5W Solar Panel

Posted on Sep 01, 2015

Although solar cells cheapened so much lately, you might think that solar panels followed the same downward trend in prices. But to
my disappointment I found that solar panels, especially the smallest ones were not too cheap.

As in previous occasions, the most convenient way to get a small solar panel is "do-it-yourself", and for that no special skills are
required.

In order to build a solar panel, you will need a few materials:

 solar cells
 tabbing wires
 UV resistant silicone sealant
 connection wires
 a piece of glass with a thickness of 3-4 mm for the front of the solar panel
 a piece of glass with a thickness of 3 mm or a plastic sheet for the back of the solar panel
 frame
 flux or colophony
 solder wire

There are also useful:

 2 spacers for ceramic tiles

 1 superglue
 a piece of plywood

The necesary tools are:

  pliers
 measuring ruler
 soldering iron or soldering gun
 multimeter

Designing the solar panel

Designing the solar panel usually starts from the required power (voltage and current) but it can also start from the physical
dimensions, where are restrictions of this kind: eg. a frame of a certain size, as in this case.

In this case I will make a solar panel that will be used to charge a LiIon battery pack. The battery pack consists in a number of 18650
type LiIon cells (originating from laptop batteries) that will be used for various purposes:

 lighting
 charging mobile devices: phones/tablets

Charging the batteries will be done through a battery charger that will provide the 4.2V needed for charging the LiIon batteries. Such
a charger is usually powered by a voltage of 5V.

A solar cell can generate an open circuit voltage of approx. 0.55V but the maximum power is obtained when the voltage is approx.
0.4-0.45V, depending of the cell quality.

In these conditions, in order to obtain the 5 volts needed to power the battery charger, plus a small reserve for the protection diode, I
will need a minimum of 14 cells, but a larger number will allow me to charge the batteries even on cloudy weather.

The panel will be hosted in a display frame from an old Mac PowerBook G4 Apple laptop.
n order to mount the solar panel, we first need to dismantle the old laptop's display and remove the LCD panel. We will keep only
the casing, as shown in the pictures below.
In the available space I can place 18 solar cells with a width of about 2.65cm, obtained by cutting standard 6x3 inch cells into 6
pieces, like I wrote in the How to cut solar cells article.

I will organize the cells into 3 rows of 6 cells each, all connected in series.

In these conditions the solar panel should have a maximum output of about 5W and in a sunny day it should produce an energy of
about 25Wh.

Preparing the work

For the beginning the spacers are attached to plywood board at a distance equal to the length of the cells, plus 1-2mm. They will
immobilize the solar cells during soldering, and also will be used to get a uniform spacing between cells.

Further the tabbing wire will be cut into 45mm pieces. If you have different cell size or type, the length of the tabbing wire will be
different.
Cells are prepared by treating the connection points on the back with flux. I have used colophony solution dissolved in acetone with
pretty good results, but you can use special flux for solar cells but is more expensive.

Connecting the solar cells

For the beginning, the tabbing wires are attached to the back of the cells, if necessary using small amounts of solder, as seen in the
image below.

For soldering it is recommended to use a temperature compensating soldering iron because an excessive temperature can damage
the cells, but if you are careful, you can use just any soldering iron.

After soldering the tabbing wires on the back of the cells, the cells are connected to each other by soldering the tabbing wires from
the back of the previous cell to the front of the next cell, making this way a group of cells connected in series.
Groups of cells connected in series, will be tested preferably in full sunlight, to check if the voltage and the current are those
predicted. Otherwise, search for the defective cell (most likely damaged by excessive temperature during soldering) and replace it.

Assembling the solar panel

Assembling the solar panel implies encapsulating of the solar cells and isolation from the external environment in order to obtain a
good resistance over time.
There are several ways to encapsulate a solar panel, among the most common are:

 solar EVA Film for solar cell encapsulation

 encapsulation using resins

Unfortunately the above methods are either expensive (resins) or require special facilities and equipment such as vacuum ovens
(EVA film).

I will use a much simpler and cheaper method, and hopefully also with good resistance over time: I will encapsulate the solar cells
between a sheet glass and a plastic film, which I will seal with good quality silicone sealant.
As frame for the solar panel will use the frame of a laptop's display, and the plastic sheet used for the back of the panel will come
from the same LCD panel (which previously has been disassembled).

Please find below the assembled photovoltaic panel, ready to be placed in the frame of the laptop's display.
Another option would be to use instead of the plastic sheet, also a sheet of glass that would offer even more protection than the
plastic sheet. I preferred to keep the solar panel to a minimum thickness of in order to fit into the frame from the laptop's display.

After encapsulation of the cells and drying of the silicone sealant, the solar panel will be placed in the frame of the display, again
using silicone sealant in order to seal all the places through which the moisture could penetrate inside.
Please find below the solar panel placed in the laptop's display and sealed with silicone sealant:
Using the solar panel

The last step consists of attaching the solar panel on a windproof support, on the outside and its connection to a battery charger.
Please find below the solar panel, secured in a fixed position on my balcony.
For efficient use is recommended to mount solar panels on mobile mountings with two degrees of freedom, allowing optimal
orientation following the sun's position. These mountings guarantees the maximum output from a solar panel, but they are not the
simplest things to build.

For the second solar panel, as shown in the images below, I chose to make a compromise, creating a mount with a single degree of
freedom. It will be adjusted so that when the sun is at its zenith, the highest point in the sky, the sun's rays to fall perpendicularly on
the solar panel.

According to measurements, the solar panel produces an open circuit voltage of 9.5V and a short circuit current of 0.6A, the power
on load is approximately 4.5-5W, which is as expected.
City Solar Enterprises
Rajaram Gawde(Proprietor)
No. 36, Shiv Shakti Vikas Mandal, Devipada Borivali East, Near National Park, Mumbai
- 400066, Maharashtra, India
Call Us:
08048610713
Send SMS

Mobile:
+91-9870481051
+91-9869530761

Other Contact Details

Mukesh Kelji
Golders Green bldg. No 4, Shop No.2, Holy Cross Ectenshan, Near CCD, IC Colony,
Borivali (west) Mumbai-103, India
Mobile:
+91-8082336653

Jyoti Hydrotech Pvt. Ltd.

Priti Kansara(Manager - Solar Division)
Plot No. 6215, Road No. 62, Near Telephone Exchange, GIDC, Sachin, Surat - 394230,
Gujarat, India
Call Us:
08079467424
Send SMS

Other Contact Details

Branch Office
Prakash Prajapati
Surat, India
Mobile:
+91-9327116759