PV Gap

Ellen Said:

How much would it cost to build a Solar panel "farm" in the Sahara desert- of about 15 to 50 squared K?

We Answered:

Multiple billions to be sure. More likely trillions, more akin to our current US national debt. Might be a way to put people back to work however and export most of our illegal immigrates and prison population to work on it, thus we could kill three birds with one stone.

Only a few problems and questions remain: Why would we want to do it over there? How would we get the power from there to here? Is it even doable, knowing we have no rights to the land?

A better idea is one I fell upon the other day, convert our US federal highway system to solar and thus solve our own energy problems with Green Energy right here in the USA! An engineering firm in Idaho already has a prototype and an idea of how to do it.

Imaging plugging your house into the street out front, eliminating the power lines all over our neighborhoods? Check it out! Be sure to watch the linked video pages. Cool stuff, environmentally friendly to boot!

Kyle Said:

please anyone knows how to build a solar panel?

We Answered:

Keep in mind, photovoltaic can be very expensive. What I would recommend is to start with a single panel. Your costs generally come from the batteries and inverter to change your electricity from direct current to alternating current and for the storage of this energy.
If you would like to save in electricity costs, not be over the top in expense, and be good to the planet, pending on where you live, look into Geothermal.

Gertrude Said:

How could I build a solar panel working lift for elevating a single person?

We Answered:

It would be expensive and you could only use it on sunny days, unless you included batteries, battery charger and controller to the list.

A lot would depend on how fast the lift has to move.

Also, elevators/lifts have to be licensed because of the safety hazard. You may have difficulty getting a home-made unit approved. Check with your local building inspector before you start anything.

Suzanne Said:

what are some good ideas to build a solar panel with?

We Answered:

You don't build something like a solar panel out of ideas, you need something more substantial.

A solar panel is made up of a number of solar cells wired together in series parallel. It's not possible to make a solar cell yourself, so the best you can do is get solar cells and wire them together.

.

Lori Said:

What materials are used to build a solar panel? How do they work?

We Answered:

I am not quite sure what kind of a solar panel you are interested in making, there are several. Here are a few types:

Photovoltaic - These are just large arrays of individual solar cells. They are made from silicon, very similarly to the way that integrated circuits ("chip's") are made. Sunlight passes through the upper layer of the cell, photons knock electrons loose and push them into higher energy states producing voltage/current. String several in series for higher voltage (DC, just like a battery), or several in parallel for more current.

Thermal (liquid) - These are basically just dark panels with water or some other liquid pumped behind them to take up the heat and (usually) store it in some other location (like the basement of a house) for use later (e.g. in heating the home during the night time). They can be used in conjunction with a heat pump to improve efficiency. Not too complicated.

Concentrated thermal - These panels used lenses (e.g. flat or "Fresnel" lenses, like the magnifier sheets sold to assist reading) to concentrate the sunlight. Beyond that, they work pretty much like the above ones (i.e. move a liquid behind the surface to absorb and move heat).