LEDs and diodes under the influence of sunlight or even bright light from lamps are capable of producing electric current. This means that you can use them for your homemade panel. A homemade solar battery made of diodes will become a small additional source of electric current.
Required materials and tools
To make it yourself you need to prepare:
- LEDs or diodes.
- Cardboard or plastic panel. It is better to take a panel from old devices (stabilizer, radio). These panels have many holes into which it is convenient to insert diode contacts. You will have to make these holes in the cardboard yourself.
- Schottky diode. Necessary to prevent reverse flow of electric current.
- Copper wires.
- Battery. Batteries from flashlights made in China are quite suitable. Typically, one of them has a voltage of 4 V and a capacity of no more than 1,500 mA.
- Tin.
To make a solar panel you need the following tools:
- Soldering iron.
- Hammer.
- Pliers.
- Ammeter and voltmeter.
Preparation of semiconductor crystals
In LEDs the crystals are visible. They are placed under a glass or clear plastic lens. Some recommend smashing it with a hammer, some suggest leaving it as it can collect light into a beam and direct it onto the semiconductor. This improves the performance of the crystal. If you use the LED for its main purpose, then this lens will scatter the light it creates.
If you plan to make them from old Soviet iron diodes (models kd2010 and kd203 are best suited), then you will have to disassemble them and get the semiconductor from there.
The parsing process is as follows:
- Break the glass holder of the upper contact with a hammer.
- Use pliers to open the diode. The semiconductor is located in the middle. It is securely fixed to the base of the diode. At the same time, a copper wire is soldered to its top. The latter is connected to the upper contact of the diode.
- Take the lower base with the crystal and go to the gas stove. Holding the base of the diode with pliers, bring it to the fire and heat it. The crystal should be at the top. The base will heat up, and the tin will become hot along with it. This will cause it to melt. Next, using tweezers, remove the semiconductor.
Read also: Polycrystalline or monocrystalline solar cells
If glass diodes will be used, then preparation is not necessary. They can be immediately placed on the plate.
Carrying out calculations
A homemade solar panel is a product that must create a current of the desired characteristics. Therefore, you need to determine how many semiconductors to use.
For this It is necessary to measure the voltage and current created by one semiconductor. This is done using a special tool. All measurements are carried out after the crystal is exposed to sunlight.
The semiconductor from the KD2010 diode is capable of creating a current with a voltage of up to 0.7 V and a force of up to 7 mA. Glass diodes can generate current with voltages of up to 0.3 V and strengths of up to 0.2 mA.
The best performance is demonstrated by orange, green and red LEDs. Since there are many LED models with different crystal sizes, you should take measurements of each one you purchase.
Calculations are carried out as follows:
- Determine the desired parameters of the solar battery. Let it create a current with a voltage of 9 V and a power of 1 W in normal (average) sunlight.
- Determine the required number of crystals, starting from required voltage. The voltage of the KD2010 diode created by one semiconductor reaches 0.7 V. In practice, it will be less. Let it reach 0.5 V. To increase the voltage, you need to connect these crystals in series. With this
Hello Dear blog readers! In our 21st century, changes are constantly taking place. They are especially noticeable in technological aspect. Cheaper energy sources are being invented, and various devices are being distributed everywhere to make people’s lives easier. Today we will talk about such a thing as a solar battery - a device that is not breakthrough, but nevertheless, which is becoming more and more part of people’s lives every year. We'll talk about what it is this device what advantages and disadvantages it has. We will also pay attention to how to assemble a solar battery with your own hands.
Summary of this article:
Solar battery: what is it and how does it work?
Solar battery– this is a device that consists of a certain set of solar cells (photocells) that convert solar energy into electricity. Most solar panels are made of silicon since this material has good efficiency in “processing” incoming sunlight.
Solar panels work as follows:
Photovoltaic silicon cells, which are packaged in a common frame (frame), receive sunlight. They heat up and partially absorb the incoming energy. This energy immediately releases electrons inside the silicon, which through specialized channels enter a special capacitor, in which electricity is accumulated and, being processed from constant to variable, is supplied to devices in the apartment/residential building.
Advantages and disadvantages of this type of energy
The advantages include the following:
- Our Sun is an environmentally friendly source of energy that does not contribute to environmental pollution. Solar panels do not emit various harmful waste into the environment.
- Solar energy is inexhaustible (of course, while the Sun is alive, but this is still billions of years in the future). From this it follows that solar energy would definitely be enough for your entire life.
- Once you have installed solar panels correctly, you will not need to maintain them frequently in the future. All you need is to carry out a preventive examination once or twice a year.
- Impressive service life of solar panels. This period starts from 25 years. It is also worth noting that even after this time they will not lose their performance characteristics.
- Installation of solar panels may be subsidized by the government. For example, this is actively happening in Australia, France, and Israel. In France, 60% of the cost of solar panels is returned.
The disadvantages include the following:
- So far, solar panels are not competitive, for example, if you need to generate large amounts of electricity. This is more successful in the oil and nuclear industries.
- Electricity production directly depends on weather conditions. Naturally, when it’s sunny outside, your solar panels will operate at 100% power. When it’s a cloudy day, this figure will drop significantly.
- To produce a large amount of energy, solar panels require a large area.
As you can see, this energy source still has more advantages than disadvantages, and the disadvantages are not as terrible as it would seem.
