Repairing Solar Cells

This is a trick I use to attach wires to glass solar cells.

I fallow the three R rules of living green; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, as well as I try to find sources of renewable resources.

To achieve this goal I salvage many things from the garbage and one of the things I salvage from the garbage is solar garden lights.

Solar garden lights can be so inexpensive to buy people don’t repair them when they stop working; they just throw them in the garbage when they stop working and this is where I step in.
By salvaging the solar lights from the garbage I reduce the waste going to the landfill, R1.
By repairing the lights I reuse them R2.
And by stripping for the good parts and recycling the other materials, R3.
With solar lights and the solar cells you get a renewable resource, solar energy.
In this Instructable I will be covering repairing the solar cell.

The most common repair to a solar light is replacing the battery with a rechargeable battery (Not a disposable battery,) please. Replacing the battery with a disposable battery is a mistake I see in many of the solar lights I salvage.

The next most common defect is oxidized wires and the hardest to replace is the leads on the solar cell. Whether by oxidization or breaking while striping the solar light you may need to replace the lead wires to the solar cell and you cannot just solder new leads onto the cell in many cases.

Liquid solder that does not need heat to bond the materials together don’t always conduct electricity however I have found something that does conduct electricity and connects the leads to the solar cell.
It is called “Quick Grid Repair Resin” and it is to repair the rear window defogger in your car, I buy it at the local automotive supply.

First gather the tools and materials you will need and organize them:
Tape
Wire
Glue
A small paint brush
A multimeter
Quick Grid Repair Resin
Scissors
Scrub Pad
Cells to be repaired

Clean the cells of all debris, (Do not use metal scrub pads or sandpaper to scrape clean the solar cells.)

Test the cells with a multimeter and mark the polarity.

Cut the new lead wires and strip the ends.

Tape the wires in place and dab on plenty of Quick Grid Repair Resin.

Let the resin set and test the solar cell even under low room light you should get a reading on the multimeter.

After testing and confirming the connections remove the tape and glue or use silicone calking to secure the lead wires and let the glue set.

When the glue or calking is set retest all the connections and your solar cells are ready for your next renewable energy project. The trick in this Instructable the Quick Grid Repair Resin, it is like soldering without heat.