Repairing Solar Cells

by Josehf Murchison

49K19130

Intro: 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.

26 Comments

Steve Redmond 1 year ago

Hi. I'm parent governor at my son's primary school, trying to get extra funding for eco projects. One of the projects is for students to help repair solar panels. For your Repairing Solar Panels item - how much do the tools and materials (kits) you list cost for a repair (ball park figure please, in pounds sterling if possible). Assumption is we'd need ~20 kits for students to help with repairs. Many thanks! Steve

Josehf Murchison 1 year ago

Depending on your retail source about 6 to 12 pound sterling for everything. This will repair about 20 solar cells.

Replacement solar cells can cost you that much each.

I used a car window defroster repair kit because I could buy it at my local automotive supply, however any Conductive Paint from Amazon, Banggood, or Aliexpress will do.

darnstadium 6 years ago

Interesting failure mode I just documented on "open frame" panels with the green back, the encapsulant around the edge degrades and goes low resistance. I did find a fix though, confirmed that removing it or otherwise bypassing around it (cough laser etcher /cough) will work and the panel can then be re-sealed and used. YMMV! The front contact is a PITA though and about all you can do is etch it with mechanical means or sometimes household 3% H2O2 or blue glow stick juice will work. Thanks Jeri for the tip!

mbaum3 7 years ago

Exactly what I'm trying to do, fix decorative solar lights in the yard which are not the $2.98 lights. Thanks.

OrusA 7 years ago

Ive got over 500 of these little guys all cut out. Im happy you showed me this becuase many of them have lost wires.

Josehf Murchison 7 years ago

Cool that is about 30 to 40 watts.

Watch out for a plastic backing on some of them.

barnabas09 9 years ago

Great reuse of otherwise refused products....I always wondered how the wires were attached as I operated on a defective panel and tried to hot solder the wire...the voltage was correct but the current was paltry. Now that I am retired, my job in life is to find ways to reuse what most people are busily throwing in the trash. Hopefully you did not find any panels in the compost pile or mixed in with decaying food (garbage). Trashed items like solar lights, microwaves, household appliances, electronics etc have many usable parts. There aren't too many people - there are too many people trashing the planet.

Josehf Murchison 9 years ago

I salvage and repair everything, fishing, hunting, appliances, and home entertainment. the only thing I don't do is refrigeration because of the specialized equipment. if man makes it man breaks it and I fix it.

dgv183 9 years ago

can u use a copper wire higher gage?

Josehf Murchison 9 years ago

Yes just not to big or stiff or it will break off easily.

monterreymachito 10 years ago

I have a box full of "bad" solar lights from the dollar store. Thanks to your clear instructions I'm reusing em'. Excellent instructable.

HomeMommy13 11 years ago

http://homemadeiseasy.blogspot.com/ WOULD YOU GIVE me permission to post this on my blog? I'm a "Prepper", It would be nice to get all your hard work out there. AND I ALWAYS give proper credit & photos have your name as credit as well. Thanks, HomeMommy13

edvannatta 11 years ago

me find some thing build me solar power ? know get help some me know soon can ?

RedneckEngineer 11 years ago

Sweet! How much is this resin? I've never seen it before but knew there had to be something simple to repair defrosters with.

Josehf Murchison 11 years ago

I got that jar a year ago at NAPA auto parts for about $5 the jar is about the size of the first segment of my little finger. It is real cheep compaired to replacing the window just to fix the defroster. I use the resin for any job that will not solder like connecting a wire to glass or aluminium. in thin narow strips It gets hot under power and you can make custom resistors on glass or ceramics with it. If you use thick gobbs of it it doesn't get hot.
Joe
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