovoltaic cells to convert solar energy into electricity. These converters are interconnected in a common system. The resulting electric current is stored in special devices - batteries.

The larger the panel area, the more electrical energy can be obtained

The power of the solar battery depends on the size of the field of photocells. But this does not mean that only large areas are able to reproduce the required amount of electricity. For example, well-known calculators can use portable solar panels that are built into their case.

Peculiarities

Today, batteries based on photovoltaic polycrystals are the most widely used.Such models are distinguished by an optimal combination of cost and the amount of energy released, they are characterized by a rich blue color and a crystalline structure of the main elements. They are very easy to install, because even a master without much work experience can cope with their installation in his private house and at their summer cottage. Monocrystalline photovoltaic panels are the second most popular.

Solar cells, which are made using amorphous silicon, are characterized by rather low efficiency. However, their prices are somewhat lower than the cost of analogues, so the model is in demand among the owners of country houses. At the moment, such products account for 85% of the market. They cannot boast of high power and cadmium telluride modifications; their production is based on a high-tech film technique: several hundred micrometers of a substance is applied in a thin layer on a durable surface. It is noteworthy that at a very low level of efficiency of the product, its power is quite high.

Another option for solar-powered batteries are the CIGS semiconductor-based varieties. Like the previous version, they are produced using film technology, however, their efficiency is much higher. Separately, it is worth dwelling on the mechanism of operation of solar heat and light sources. The main thing is to clearly realize that the total amount of energy generated cannot in any way depend on the degree of efficiency of the device itself, since usually all types of such devices provide approximately identical power.The main difference is that panels that have maximum efficiency require less space for their installation.

Solar panels have the following advantages:

• environmental friendliness of the installation;
• long period of use, during which the operational features of the panels remain consistently high;
• technologies rarely break down, therefore they do not need service and maintenance, as well as expensive repairs;
• the use of batteries based on solar energy allows you to reduce the cost of electricity and gas in the house;
• solar panels are exceptionally easy to use.

However, it was also not without drawbacks, among the most significant are the following:

• high stage panels;
• the need to install a variety of additional equipment to effectively synchronize the energy received from the battery and that obtained from traditional sources;
• the panels cannot be used in contact with such appliances that require high powers.

Solar panels: from costs to benefits

The cost of a solar system depends on its size, which in turn depends on the size of the house and energy needs. For a qualified calculation of power and components, an energy survey of the facility is performed before installation, after which specialists determine the optimal number of solar collectors for the best result with the lowest initial costs. The most significant economic benefit from a solar collector is when it is used to heat water in a hot water system. With maintenance costs up to 1,000 rubles.per year, a solar water heater will provide the house at a time from KO to 300 liters (depending on the volume of the tank) of hot water and will last from 10 to 15 years. For comparison: an electric water heater with annual maintenance costs from 2,000 to 6,000 rubles. "keeps ready" 60-120 liters of hot water and usually lasts 5-8 years. Over 10 years, the cost of a solar water heater will be up to 10 thousand rubles, and for an electric one - 20-60 thousand rubles.

It is advantageous to use solar collectors for heating. The combined system of 70% solar energy and 30% electrical energy is especially effective. In 20 years, it will be half the price of a purely electric system and 2.5 times cheaper than a diesel one.

And over the entire life of the house, with a constant increase in electricity tariffs, the savings will be even more significant. While energy carriers will rise in price, solar energy will remain free. For example, at the cost of 1 kWh of electricity 3 rubles. in 10 years, a solar collector system will save 300 thousand rubles, and in 20 years - 700 thousand rubles. excluding inflation.

The vacuum collector with U-tubes will provide up to 2,200 kWh of thermal energy during the heating season, which corresponds to the heat from burning 400 kg of coal or 200 liters of diesel fuel. And at the same time, you do not need to bring, fill up and fill in fuel: the energy of the sun comes to your house by itself.

Low Power Solar Panels

Following the step-by-step instructions, it will not be difficult to make your own low-power solar panel. Let us consider in detail the procedure for manufacturing a solar battery using copper foil measuring 9.0 x 5.0 centimeters.

To begin with, the foil must be thoroughly degreased with alcohol or a solution of laundry soap. Using an emery cloth, copper oxide deposits should be removed from the surface. Now let it lie on the hot burner of the electric stove for half an hour.

