Solar Cells

Further Information

From Richard Schulte:

Most of the guides I have seen have all said the exact same thing about soldering the cells together. The process seems to be simple and more time consuming than anything. When it comes to encapsulating, however, there is a large amount of variance, though more people use plexiglass than I had thought would. Several guides have suggested the same sealant:

" http://pyronet.50megs.com/RePower/Homemade%20Solar%20Panels.htm:
Edit: I've been informed that fiberglass resin is a polyester resin and will not hold the moisture out very well. The best thing to use, which I'm switching to is a aluminum epoxy type sealer called ALUTHANE which can be found Here. <http://www.epoxyproducts.com/e_nonepoxy.html>"

We need to make sure you have the right kind of soldering iron as well. It must be fixed at low temperature or have a variable temp, or else the kind of solder we are using will ball up. One site, http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html, suggested mounting them on pegboard, and using silicone caulk to attach them.

Furthermore, we will need to use the correct kind of solder. Resin/Rosin core SN60, 60/40 or SN63 seems to be recommended. When I went to the hardware store I was only able to find this in the plumbing section, and the SN ratio was unavailable. This stuff is available at Radio Shack as well, and there might be more information available there. I am not sure why it was in that section of Lowes, probably because someone screwed up inventory and lumped all the solder together. If no SN ratio is available at retail outlets we might need to order it online. http://tmt.stores.yahoo.net/fluxcor44ros.html and http://www.radarinc.com/cgi-bin/wspl.sh/prodinfo.p?itemnum=24-6040-0027 are resources. The SN refers to tin and PB refers to lead, so SN60 means 60% tin and 40% lead. Whether or not we wish to seek out a workable lead-free solder remains a question
links:
http://www.sungroper.asn.au/project/solar-panel.html
http://pyronet.50megs.com/RePower/Homemade%20Solar%20Panels.htm
http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html
http://www.virtualsecrets.com/build-a-solar-panel.html
http://www.siliconsolar.com/practical-photovoltaics-p-16423.html < a book that gives step by step instructions