Unique Original Articles » Building Solar Panels - Connecting Strings of Cells Together

When building solar panels the first thing you need to do is make strings of solar cells. Once completed these strings of solar cells are made you need to link them together.
Connecting things this way is necessary because each individual cell don’t produce that much voltage (which we need to charge a battery) If we're talking about charging a 12 volt battery you need at least 16 - 18 volts to be able to charge it. Each cell only produces 0.55 volts (optimally) so we need to hook them up in series to jack the voltage up.
There are a couple tools that you need to connect these strings of cells together. First, you’ll need the strings of solar cells that you’ve build so far. Also, you are going to need to get: solder, a soldering iron, silicone, flux, bus wire, and some black tape. You’ll also need a piece of clear plastic sheeting (or whatever you’re using for the face of your solar panel).
Start by gluing each of the strings in place with a little spot of silicone. I always do this first because that way I can make sure that all of the strings are evenly spaced (the simplest way to make solar panels look good is make sure all of the cells are evenly spaced apart). Once that’s dry you can start linking the strings of cells together.
The same as with the individual solar cells we are going to be connecting the strings from negative to positive. This will let us reach that critical 16 volts of power we’re looking for. Cut strips of bus wire (bus wire is like tabbing wire, but a little wider so it can carry more power). Apply some flux on the cell where you’re going to be soldering because it helps the solder ‘stick’ to the cell and not your iron. Place the piece of bus wire in place and apply some solder. Do this for all you’re joints (it doesn’t take very long).
Congratulations! You’re now one step closer to having built a diy solar panel.

I built my own solar panels and a wind generator and saved well over $30,000. I get a cheque from the power company because I produce more energy than I use. If you'd like to learn how you can do the same check out Homemade Solar Panels.
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