After a short temperature shock, copper oxide turns into an oxide and easily peels off from the surface. After a uniform and slow cooling, the residues can be washed off under running water. Now you need to cut a second sheet of copper foil of the same size.

The copper foil plates should be placed so that they are opposite each other without touching each other in the container. Now the container needs to be filled with saline water, three centimeters to the top of the plates.

Under the influence of sunlight, a chemical reaction will occur and electric current will flow through the wires. The power of such a source is small, but such a source can be used for a solar-powered lamp on a camping trip, charging a mobile phone.

Not everyone can afford to buy a ready-made solar battery. Therefore, such a budget option is quite right to life.

Principle of operation

If you have not particularly delved into the question of how to make a solar battery before, then first of all you should understand the principle of its operation. If you understand the principle of how it works, then the question of how to do it yourself will not confuse you. In fact, its design is quite simple.

As we wrote above, a solar battery (SB) is a number of photovoltaic power converters made of silicon to generate direct current. All elements are connected and installed in a container.

There are three types of converters:

• monocrystalline;
• polycrystalline;
• amorphous or thin film.

The photoelectric effect is the following: light from the Sun falls on photocells, after which it knocks out free electrons from the last orbits of each atom of the silicon wafer. Free electrons begin to move between the electrodes, thereby generating a direct current. Direct current, in turn, is converted into alternating current, which will be equipped with the building.

scheme for converting solar energy in cells

Popular types of photocells

In the manufacture of solar panels for the home, it is necessary to select photocells according to technical parameters:

Single crystals. Suitable for continuous operation for thirty years. Experts believe that this is the most popular material. The efficiency can reach 14 percent in direct sunlight. Batteries that have already stood for more than thirty years, give out about eighty percent of the design capacity of the device.

Polycrystals. It can be operated continuously for up to twenty years without any change in performance. At the same time, the efficiency of such a battery can be up to nine percent.

amorphous systems. The basis of this solar cell is flexible silicon, which absorbs the light of the sun. Under any weather conditions, such a device will provide stable operation with an efficiency of up to ten percent. The use of this material makes the device difficult to manufacture and increases the cost of the solar battery.

They also have the shortest warranty period for the device.Such systems justify use in the equatorial zone. There is high solar activity and a lot of deserted space for high-power solar stations.

In any case, choosing the type of photocell, you should be guided by your financial capabilities and the quality of the material. It is desirable to select photocells of the same size and type. Typically, 3x6 inch photocells are used.

Features of calculating the power of systems

Before purchasing components and making a solar panel, the required power of the device and the battery capacity are calculated.

The easiest way is to use online calculators posted on some sites on the Internet.

The amount of energy stated in the product data sheet is based on ideal conditions. It is impossible to navigate them, because the devices work differently depending on the time of year and day. Energy losses occur constantly, incl. in batteries, inverter (+)

The most important indicator that will have to be taken into account is the average monthly amount of energy consumed. It can be determined by the counter.

You should also make allowances for features of the solar panels themselves. They are capable of delivering maximum power only under the condition of a clear sky, and the angle of incidence of the sun's rays must be direct.

If the weather is cloudy or the angle of incidence of the rays is too sharp, the power of the batteries may drop by 20 times. Even the slightest clouds are enough to halve the performance. Therefore, when calculating, they are guided by the fact that 70% of the energy will be generated from 9 to 16 hours, and the rest of the time - up to 30%.

In winter, solar systems are of little use: due to cloudy weather, they generate a minimum amount of energy. But wind turbines operate at full capacity and are able to compensate for these losses. The combination of these two devices is very effective.

Under near-ideal conditions, 1kWh panels generate 7kWh during "working hours" and about 3kWh in the early morning and evening. It is better not to take the second indicator into account at all and leave it “in reserve”, taking into account possible cloudiness and changes in the angle of incidence of the rays.

It turns out that you should focus on 210 kW / h within 1 calendar month. This is an ideal indicator that needs to be adjusted.

On ebay, you can find a good kit for making a solar battery with your own hands. Sometimes these are devices that were rejected in production (the so-called B-type modules). They are cheap, but quite suitable for assembling a home system, since the performance is close to the declared ones.

