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Disclaimer
Demand Energy Equality take no responsibility for your safety in following this guide.
Be advised that certain activities within can be dangerous, particularly the chance of
burns from the use of soldering irons. Handle the soldering irons with care. Only touch
the blue handle once hot.
While Demand Energy Equality will make every attempt to help to you create a working
panel through the use of this guide we cannot guarantee that user error will not prevent
a working solar panel.
Please do contact us via our website if you have any questions or if you need assistance
troubleshooting your panel.
Most of all, enjoy making your DIY PV Solar Panel. We'd love to hear your experiences,
suggestions and feedback.
This guide and associated videos are licensed under the Creative Commons License.
Essentially what this means is that the amount of power available increases if either the
volts or the amps increase, or of course if both increase. Similarly, the amount of power
available decreases if either the volts or the amps decrease, or if both decrease.
Now that we have a few concepts under our belt let's use them to build a useful solar
panel.
In fact, we are going to design a panel that is greater than 12V. We want our 12V battery
pack to be charging all through the day. To ensure this we need to design our panel to be
higher than 12V, so that we know that the flow of electricity can flow easily into the
battery pack. We want the voltage to be high enough that from the very start of the day
to the very end of the evening our batteries will be charging. For these reasons we're
going to design our panel to be 18V. At this voltage we get the most out of our panel.
Ok. We have a plan.... design an 18V panel. But how to do this?
Well, we know we are going to be working with the cells included. Lets find out a bit
more about them. Each cell generates for us 0.5V. They do this regardless of the surface
area of the cell. The surface area of the cell does have an affect on the current
generated by the cell. The current is generated when photons from the sun hit the cell
and start the flow of electrons around the circuit. The bigger the surface area, the more
photons that will hit the cell and so the more current.
In series connections the terminals are connected together positive to negative. This
means that the voltage will sum across the cells connected in series while the current will
stay constant.
In parallel connections the terminals are connected together positive to positive,
negative to negative. This means that the voltage will be constant across the appliances
and the current will sum.
So that's all the theory we need to know...
We want to create a circuit in which the voltage gets to 18V.
We have a bunch of cells at 0.5V and
we know that if we connect them in series the
voltage will sum.
So we need a total of 36 cells to create an 18V circuit.
To connect these cells together in series we need to connect them positive
to negative, or back to front.
Sounds pretty simple, yeah?
- A multimeter for testing and debugging your panel if it doesn't quite work as
expected. If you don't have one at home ask around as someone you know will. If
you really can't find one to borrow you can buy them for under 5 online
It's best to hold the soldering iron upright as you solder. This gives a better contact between the nib of
the iron and the tabbing wire, meaning better heat transfer.
Now repeat for all 36 cells that we need. You might find it worthwhile doing a few spares,
as we will likely break cells as we go.
Step Three:
We're ready now to start constructing the whole panel. Take one of the clear sheets of
polycarbonate plastic. The sheet has two sides, both covered with protective plastic. One
side has a hazy white coloured coating and the other has a clear and red coating. The
clear and red side is the side that is UV stable, so this is the side that will face the sun. We
will leave the protective coating on this side until we have finished building the panel.
Place with side face down on the table. Now remove the hazy, white coating from the
back. Place a sheet of the EVA meltable plastic down on this side. Now position the cells
on top, blue side facing down.
When positioning the rows of cells we need to ensure we can connect each row together
to complete our series circuit, front to back. This is easy enough. Lay the first row of cells
down close to the edge of the sheet of polycarbonate. Take note of at which end the
overhanging tabbing wire is coming from the front of the cell and from which end the
overhanging tabbing wire is coming from the back of the cell. Now lay the second row
beside it. The second row needs to be positioned such that the cells are pointing in the
opposite direction. So, where the first row's tabbing wire was coming from the back of the
cell, the adjacent cell in the second row should have overhanging tabbing wire coming
from the front of the cell. Likewise, at the other end, the first rows tabbing wire
overhangs from the front of the cell, then the second row's adjacent cell should have
tabbing wire overhanging from the back of the cell.
Repeat this, laying down each of the rows in opposite directions until you have laid down
all six. Be careful that you don't lay the cells over the holes predrilled in the poly
carbonate. These holes will be used to fasten the back and front of the panel together. So
ensure the cells aren't in the way!
