Solar battery for your home. Solar energy in your home: how to make a battery with your own hands

Content:

Ensuring comfortable living conditions in modern apartments and private houses cannot do without electric energy, the demand for which is constantly increasing. However, prices for this energy carrier are also increasing with sufficient regularity. Accordingly, the total cost of housing maintenance also increases. Therefore, a do-it-yourself solar battery for a private house, along with other alternative sources of electricity, is becoming more and more relevant. This method makes it possible to make the object non-volatile in the face of constant price increases and power outages.

Solar cell efficiency

The problem of autonomous power supply of devices and equipment in private houses has been considered for a long time. Solar energy has become one of the options for alternative power supply, which in modern conditions has found wide application in practice. The only factor causing doubts and controversy is the efficiency of solar panels, which does not always meet the expectations.

The work of solar panels directly depends on the amount of solar energy. Thus, batteries will be most effective in regions where sunny days prevail. Even in the most ideal case, battery efficiency is only 40%, and in real life this figure is much lower. Another condition for normal functioning is the availability of significant areas for the installation of autonomous solar systems. If this is not a serious problem for a country house, then apartment owners have to solve many additional technical problems.

Device and principle of operation

The operation of solar cells is based on the ability of photovoltaic cells to convert solar energy into electrical energy. All together, they are collected in the form of a multicellular field, united into a common system. The action of solar energy turns each cell into a source of electrical current that is collected and stored in batteries. The dimensions of the total area of such a field directly affect the power of the entire device. That is, with an increase in the number of photocells, the amount of generated electricity increases accordingly.

This does not mean that the required amount of electricity can only be generated over very large areas. There are many small household appliances that use solar energy - calculators, flashlights, and other gadgets.

Solar-powered lighting devices are becoming more and more popular in modern country houses. With these simple and economical devices, garden paths, terraces and other necessary areas are illuminated. In the dark, electricity is used, accumulated during the day when the sun is shining. The use of economical lamps allows you to consume the accumulated electricity for a long time. The solution to the main problems of energy supply is carried out with the help of other, more powerful systems that allow the generation of a sufficient amount of electricity.

The main types of solar panels

Before you start making your own solar panels, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with their main types in order to choose the most suitable option for yourself.

All solar energy converters are divided into film and silicon, in accordance with their device and design features. The first option is represented by thin-film batteries, where the converters are made in the form of a film made using a special technology. These constructs are also known as polymeric constructs. They can be installed in any available place, however, they require a lot of space and have a low efficiency. Even average cloudiness can reduce the efficiency of film devices by 20% at once.

Silicon batteries are available in three types:

... The design consists of multiple cells with integrated silicon transducers. They are joined together and filled with silicone. They are distinguished by simplicity of operation, lightness, flexibility, waterproofness. But in order to ensure efficient operation of such batteries, direct sunlight is required. Despite the relatively high efficiency - up to 22%, with the onset of cloudiness, power generation can significantly decrease or stop completely.
... Compared to monocrystalline, they have more converters placed in the cells. They are installed in different directions, which significantly increases the efficiency of work even in low light. These batteries are most widely used, especially in urban environments.
Amorphous. They have low efficiency - only 6%. However, they are considered very promising, due to their ability to absorb a luminous flux many times greater than that of the first two types.

All considered types of solar cells are manufactured in the factory, so their price is still very high. In this regard, you can try to make a solar battery yourself, using inexpensive materials.

The choice of materials and parts for the manufacture of solar panels

Since the high cost of autonomous solar energy sources makes them inaccessible for widespread use, home craftsmen can try to organize the manufacture of solar panels with their own hands from scrap materials. It should be remembered that in the manufacture of a battery it is impossible to do with only improvised materials. You will definitely have to buy factory parts, even if not new.

There are several basic elements in a solar energy converter. First of all, this is the battery itself of a certain type, which has already been discussed above. Next comes the battery controller, which monitors the charge level of the batteries with the received electrical current. The next element is batteries that store electricity. It is imperative that converting direct current to alternating current is required. Thus, all household appliances rated for 220 volts will be able to work normally.

Each of these items can be freely purchased in the electronics market. If you have certain theoretical knowledge and practical skills, then most of them can be assembled independently according to standard schemes, including a solar battery controller. In order to calculate the power of the converter, you need to know for what purpose it will be used. It can only be lighting or heating, as well as fully meeting the needs of the object. In this regard, materials and component parts will be selected.

When making a solar battery with your own hands, you need to decide not only on the power, but also on the operating voltage of the network. The fact is that solar-powered networks can operate on direct or alternating current. The latter option is considered more preferable, since it allows the distribution of electricity to consumers over a distance of 15 meters. When using polycrystalline batteries, from one square meter you can get, on average, about 120 watts in one hour. That is, to obtain 300 kW per month, solar panels with a total area of 20 m2 will be required. This is exactly how much an ordinary family of 3-4 people spends.

In private homes and summer cottages, solar panels are used, each of which includes 36 elements. The power of one panel is about 65 W. In a small private house or in the country, 15 panels are enough, capable of generating electrical power up to 5 kW per hour. After performing preliminary calculations, you can purchase conversion plates. It is allowed to purchase damaged cells with minor defects affecting only the appearance of the battery. In working order, each element is capable of delivering about 19 V.

Solar cell manufacturing

After all materials and parts are prepared, you can start assembling the transducers. When soldering the elements, it is necessary to provide for an expansion gap between them within 5 mm. Soldering should be done very carefully and carefully. For example, in the absence of wires from the plates, they will need to be soldered manually. To work, you need a 60-watt soldering iron, to which a conventional 100-watt incandescent lamp is connected in series.

All plates are soldered sequentially to each other. Plates are characterized by increased fragility, therefore, it is recommended to solder them using a frame. During desoldering, diodes are inserted into the circuit together with photographic plates, which protect the photocells from discharge when the illumination level decreases or the onset of complete darkness. For this purpose, the halves of the panel are combined in a common bus, which in turn is output to the terminal strip, due to which the midpoint is created. The same diodes prevent the batteries from being discharged at night.

One of the main conditions for effective battery operation is high-quality soldering of all points and nodes. Before installing the substrate, these places must be tested. It is recommended to use conductors with a small cross-section for the current output, for example, a speaker cable with silicone insulation. All wires are secured with a sealant. After that, a material is selected for the surface to which the plates will be attached. The most suitable characteristics are glass, which transmits the light flux much better than carbonate or plexiglass.

When making a solar battery from available tools, you must also take care of the box. Usually the box is made of a wooden bar or an aluminum corner, after which glass is placed on top of the sealant. The sealant must fill in any irregularities and then dry completely. Due to this, dust will not get inside, and photographic plates will not get dirty during operation.

Next, a sheet with soldered photocells is installed on the glass. It can be fixed in different ways, however, the most optimal options are transparent epoxy resin or sealant. The entire glass surface is evenly coated with epoxy resin, then the transducers are installed on it. When using a sealant, fastening is carried out by points in the center of each element. At the end of the assembly, you should get a sealed case, inside which the solar battery is located. The finished device will produce approximately 18-19 volts, which is enough to charge a 12 volt battery.

Home heating possibility

After the self-made solar battery is assembled, every owner will certainly want to test it in action. Heating the home is considered the most important problem, so solar heating is the first thing to check.

Solar collectors are used for heating. With the help of a vacuum collector, sunlight is converted into heat. Thin glass tubes are filled with liquid, which is heated by the sun and transfers heat to the water placed in the storage tank. In our case, this method is not suitable, since we are talking exclusively about converting solar energy into electrical energy.

It all depends on the power of the device used. In any case, most of the energy received will go to heating the water in the boiler. If 100 liters of water are heated to 70-80 degrees, it will take about 4 hours. Electricity consumption by a 2 kW water boiler with heating elements will be 8 kW. When generating electricity of 5 kW per hour, there will be no problems. However, when the area of the batteries is less than 10 m2, heating a private house with their help becomes impossible.

Typically, such a battery consists of three photocells. Sometimes there are more of them. The elements must be removed, and so as to keep the connecting ones, soldered to the element or fixed to it with clamps. This will greatly facilitate installation. For making a homemade energy source, a sensitive measuring device, for example, a multimeter, is also very useful. A separately taken element produces the following amount of electricity from 1 sq. cm area:

Current up to 24 mA;
- voltage 0.5 V.

Under load, you get half the voltage, which is completely insufficient for practical purposes. If you need more voltage or more current, you need to connect several of these elements together. This requires a common dielectric panel (for example, PCB). A series connection (with the obligatory observance of polarity) will make it possible to increase the output voltage, but the internal resistance of the photocells is quite high. To reduce it (and increase the output power), it is useful to use parallel connection of individual elements. In parallel, it is possible to connect both chains of battery cells connected in series, and individual cells to each other.

In any case, you need to ensure that the polarity is observed. If you managed to keep the wires attached to the separate plates, it is quite easy to solder the elements, but this is necessary with the use of a heat sink. But when removing the photocells, it is not always possible to save the wires. In this case, spring clips and even small springs from ballpoint pens can be used. Exactly according to the same principle, you can collect solar from selenium plates from old photoexposure meters.

The element itself cannot be soldered, since at home this will most likely lead to a breakdown.

Old radio parts or unnecessary computer mice

Most often, ready-made photocells are not at hand. In this case, you can use the old radio components available. For example, by connecting in series 20 point diodes in a glass case (for example, D9, D2), you can get a voltage of 1.2V. Of course, the polarity must be observed in this case as well. If the body of the diode is covered with paint, it must be washed off or scraped off. Any diodes are suitable, both silicon and germanium. Additional parallel connection of diodes and diode strings, in the same way as in the first case, helps to reduce the internal resistance of the battery. For the same purpose, photodiodes from out-of-order computer mice can be used. It is also possible to use LEDs, which can also work as photocells.

Battery of transistors

Instead of diodes, transistors with metal housings can be used. Here, to access light, you need to remove the metal case or its upper part. You can use the transitions collector - base and emitter - base. In this case, both silicon and germanium transistors, transistors with a dangling collector or emitter, are suitable, but it is desirable that they be of the same type. The connection rules are the same as in the first two methods. It is useful to use additional reflective panels that cast light onto the solar panel.

The more powerful the transistors, the more current can be drawn from the battery.

Some subtleties

Transistors, like any photocells in general, should be protected from mechanical damage and dust. For this, the assembled battery is best closed from above. Transparent film or thin quartz glass is suitable. Thin plexiglass can also be used. Ordinary window glass or, say, triplex is not suitable, as it traps ultraviolet rays.

It is important to ensure the position of the battery in relation to the sun, since the efficiency of its operation depends on it. The efficiency of solar panels made at home is quite low and does not exceed 10%. You can get electricity on a not very sunny day, but the battery should not be in a very shady place. The voltage is enough to charge the batteries somewhere in the country or on a hike. By the way, in this way you can even illuminate a dark basement if you place a battery outside and an LED inside.

Recently, solar panels have become especially popular - devices that allow you to get energy from sunlight. Such elements allow ordinary people to save money on paying bills and are environmentally friendly sources of alternative energy, since they do not produce any harmful emissions. They can be used to charge your phone or other gadget in the field if you are far from the outlet. For those who care about the environment or simply do not want to spend extra money, we offer an article on how to make a solar battery with your own hands from scrap materials. Our tips will show you how to completely build a DIY prototype at a minimum cost.

Materials for making

In order to make a device at home, you will need:

Thin copper sheet. Its average cost is about one hundred and fifty rubles per 0.9 m2. You will need somewhere 0.45 m2.
"Crocodiles" among two pieces.
Tester or microammeter. This device is needed to measure current and evaluate the efficiency of a power source.
An electric stove, with a capacity of 1100 watts, is necessary for the spiral in it to heat up to red.
A plastic bottle, from which you have to cut off the neck yourself.
Regular salt. Several tablespoons.
Heated water.
Fine sandpaper (zero).

Step-by-step instruction

So, to make a solar panel with your own hands, you must follow these steps:

We cut off a piece of such a size from a sheet of copper so that we can position it on the spiral of an electric stove. The cut piece must be well cleaned of any dirt with sandpaper, if necessary, you can use cleaning agents. Any traces of grease will inhibit oxidation and must therefore be removed and the clean sheet only be handled by the edges.

Next, we place it on the spiral of the plate and turn it on so that it becomes red-hot. In this case, be extremely careful and observe safety precautions! Under the influence of chemical reactions, when heated, copper will oxidize. When the copper turns black, count down another 30 minutes until the black layer becomes thick.

Then turn off the stove. Let the piece for making a solar panel with your own hands cool down to room temperature. As they cool, copper and copper oxide will cool and contract at different rates. Then the oxide will begin to peel off.