To determine the real amount of energy, you should find data on how many sunny days a year there are in a particular region. During these periods, the battery power will not even be half of the passport indicator. If the devices will work in autumn and winter, then you need to make an adjustment of 30-50% for cloudy weather.

Panel selection advice

To get an output power of 145 W at a voltage of 18 V and at the same time not get out of the budget too much, it is better to look at class B kits.

Class B packages account for the bulk of the entire solar battery market.For those who want to try to assemble panels with their own hands, it is better to look at just such manufacturers. But there are a lot of such companies now and, as a rule, they are engaged not in production, but in the resale of finished components. Or, in order to save money, manual assembly of panels is actively used, which naturally leads to a decrease in quality. Therefore, one must be prepared for the fact that the declared characteristics may not coincide with the real parameters. And counting on warranty obligations from such little-known companies is also not worth it.

If you buy 36 pieces of Chinese panels on the Alibaba website, it will cost 3200 rubles. With the price of a ready-made kit with the same characteristics of 6250 rubles, the benefit is very tangible.

Therefore, the idea of ​​making solar panels for the home with your own hands is becoming even more relevant.

What is important to consider when investing in solar panels

Service

It is not enough just to install the panels - they need to be looked after. At least clean, and not only from snow, but also from dust.

The choice of funds will depend on the area of ​​​​the batteries and on the economic feasibility of choosing certain forms and means of care. The main thing to understand is that dust on the panel can reduce its effectiveness by 7%.

Snow, dust, bird droppings - all this will lead to a decrease in efficiency.

It is necessary to service the structure with a certain frequency. At least once a quarter, it is worth watering the panels from a powerful hose with water. Given this, the location of the house should also be taken into account when deciding whether to purchase solar panels. For example, if there is construction nearby, there will be more dust, the panels will have to be cleaned more often. Or less electricity will be produced.

In addition, it is necessary to monitor the serviceability of structures and, in case of mechanical violations, make repairs. You also need to change the batteries, this happens every ten years.

House location

The location of the house affects the effectiveness of the solution. We have already mentioned contamination - the frequency of cleaning the batteries depends on it. Shade will also be a problem for generating the maximum amount of electricity. It can be like the shadow of tall trees on your estate (you can control this yourself) or the shadow of large buildings nearby (it does not depend on you).

The shadow is important to consider when choosing the type of panels - there are several of them and they react differently to the shadow. Polycrystalline ones simply reduce the output of electricity, while monocrystalline ones completely stop the production of electricity on shaded fragments.

Now the use of batteries is taken into account before construction, because their efficiency directly depends on how accessible the surface with batteries is to the sun's rays during the hours of their maximum activity (usually from 10:00 to 14:00) and all solar hours.

Insolation

In different regions, the earth reaches different amounts of sunlight. There is such a thing as insolation - a measure of solar radiation falling on the earth, which is measured in kW / m2 / days. The higher this value, the more electricity can be obtained with fewer solar panels. For example, in the southwest, to obtain a certain amount of energy, you will have to spend less than in the northwest.

Coverage

To get more electricity from the sun, you need more coverage.

To determine how many batteries you need, you need to find out:

• What is the insolation in your area.
• How much electricity do you need.

Find out how much kWh you use per day and do the calculations.

For example, 30 kWh. We multiply this number by 0.25 and get 7.5 - which means you need to get 7.5 kW a day. One standard panel generates 0.12 kW per day. Its parameters are 142x64 cm. It will take 62 panels, which will cover approximately 65 square meters. m. After such calculations, you need to make an adjustment for insolation and take into account the amount of direct light per day, taking into account the shade. There are a number of nuances that experts can take into account.

How much does it cost

Having calculated the quantity, it remains to take into account the cost of acquisition and installation. The good news is that the price of solar panels continues to fall, whereas half a century ago this technology was completely out of reach for people of average means.

Now, to serve a large house and receive about 900 kWh per month (30 kWh per day), you will need about 20-40 thousand dollars. You can divide them by the number of years of use and estimate the benefit. Most often, solar energy is used in parallel with standard solutions, supplementing the solar system with electricity from the network.

Batteries are also rented, which can be a good alternative.

Disposal

Although batteries last up to 50 years, some of their components fail faster (the controller lasts 15 years, the battery 4-10). There is a question of recycling, when buying it is worth making sure. That a company that produces batteries accepts their components for recycling - only 30% of manufacturers do this.