What to Look Out For When You Build a PV Panel
Don’t be too quick to start to build a solar panel, because before you start; there are a few pitfalls that you need to be aware of. Building a solar panel is a relatively easy process if you have good instructions to follow, know where to get the individual products from and have the right equipment.
But before even those basic steps, it is more important to have a clear picture of what your solar panel is going to end up looking like and where you are going to use it. Decide how big your dream is. Do want to start a solar farm, building 2000 watt panels and feed electricity back to the national grid or do you want to build 500 watt panels for running specific appliances in your home or do just want a small one; to build a solar panel for re-charging your digital camera batteries?
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.
Now you know how large you solar panel is going to be, we now have to find a ready source of solar cells. Now you don’t want to pay a lot of money for them. EBay is always a good place to start when wanting to buy anything on the cheap, the only downside is that you can’t always get the exact thing you are after. However, this process is a bit hit and miss and only about 50% of the time can you find something that you are looking for.
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. You want to develop a relationship with these companies so that they call you when they have any damaged cells they want to get rid of. A big user of solar cells are the companies who repair roads or make street signs for roads. These signs get damaged on a regular basis and have to be repaired.
If the solar panel is damaged they will throw the old panel away replace it with a new one. If you have a good training manual which shows you how to build a solar panel, it won’t take much for you to repair a damaged one.
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.
My passing shot is to remind you what I said a short while ago, know precisely what it is you want to end up with, how big and where you are going to put it. If you don’t have that clear picture, you will build an array which has no useful purpose. You will make life very hard for yourself and will probably be disappointed. Stick a picture on the wall and go and build it.
Different Types of Solar Panels
- Thin Film Solar Panels - cadmium telluride
- Thin Film Solar Panels - copper indium diselenide
- Monocrystalline Solar Panels