To check that you've laid them all down correctly follow the rows around with your
finger, travelling down one row, then back up the next, then down the next one and back
up the next. If you were to take the overhanging tabbing wire and connect it together you
should find that a back at the end of one row is connecting to the front at the start of the
next. And likewise the front at the end of any row is connecting to the back of the next.
You should be able to snake around in this way leaving just two terminals poking out the
edges of the panel, one from the front (this will be the negative terminal) and one from
the back (this will be the positive terminal). This is very important to ensure the following
steps work correctly.
Once you are confident the cells are positioned correctly pull out your hairdryer. The hair
dryer will melt the EVA and the stick the cells to the polycarbonate. Turn it on and hold it
close to the cells, slowly moving it evenly over the cells. Hold everything in place as you
melt the EVA evenly and thoroughly. This will take quite a while. Be patient, as you will
get a much better reults and more effective panel if you do. Be sure to melt the EVA fully
and evenly so ensure a smooth finish that won't refract any light from the sun away from
the cells themselves. You might find the polycarbonate bends a little during this process.
This is temporary and it will flatten again once cooled.
Step Four:
Now all of the cells are fixed in position it's time to connect the rows so that we have a
full circuit. Starting from any corner, identify the overhanging tabbing wire in this corner
as one of your terminals (if it connects to the front of the cell it will be your negative
terminal and if it connects to the back of the cell this will be your positive terminal). Then
follow along the row to the other end. Connect the overhanging tabbing wire to the
overhanging tabbing wire of the next cell. This should connect one front and one back
together. Use the soldering iron to solder the two pieces of tabbing wire together. Now
follow down the next row and at the bottom connect the tabbing wire to the
overhanging tabbing wire of the next row. Again you should be connecting tabbing wire
from the front of one cell to tabbing wire from the back of the next cell.
Repeat this until you reach the other terminal, which doesn't connect to anything and
just overhangs at the end.
The Back of the Panel
Connect back to
front, negative to
positive
Connect back to
front, negative to
positive
Connect back to
front, negative to
positive
Terminal wire
from the back
(grey side) of the
cell. This is the
positive terminal.
Connect back to
front, negative to
positive
Connect back to
front, negative to
positive
Terminal wire
from the front
(blue side) of the
cell. This is the
negative
terminal.
Step Five:
1) Connect the Battery Pack. Start by putting batteries into the battery block. Now
connect the positive (red) wire to the positive battery screw on the charge controller.
This will be the third screw in the row of six. Connect the negative (black) wire to the
negative battery screw on the charge controller. This will be the forth screw in the row
of six. On the charge controller you should now see the battery lights have lit up. If you
don't see this it may be that your rechargable batteries are flat or the charge controller
is not working.
2) Connect the solar panel. Use the connector blocks to attach wire to the terminals of
the panel so that you can easily connect it to the charge controller. Connect the positive
terminal (from the back of a cell) to the first screw on the charge controller. Connect the
negative terminal to the second screw on the charge controller. Now comes the real
test. Take the connected panel out into the sun, facing toward the light. You should now
see the charge light come on on the charge controller. If it does, you know your panel is
producing a voltage high enough to charge your batteries. Hooray!
If the charge light doesn't come on then the panel is not producing a voltage or current
high enough for the charge controller to charge the batteries. This could be for a
number of reasons.
Move on to the
Troubleshooting
section so we can fix
this.
You might like to read
through the
troubleshooting
section anyway as it is
a great way to better
understand your panel
and the electricity it
produces.
3) For when you wish
to use your panel
(finish step six first)...
Connect the positive
(red) socket wire to the
positive output/load
screw on the charge
controller. This will be
screw five in the row of
six. The negative
(black) wire connects
to screw six
Step Six:
Now that you know the panel is working as expected it's time to seal it all up.
Firstly, lay the second piece of EVA film over the panel. Take the hairdryer back out and
melt the EVA to sandwich the cells between the two layers. This will create a weatherproof seal around the cells and help your panel last for longer.
Weather, particularly moisture, is damaging to the panel. Moisture in an electrical circuit
causes galvanic corrosion which is essentially a fast rusting of your connections. This is
not something that you want. The EVA creates a weather-proof seal around the cells to
prevent this.
