My home made solar cell step by step

Here is a low power low efficiency photovoltaic cell that you can make you own in the kitchen
with materials from the hardware store.
This cell is made from cuprous oxide instead of silicon and you can build a working solar cell in 2 hours
to build it i follow this instruction: http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/echem/echem2.html
on

Step 1: Materials you will need

A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store
A transparent CD case
Electric wire
Sodium bicarbonate or Table salt

An electric stove
hot glue
solder
Sheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet

I suggest you visit http://scitoys.com there are many projects and interesting kit

Comments

[leodilip]

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[Obaid Mir]

I am sure it will work but I need to know how much voltage it will generate because I am about to charge my laptop.

[alessiof76]

about 0.05V-0,1V only some uA...... :(

[Secret Solar]

This is great I am gong to add some panels to my current solar engines setup.
Thanks

[sophiagabriella195]

what are the measurements for water and baking soda?

[prajeshkv]

i m really exicted to do this solar cell at home, but my requirment is for 12 v ,plz.
Mr.alessiof76, explain me in brief.,thank you.

[jgreyes]

Sir, it is possible to increase the output of your project up to 19-20v?

[Neolp]

Great post, I read of a very similar method to make these cuprous oxide panels in solar energy projects for the evil genius by Gavin D.J. Harper. It claims to not provide much power but an excellent project for the beginner.
I reccomend visiting the library or your local book store and checking out some of the alternative energy books for DIY's, there are tons of books and magazines that should inspire people to make something awesome and of course post their project on instructables :).

[Blaziner]

sir it is necessary to fill it with salt solution....and if yes then it should be filled inside the case?..thank u

[swarup9880]

hi i am swarup from india. I know that the solar cell are made by pn juntion. But you use copper. how is it wort. please reply.....

[Carwen Betha]

Copper Sheets aren't sold in my city, can brass sheets substitute for this??please reply.

[alessiof76]

No... only copper

[Carwen Betha]

Are there other sources of copper aside from hardware stores?

[Carwen Betha]

Just to clarify, I need to use a soldering iron and solder the wire to the copper sheet and then put glue on the wire as well..then glue the plate to the CD case?

[alessiof76]

glue the wire to insulate it from water

[loose thread]

i tried to solder the wire, but it wasnt working, how do i do it? do i use soldering wire?

[alessiof76]

deoxidize surface before solder

[Carwen Betha]

What kind of electric wire did you use? I'm still waiting for your reply to my previous question..

[alessiof76]

be patient, standard chopper wire

[jbaker22]

Will Vaseline glass give the right radiation to give a constant energy for some time?

[goel]

hi i admire you could u tell me what is the thicknessof the copper plate and this is the only way to make a solar cell thank u

[lilbeezy]

how can you get the copper sheet

[lilbeezy]

help me to build solar Panel and i want to know how it made

[Vishvesh]

is it compulsory to seal the CD case and to glue the copper plates ?

[loose thread]

does this cell produce the same amount of energy a cell in the actual solar panel?

[loose thread]

are you 100% sure that it will work?
sorry, but i am doing a science fair project, and i am stressing out

[alessiof76]

yes

[zking3]

question.... how much salt would you put in the solution??

[आचौधरी]

Can we use any other material in place of copper?Or can we use a copper wire?

[hemanath]

I want to know how silicon solar cells are manufactured

[21ali2ali1995]

i hope it will work. i will try and tell u.
i have a question . can will built a pannel by joining many cell like this one ?
and
how much electricity it can produce?

[alessiof76]

Of course! the output voltage is proportional to the number of cells connected in series

[bubbachr]

why cant you let flame contact the copper

[alessiof76]

contact with the flame does not produce the right oxide

[manny6967]

Thanks for the info I'm gonna try it and post my results..

[Ivraine]

Hey, I've seen this project before in a book in our school library. I believe the original project called for something along the lines of silver nitrate? It said it could produce about 4x the amount of power as yours, but it needed carcinogenic chemicals, high-power acids, and lots of money. Great project though, I liked that you didn't need to make a more complicated solution.

[ki-rou]

sir can i make many of this solar panel and then connect them to each other like a battery? ,, and if i can how many of this solar panel should i make for me to be able to power a small light bulb used for toys?

[natester632]

There's 11 minutes left and there isn't any black

[natester632]

Mine started forming white-ish spots, is that normal???

[DELETED_Jaif14]

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