By the way, such a solar battery can provide several milliamperes even without the sun, working as a battery! Of course, such a design is not capable of powering anything serious; it can be used as a demonstration version or a prototype, from which low-power LEDs can light up. We recommend that you immediately look at the more serious use of alternative energy sources, which we described in the article about!

Instructional video on how to create a charger at home

Charging your phone from the sun

Now we will tell you how to assemble a solar battery that can charge a mobile phone yourself. Manufacturing a battery consisting of separate parts based on monocrystalline silicon - one of the most popular types of cells, soldering problems associated with the fragility of the panels are not excluded. If you are not sure that you can do everything yourself, it is better to choose the already soldered modules. It is good if they consist of ten monocrystalline elements and have an output voltage of five volts.

Solar cells can also be found in calculators, flashlights powered by the sun, from where they can be pulled out. These devices use mainly amorphous elements, where the semiconductor layer is located on a small glass plate. Considering that modules of this type give about one and a half volts, we need four pieces that need to be connected in series. Do not forget to solder a diode to the positive terminal of the battery, which will prevent the battery from wasting its charge through the solar battery. You can get the diode from the lantern board.

It is highly advisable to install a simple 5 Volt linear regulator and a USB connector after the solar battery. This is necessary to limit the voltage, since incorrect connection can damage the device being charged. You can buy a stabilizer at any radio components store or solder it from a non-working board.

In order for our product to serve more reliably, we fill the transverse edges of the modules with hot glue to protect against mechanical damage.

An overview of a more complex model

So, in this article, we showed you how to make a solar panel with your own hands from scrap materials. Of all the options, namely: making a battery from beer aluminum cans, silicon, foil, transistors, on the same diodes, etc. We proposed a simple assembly of copper plates, and also described a method where solar modules can be removed from a calculator or flashlight, and correctly connected, used to charge the phone.

Also read:

A solar cell is a device that generates electricity using special photovoltaic cells. It helps to significantly reduce the cost of electricity and get an inexhaustible source of it. Such an installation can not only be bought ready-made, but also made by hand. A solar panel for a home in the private sector will be the ideal solution to avoid frequent interruptions in light.

General information

Before making a solar battery at home, you need to study in detail its structure, principle of operation, advantages and disadvantages. With this information, you can choose the right components that will work for a long time and be useful.

Device and principle of operation

Designs of all types work by converting energy emitted from the nearest star into electrical energy. This happens thanks to special photocells, which are combined into an array and form a common structure. Semiconductor elements made of silicon are used as energy converters.

Solar panel operating principle:

The light coming from the sun hits the photocells.
It knocks out free electrons from the last orbits of all silicon atoms.
Because of this, a large number of free electrons appear, which begin to move rapidly and chaotically between the electrodes.
The result of this process is the generation of direct current.
It then quickly converts to a variable and enters the receiving device.
It distributes the received electricity throughout the house.

Advantages and disadvantages

DIY solar panels have a number of advantages over factory designs and other energy sources. Thanks to this, the devices are rapidly gaining popularity and are used all over the world.

Among the positives of solar panels the following should be highlighted:

Despite the many advantages, solar panels have disadvantages as well. They must be taken into account before starting the manufacture of the structure and its installation.

The disadvantages include the following:

In order for the finished structure to perform its functions efficiently and provide people with a sufficient amount of electricity, it is necessary to make it correctly. To do this, you need to take into account many factors and choose only high-quality materials.

Primary requirements

Before you make a solar battery with your own hands, you need to complete a number of preparatory measures and carefully study all the requirements for the device. This will help to get the unit working and simplify the installation process.

To make the solar panel work to its maximum potential, you must comply with the following requirements:

Materials and tools

The most important parts of the device are the photocells. Manufacturers offer customers only 2 of their varieties: from monocrystalline (efficiency up to 13%) and polycrystalline silicon (efficiency up to 9%).

The first option is suitable only for work in sunny weather, and the second - in any. Conductors are other important design elements. They are used to connect photocells to each other.

For the manufacture of the panel you will need the following materials and tools:

Procedure

In order to make solar panels with your own hands at home, you must follow the sequence of actions. Only in this case it is possible to avoid mistakes and achieve the desired result.