Turn on your hairdryer and hold it close to the cells, slowly moving it evenly over the
cells. Hold everything in place as you melt the EVA evenly and thoroughly. This will take
quite a while. During this process you will also better melt the EVA at the front of the
cells, which is a good thing as it will improve the results from step three. This time we
are sealing the backs of the cells, so the finish is less important than before. Our main
priority is to get a good seal.
Next we can fix the backing piece of polycarbonate to the front sheet. Align all of the
holes and put enough washers between to ensure that when you tighten the bolts you
don't squash the cells together and break them.
Once all the bolts are tightened you are done!
Your panel is totally portable but when you set it up make sure you none of it is in the
shade. Because all the cells are in series, just one shaded cell can stop any current from
charging the batteries.
Using the Panel
You can theoretically charge anything you could charge from a car cigarette lighter
socket. However the capacity of the AA battery pack is quite small so don't expect to
charge for long out of the sun. An average laptop might expect 24mins charging time
from these batteries.
You can calculate this by considering:
So assuming the rechargable batteries have a 2A capacity, the laptop will charge for
2Ih/5 = 0.4 hours = 24 minutes.
If you want to you can connect a larger battery to the panel. Ensure the panel is 12V.
Aim for leisure batteries or deep cycle batteries, that are intended to be used in this way
to ensure long life of the battery.
Troubleshooting:
Testing
To test you'll need to get your hands on a multimeter. This is a device used to test
electrical circuits. You'll find someone you know has one in their shed. Or try visiting the
Demand Energy Equality space in Bristol or London. Or perhaps a hack space. There are
friendly open workshop spaces that would be more than willing to lend you a multimeter
and show you how to use one.
Worst case scenario you can buy a multimeter online or from an electronics shop for
about a 5er.
Firstly, test the voltage of the whole panel in the sun, using a DC voltage option on the
multimeter. If it shows higher than 18V then it is working fine. The issue is with the
connections into the charge controller or battery pack. Check the polarity is correct (ie
positive and negative wires haven't accidentally been swapped around.)
Note if it is not a sunny day each cell might read a lower voltage. Also, indoor lighting
will not give a good reading. Full sunlight is the best option.
If the panel shows less than 18V one or more of the cells aren't working. This could be a
dud cell (though this is rare) or it could be a short circuit (much more common). Again set
the multimeter to a DC voltage. Test each row in the sun by holding the arms of the
multimeter to the tabbing wire at each end of the row, one at a time. Each row should
show over 3V. If one of them reads less then go through and test each cell in this row
cumulatively (ie start at the first, then test the first and second together, then the first,
second and third together etc etc) until you find the culprit. The voltage should increase
by 0.5V each cell, so when the voltage doesn't increase as expected you have found a cell
with an issue. Check carefully that this cell is not touching the cells around it. Check also
that the tabbing wire at either end of the cell is not touching the following tabbing wire,
causing a short circuit.
Replacing Cells
If you do discover a cell that needs to be replaced, because it is not connected in the
right way or is broken, then follow these steps. Note check out the following section Cracks
to check if a cracked cell needs to be replaced.
Firstly use the soldering iron to go back over the tabbing wire on the back of the cell, and
on the back of the cell it is connected to.
Next, use the hardryer to reheat the cell in question. This will melt the EVA so that, using
a knife you can gradually get the cell off the polycarbonate. You will definitely break this
cell, don't owrry about getting it up in pieces.
Now, solder tabbing wire to the front of a fresh cell. Use a spare bit of EVA to reposition
this cell back in place. Then solder the backing tabbing wire down again. Now test again.
This is quite arduous so it's good to be sure you definitely have ot replace the cell before
you do. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
For a somewhat annoying but very clear instruction video on how to use a multimeter try this
You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7WHaL_dz8
Cracked Cells:
Given the fragility of the cells it's pretty likely that you'll break a cell or 10 in the process of
building your panel. Breaking the cells in the later stages makes it much more difficult to
replace. As a rule of thumb, if you find a crack before you fix the cells to the panel,
replace it. After the cells have been fixed to the panel use the guide below to decide if
you do need to replace it.
If a cell has: