How To Create Your Own Solar Power System
Shaun Kirkpatrick
Shaun Kirkpatrick
If you would like to save money and help to conserve the environment, you might want to consider installing a solar power system in your home. If you already possess a bit of technical know-how, doing this by yourself will be simpler than you may think. The steps below will help you get started by advising you how to make a small solar panel which you can use for your system.
Make a frame with 4 pieces of wood - 1/2-inch x 1-inch x 4 ft. and 4 1/2-inch x 1-inch x 1 ft. 10-inch pieces. Take 2 of the 4 ft. and 2 of the 1 ft. strips on the plywood panel to make a border and attach with screws. Measure a piece of pegboard to 1-ft. x 3-ft. 10-inches to fit inside the framing strips. Sand all the wood pieces. Paint the pegboard and the plywood with white paint. Put the pegboard into the frame once it is dry. Screw it in along the edges. Paint the other 4 pieces of wood. Drill 2 holes 1/2–inch apart at the left corner on the bottom through the pegboard and plywood.
Make a base from a 4-ft. x 12-inch piece of plywood. Trace the solar cell onto cardboard to use as a stencil. Trace the stencils in each corner. Place a tile spacer in each corner. Put 2 solar cells into each spacer. Using a rosin flux pen, attach your positive and negative wires onto each solar cell. Test them with a meter. Connect all 12 cells to the strip so you end up with 36 cells.
Place all the evenly spaced solar cell strips on the pegboard and secure it with caulk. Connect them to make a current path. Check to make sure the voltage is between 10-12 volts.
Pull a piece of 20-gauge black wire through the hole at the bottom of the frame. Do the same with a 20-gauge red wire. The red wire should be underneath the frame coming out the back. Do the same with the black wire. The voltage should be about 18 volts at this point.
Put a piece of Plexiglas on the frame, mark where the screws will go and drill holes into the Plexiglas. Do the same with 4 pieces of wood. Put the Plexiglas on the frame and the wood on top of the Plexiglas and screw them all together. Turn it over and attach the 3 ft. boards so 6-inches will extend on each side.
The red and black connectors will be attached to the charge controller and the battery. The charge controller will be connected to the solar panel and to the battery. You can plug a small lamp into the inverter and it will run on the electricity which came from the solar panel.