PV Gap

Melinda Said:

How can you make your own solar panel?

We Answered:

This has been answered many times on this site.
You can make a very inefficient photovoltaic (solar electricity) cell out of a sheet of copper that is heated to make an oxide coating and left in an electrolyte.

Here's a google search that turned up some interesting hits:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sol…

If you want to make a silicon solar cell, it is cheaper to buy than make unless you were to go into business doing it.

If you look at http://www.surplusshed.com or http://www.allelectronics.com you can buy surplus or used solar cells and connect them together to make a panel that generates electricity. Once you generate it you may need a way to store the energy, usually in a battery, unless you just want to demonstrate power from the sun and don't care about getting power when it is dark...

I have also seen solar trickle chargers on sale for less than $20 at http://www.harborfreight.com that are intended to be plugged into a car lighter to top off the battery constantly. These could possibly be modified to put in your window and run a motor or something, or possibly charge a small battery powered device....

As a disclaimer, be careful with any and all of these suggestions, use adult supervision when appropriate, etc....