The panel making process is simple and consists of the following steps:

A set of poly- or monocrystalline solar cells is taken and the parts are assembled into a common structure. Their number is determined based on the requirements of the home owners.
On the photocells, contours are applied, formed from tin, soldered conductors. This operation is performed on a flat glass surface using a soldering iron.
All cells are connected to each other according to a previously prepared electrical circuit. In this case, it is imperative to connect shunt diodes. The ideal option for a solar panel would be to use Schottky diodes to prevent the panel from discharging at night.
The cell structure is moved to an open space and tested for functionality. If there are no problems, you can start assembling the frame.
For these purposes, special corners made of aluminum are used, which are attached to the body elements with hardware.
A thin layer of silicone sealant is applied to the interior of the battens and spread evenly.
On top of it, a sheet of plexiglass or polycarbonate is placed and tightly pressed against the frame contour.
The structure is left for several hours for the silicone sealant to dry completely.
Once this process is completed, the transparent sheet is additionally attached to the body with hardware.
The selected photocells with conductors are placed along the entire inner part of the resulting surface. In this case, it is important to leave a small distance (about 5 millimeters) between adjacent cells. To simplify this procedure, you can apply the necessary markings in advance.
The installed cells are securely fixed to the frame using mounting silicone, and the panel is completely sealed. All this will help to increase the life of the solar battery.
The product is left to dry the applied mixture and takes on its final appearance.

Products from scrap materials

A solar battery can be assembled not only from expensive materials, but also from improvised materials. The finished design, although it will be less efficient, will save a little on electricity.

This is one of the easiest and most affordable options for making a homemade solar panel. The device will be based on low voltage diodes, which are made in a glass case.

A battery is made in compliance with the following sequence of actions:

Copper foil

If you need to get a small amount of electricity, then you can make a solar panel from ordinary foil.

The finished structure will have low power, so it can be used only for feeding small devices.

Step-by-step instruction:

Beer cans

This simple method of manufacturing a battery does not require large financial costs. With its help, you can get a small amount of electricity, which will slightly reduce costs.

Procedure:

A self-made solar panel is a wonderful device that can help you reduce your energy costs. With its correct manufacture and adherence to all recommendations, you can make a quality product that will work for many years.

For a long time, the lot of solar cells were either bulky panels of satellites and space stations, or low-power solar cells in pocket calculators. This was due to the primitiveness of the first monocrystalline silicon photocells: they not only had a low efficiency (no more than 25% in theory, in practice - about 7%), but also noticeably lost efficiency when the angle of incidence of light deviated from 90˚. Considering that in Europe in cloudy weather the specific power of solar radiation can fall below 100 W / m2, too large areas of solar panels were required to obtain any significant power. Therefore, the first solar power plants were built only under conditions of maximum luminous flux and clear weather, that is, in deserts near the equator.

A significant breakthrough in the creation of solar cells has returned interest in solar energy: for example, the cheapest and most affordable polycrystalline silicon cells, although they have a lower efficiency than monocrystalline ones, are less sensitive to operating conditions. A solar panel based on polycrystalline plates will give out enough stable voltage in partly cloudy conditions... More modern photocells based on gallium arsenide have an efficiency of up to 40%, but are too expensive for making a solar battery with your own hands.

The video tells a story about the idea of building a solar battery and its implementation.

Should I do it?

In many cases, the solar panel will be very useful: for example, the owner of a private house or summer cottage, located far from the mains, will be able to keep his phone charged even from a compact panel, connect low-power consumers like car refrigerators.

For this purpose, ready-made compact panels are produced and sold, made in the form of quick-roll assemblies based on synthetic fabric. In central Russia, such a panel measuring about 30x40 cm will be able to provide power within 5 W at a voltage of 12 V.

A larger battery can provide up to 100 watts of electrical power. It would seem that this is not so much, but it is worth remembering the principle of operation of small ones: in them, the entire load is powered through a pulse converter from a battery of batteries that are charged from a low-power wind turbine. Thus, it becomes possible to use more powerful consumers.

Using a similar principle when building a home solar power plant makes it more profitable than a wind turbine: in summer, the sun shines for most of the day, as opposed to an intermittent and often absent wind. For this reason, the batteries will be able to charge up much faster during the day, and the solar panel itself is much easier to install than requiring a tall mast.

It also makes sense to use a solar battery solely as an emergency power source. For example, if a gas heating boiler with circulation pumps is installed in a private house, when the power is turned off, it is possible to power them through a pulse converter (inverter) from batteries, which are kept charged from a solar battery, keeping the heating system operational.

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