How to Make Your Own Solar Panel

The world is becoming ridiculously expensive to live in, and even if you can afford it, you'd still be cribbing about how the most simple things in life come at a price. Take electricity for example. It is something we all obviously need, without it there'd be no instant coffee or fresh food, not to mention no hot baths. Electricity is the pulsating force that drives us from one day to the next and let's face it - without it we'd be handicapped. So the whole point in knowing how to make your own solar panel is to understand how important it is to use natural light as your source for electricity.

Instead of relying on powered electricity that is supplied to our homes and offices, we need to find out alternatives that are cost saving and of course a huge bump up when it comes to going the green way. It isn't cheap anymore when it comes to using up electricity, and the bills are not going to have you jumping for joy any time soon, or ever for that matter. Bills are on the rise. So is the cost of petrol. Drivers are going on strike to heighten their pay or change tariff amounts. It's a mad world and we all have to do our bit to keep us stable when money comes into play. So without losing out on the big bucks over your monthly electricity bills, you can put together this solar panel efficiency structure with no trouble at all.

How to Make Your Own Solar Panels at Home

So start out on how to make a solar panel there are certain materials you'll need to put together before you begin on your solar panel efficiency construction.

Things You'll Need:

1. Sheet metal shears
2. Two alligator clip leads
3. Electric drill with sandpaper on top
4. Microammeter (reading stable between 10-15 microamperes)
5. Running water
6. 2 liter plastic bottles with tops cut off
7. Electric stove (1100 watts)
8. 2 tablespoons of table salt
9. ½ square ft. copper sheet

How to Get Started:

Cut out your copper sheet following the burner's design as you go along. If there are any contaminants present on the copper sheet, wash it off properly and then gently start sanding it with the sandpaper, to clean it up thoroughly. This step makes sure that any corrosion or sulfide deposits that may be present, are scraped away. Then place this atop the burner and crank up the heat to its maximum capacity. The sheet will start to change in color since its oxidation will have started altering its composition. It will change from colors of purple, orange and then red to form a sort of layer above the copper sheet's surface area. A black cupric oxide layer will then form above the sheet as the burner continues to heat it up; keep the sheet above the burner in this manner for half an hour to attain that thick coating that you will eventually spot. After your time's up, don't move the copper sheet away from the burner but let it sit still above it, as it cools down. It will then start to shrink and change in its matter where the coating will then start to form little flakes that will fall off, while a thin-film of this stays put against the copper's surface.

Make sure you distance yourself away from the floating flakes, and then after it has cooled down, scrub the top of this sheet under running water to get rid of any bits remaining. Don't be too harsh when you do this since the oxide layer that has formed can hamper the workings of your solar cell. Cut another copper sheet out like the first one, and then gently bend the two and place them within a plastic bottle without their ends meeting. The cuprous oxide layer should be facing the outward curve of the bottle away from the center, since this is the smoothest surface area that is visible from the outside.

Attach the alligator clip leads to the copper sheets, one on each plate before connecting it to the positive and negative terminals of the meter. Then mix together one part water and about two tablespoons of the salt and let it dissolve before you pour it gently into the plastic bottle, making sure you don't dampen the alligator lead clips. Leave about an inch of space above the copper sheets as it stands erect above the surface without being submerged completely. The meter will calculate the reading of the electricity generated once the solar cells start to work using the sun as its source for power.

Now that you're equipped with knowledge and an understanding on how to make your own solar panel, you'll be able to try out something bigger once you get the hang of constructing these. Browse the markets for solar panel efficiency kits that come in varying dimensions and capabilities, and make a true investment in these guys should you move on to using one made from a company.