Make Solar Cells
Making your own solar cell is a very cost effective way of harnessing one of the best renewable energy source, the sun.
You will be able to save more money by building your own solar power system, versus having to buy a pre-built system from a home hardware store, or hiring someone to build one.
If you are careful to maintain your solar system once built and installed, it will give you many years (often up to 30 years) of benefits.
Below you will find some of our best tips and ideas for how to make solar cells.
Here's The Process Of Making Your Own Solar Cell: You will start by using a piece of sandpaper to go over the different portions of the copper that you can cut off a sheet.
You will want to ensure that there is no corrosion on the copper.
Then, wash the piece of copper sheet using a sponge or towel along with water and a light soap.
Make sure all oil from your hands has been removed.
Dry the copper sheet completely and refrain from toughing the copper directly.
Next, get some tongs or long pliers and put the piece of copper on the hot plate.
Make sure the hot plate is as hot as possible.
Now you will need to cook the copper with hot heat for about 30-40 minutes.
You should start to see thick black layer of oxides begin to form on the surface of the copper.
Make sure you watch the copper and never leave it unattended while it is being heated on the hot plate.
You will notice an oxide layer forming on the copper as it begins to cool which will cause the two to separate.
Since the process of heating the copper can be dangerous, make sure you keep all flammable items and children away form the copper and hot plate.
This process should take about 20 minutes to complete and also allow for the copper sheet to cool completely.
Next, you will wash the copper in regular water.
Continue to wash the copper until all of the black film is removed from it.
You will notice a thin red layer begin to form which is cuprous oxide.
Now get the cooked copper sheet along with the uncooked sheet and fit both of them into a plastic bottle.
Make sure that you bend them in such a way that they do not come in contact with each other.
Now you can attach one of the alligator leads to the top area of each of the copper sheets and connect the two with a meter.
Connect the positive end of the terminal to the uncooked copper sheet.
And make sure the negative terminal is attached to the uncooked portion.
From here, take 2 tablespoons of table salt and dissolve it completely in 2 cups of water.
Then, take the bottle out into the sun and check your meter.
If you have been successful, the meter should raise up to about 50 micro amps.
Now take the bottle out of the sun and let the meter register down to below 10.
It is important that you clip one of the available alligator leads to the top of each sheet to connect these to the meter.
The positive terminal of the meter must link to the uncooked sheet.
The negative terminal must link to the cooked sheet.
Dissolve two tablespoons of salt into a few cups of water.
Pour right into the plastic bottle, allowing the water level to rise about 1 inch from the top of the sheet.
Put the bottle out in the sun and observe the meter.
The meter should rise consistently to about 50 micro-amps.
Place the bottle in the shade and allow the meter to go down below ten.
Congratulations, you have learned how to make solar cells! The entire process takes 3-4 hours.
You can also consult a step by step guide along with videos.
You will be able to save more money by building your own solar power system, versus having to buy a pre-built system from a home hardware store, or hiring someone to build one.
If you are careful to maintain your solar system once built and installed, it will give you many years (often up to 30 years) of benefits.
Below you will find some of our best tips and ideas for how to make solar cells.
Here's The Process Of Making Your Own Solar Cell: You will start by using a piece of sandpaper to go over the different portions of the copper that you can cut off a sheet.
You will want to ensure that there is no corrosion on the copper.
Then, wash the piece of copper sheet using a sponge or towel along with water and a light soap.
Make sure all oil from your hands has been removed.
Dry the copper sheet completely and refrain from toughing the copper directly.
Next, get some tongs or long pliers and put the piece of copper on the hot plate.
Make sure the hot plate is as hot as possible.
Now you will need to cook the copper with hot heat for about 30-40 minutes.
You should start to see thick black layer of oxides begin to form on the surface of the copper.
Make sure you watch the copper and never leave it unattended while it is being heated on the hot plate.
You will notice an oxide layer forming on the copper as it begins to cool which will cause the two to separate.
Since the process of heating the copper can be dangerous, make sure you keep all flammable items and children away form the copper and hot plate.
This process should take about 20 minutes to complete and also allow for the copper sheet to cool completely.
Next, you will wash the copper in regular water.
Continue to wash the copper until all of the black film is removed from it.
You will notice a thin red layer begin to form which is cuprous oxide.
Now get the cooked copper sheet along with the uncooked sheet and fit both of them into a plastic bottle.
Make sure that you bend them in such a way that they do not come in contact with each other.
Now you can attach one of the alligator leads to the top area of each of the copper sheets and connect the two with a meter.
Connect the positive end of the terminal to the uncooked copper sheet.
And make sure the negative terminal is attached to the uncooked portion.
From here, take 2 tablespoons of table salt and dissolve it completely in 2 cups of water.
Then, take the bottle out into the sun and check your meter.
If you have been successful, the meter should raise up to about 50 micro amps.
Now take the bottle out of the sun and let the meter register down to below 10.
It is important that you clip one of the available alligator leads to the top of each sheet to connect these to the meter.
The positive terminal of the meter must link to the uncooked sheet.
The negative terminal must link to the cooked sheet.
Dissolve two tablespoons of salt into a few cups of water.
Pour right into the plastic bottle, allowing the water level to rise about 1 inch from the top of the sheet.
Put the bottle out in the sun and observe the meter.
The meter should rise consistently to about 50 micro-amps.
Place the bottle in the shade and allow the meter to go down below ten.
Congratulations, you have learned how to make solar cells! The entire process takes 3-4 hours.
You can also consult a step by step guide along with videos.
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