Wife bought me DIY solar kit, instructions anywhere?

dherscher
dherscher Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭✭
After doing a lot of reading on this forum and around the internet I know DIY solar panels can catch fire and are generally a bad idea. However, my wife, not knowing any of this and knowing I love solar power, bought me a DIY 12W educational solar panel kit from Silicon Solar (super sketchy company by the way, do NOT deal with them). The kit came with 30 cells, solder, flux, tabbing, and a solder iron, but....no instructions, which is part of the reason this company is so terrible. I am interested in learning a bit and would like to assemble the parts into a panel. I definitely have very low expectations for the finished product and will only use it to charge a battery and keep it far away from any structures that could burn down. 
I've checked out a few Instructables and other YouTube videos but I was wondering if anyone had any reliable "professional" place where I could find some instructions? 

Comments

  • zoneblue
    zoneblue Solar Expert Posts: 1,220 ✭✭✭✭
    I dont think 12W is going to do any real harm, even if it goes real pear shaped. Youve got nothing to lose by having a fiddle with it. The only thing id add is that 30 cells is 6 shy of what you generally need to charge a 12V battery.
    1.8kWp CSUN, 10kWh AGM, Midnite Classic 150, Outback VFX3024E,
    http://zoneblue.org/cms/page.php?view=off-grid-solar


  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Here is a good series on Do It Yourself solar panel construction (don't recommend, but if you want to try:

    http://fieldlines.com/board/index.ph...,144982.0.html
    http://fieldlines.com/board/index.ph...,144995.0.html
    http://fieldlines.com/board/index.ph...,145004.0.html

    But, honestly, -- Don't expect much from the kit. "Good" solar cells these days are about at fragile as potato chips (very fragile)... The chances that you could solder 30 of them together and get any "useful" amount of power out of them is remote.

    And many of the raw cells from EBay and others are "seconds" that have failed incoming quality control for solar panel companies (and could cause localized over heating or even fires if mounted to plastic/wood substrates).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • animatt
    animatt Solar Expert Posts: 295 ✭✭✭
    If still wanting to experiment maybe make a panel that would charge 5v devices. You could even attach a female USB cable directly to the panel.


    To me this way you can POSSIBLY get something useful from a finished panel.
  • dherscher
    dherscher Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭✭
    I have a 50W Renology panel already for charging a battery and running an ice melter in the winter. Is there any reason I couldn't/shouldn't connect this newly constructed DIY one with the good one?
  • PNjunction
    PNjunction Solar Expert Posts: 762 ✭✭✭
    If you are going to parallel the Renogy with your DIY panel, then you want to make sure that there is no more than a 10% difference in voltage.

    In other words, if your Renogy measures 20v ocv, then your diy panel should be within 18 - 22v.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1) learn to solder really well with just copper wire and scrap PCB boards, learn to lay a wire on the trace and not cook it.
    2) use a variable temp soldering iron, that just barely melts the solder, too hot and you dissolve the metal layer off the cells.
    3) the cells are much more fragile than a potato chip
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