DIY Solar Panel Kits
DIY Solar Panel Kits
Make your own solar panels from as little as US$2.95 per Watt.
solar | generalAs
PV solar power becomes more and more popular around the world as a clean, green means of generating electricity, the costs of
photovoltaic solar panels have remained stubbornly high: even after a few years of price falls (from £4-5 per Watt) still the best priced solar panels cost over £2 per Watt, and usually more.
Fluctuations in the value of the dollar has made imports from China, Taiwan, and USA more attractive, but once the costs of shipping and customs duty are taken into account, prices can still be too high for many people.
An alternative to expensive commercial
solar panels is to build your own using
solar cells. In this article we looked (April 2007) at
DIY solar panel kits available from
Silicon Solar Inc in the USA, and we have subsequently (March 2011) added information on new solar cell kits now available in the UK.
Making Your Own Solar Panels
Solar panels whether commerically-made or DIY-made are constructed by wiring
solar cells together in an array. Pictured below is an example of such a single
solar cell of which typically 36 would be connected in series to make a 12VDC charging solar panel.
In this article we used to recommend
Silicon Solar kits which are supplied with a set of solar cells, detailed assembly (soldering and wiring) instructions, interconnection material (metal ribbon), a soldering iron, and liquid solder for easy soldering.
However, prices at the time of updating this article (March 2011) are $116.40 for 42 Watt kit, $69.55 for a 20 Watt kit, and $50.80 for a 12 Watt kit. For the 42 Watt kit that is $2.77 per Watt, and there is still the cost of shipping as well as the not inconsiderably cost of materials to build a weatherproof housing for the solar panel. Therefore, although 3-5 years ago, these kits made economic sense, they no longer do so when a commercial 40 Watt panel can now be had for under £100 - for example here:
40 Watt Solar Panel.
If you are still interested in these
DIY Solar Panel Kits click here. Though
Silicon Solar Inc are based in the United States, they do offer worldwide shipping.
New Solar Panel Kits - UK
Although it is possible to purchase the cells and other components independently, when the costs of postage etc are included, it makes more sense to just buy one of the new cheap
solar cell kits which are now starting to become available from sellers here in the UK.
Pictured above is a
solar cell kit made up of 72 3"x6" 1.8W 3.6A 0.5V 'B' grade (cosmetically faulty but perfectly working) solar cells. They could be connected in two parallel connected strings of 36 to make one large 80W+ panel or made into two separate 40W+ panels for 12V charging. The kit includes wire, busbar, a rosin flux pen, and a couple of diodes, so all you need to a soldering iron. Priced at around £80, the cost is less than £1 per Watt.
Click here for more information and/or to purchase this
solar cell kit and others.
Article Last Modified: 11:08, 9th Mar 2011Comment on this Article
If you have any comments on this article, please email them to
neil@reuk.co.uk.
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