Do-it-yourself solar battery from improvised means and materials at home
Despite the fact that we live in a modern and rapidly developing world, the purchase and installation of solar panels remains the lot of wealthy people. The cost of one panel that will produce only 100 Watts varies from 6 to 8 thousand rubles. This is not counting the fact that you will have to buy capacitors, batteries, a charge controller, a network inverter, a converter and other things separately. But if you don't have large quantity funds, but you want to switch to an environmentally friendly source of energy, then we have good news for you - you can assemble a solar battery at home. And if you follow all the recommendations, its efficiency will be no worse than that of the version assembled on an industrial scale. In this part we will look at step-by-step assembly. We will also pay attention to the materials from which solar panels can be assembled.
From diodes
This is one of the most budget materials. If you are planning to make a solar battery for your home from diodes, then remember that these components are used to assemble only small solar panels that can power some minor gadgets. D223B diodes are best suited. These are Soviet-style diodes, which are good because they have a glass case, due to their size they have a high installation density and have a reasonable price.
After purchasing the diodes, clean them of paint - to do this, just place them in acetone for a couple of hours. After this time, it can be easily removed from them.
Then we will prepare the surface for the future placement of diodes. This can be a wooden plank or any other surface. It is necessary to make holes in it throughout its entire area. Between the holes it will be necessary to maintain a distance of 2 to 4 mm.
Then we take our diodes and insert them with aluminum tails into these holes. After this, the tails need to be bent in relation to each other and soldered so that when receiving solar energy they distribute electricity into one “system”.
Our primitive solar battery made of glass diodes is ready. At the output, it can provide energy of a couple of volts, which is a good indicator for a homemade assembly.
From transistors
This option will be more serious than the diode one, but it is still an example of harsh manual assembly.
In order to make a solar battery from transistors, you will first need the transistors themselves. Fortunately, they can be bought in almost any market or electronic stores.
After purchase, you will need to cut off the cover of the transistor. Hidden under the lid is the most important and necessary element - a semiconductor crystal.
Then we insert them into the frame and solder them together, observing the “input-output” standards.
At the output, such a battery can provide enough power to operate, for example, a calculator or a small diode light bulb. Again, such a solar battery is assembled purely for fun and does not represent a serious “power supply” element.
From aluminum cans
This option is already more serious, unlike the first two. It's also incredibly cheap and effective method get energy. The only thing is that at the output there will be much more of it than in the versions of diodes and transistors, and it will not be electrical, but thermal. All you need is a large number of aluminum cans and a housing. A wooden body works well. The front part of the housing must be covered with plexiglass. Without it, the battery will not work effectively.
Before starting assembly, you need to paint the aluminum cans with black paint. This will allow them to attract sunlight well.
Then, using tools, three holes are punched in the bottom of each jar. At the top, in turn, a star-shaped cutout is made. The free ends are bent outwards, which is necessary for improved turbulence of the heated air to occur.
After these manipulations, the cans are folded into longitudinal lines (pipes) into the body of our battery.
A layer of insulation (mineral wool) is then placed between the pipes and the walls/back wall. The collector is then covered with transparent cellular polycarbonate.
This completes the assembly process. The last step is to install the air fan as a motor for the energy carrier. Although such a battery does not generate electricity, it can effectively warm up a living space. Of course, this will not be a full-fledged radiator, but such a battery can warm up a small room - for example, an excellent option for a summer house. We talked about full-fledged bimetallic heating radiators in the article - in which we examined in detail the structure of such heating batteries, their specifications and compared manufacturers. I advise you to read it.
Do-it-yourself solar battery - how to make, assemble and manufacture?
Moving away from homemade options, we will pay attention to more serious things. Now we’ll talk about how to properly assemble and make a real solar battery with your own hands. Yes - this is also possible. And I want to assure you that it will be no worse than purchased analogues.
To begin with, it is worth saying that you probably will not be able to find on the open market the actual silicon panels that are used in full-fledged solar cells. Yes, and they will be expensive. We will assemble our solar battery from monocrystalline panels - a cheaper option, but showing excellent performance in terms of generating electrical energy. Moreover, monocrystalline panels are easy to find and are quite inexpensive. They come in different sizes. The most popular and popular option is 3x6 inches, which produces 0.5V equivalent. We will have enough of these. Depending on your finances, you can buy at least 100-200 of them, but today we will put together an option that is enough to power small batteries, light bulbs and other small electronic elements.
Selection of photocells
As we stated above, we chose a monocrystalline base. You can find it anywhere. The most popular place, where it is sold in gigantic quantities - this is trading platforms Amazon or Ebay.
The main thing to remember is that it is very easy to run into unscrupulous sellers there, so buy only from those people who have a fairly high rating. If the seller good rating, then you will be sure that your panels will reach you well packed, not broken, and in the quantity you ordered.
Site selection (attitude system), design and materials
After you have received your package with the main solar cells, you must carefully choose the location for installing your solar panel. After all, you will need it to work at 100% power, right? Professionals in this matter advise installing it in a place where the solar battery will be directed just below the celestial zenith and look towards West-East. This will allow you to “catch” sunlight almost all day.
Making a solar battery frame
- First you need to make a solar panel base. It can be wooden, plastic or aluminum. Wood and plastic perform best. It should be large enough to fit all your solar cells in a row, but they won't have to hang around inside the entire structure.
- After you have assembled the base of the solar battery, you will need to drill many holes on its surface for the future exit of conductors into unified system.
- By the way, do not forget that the entire base must be covered with plexiglass on top to protect your elements from weather conditions.
Soldering elements and connecting
Once your base is ready, you can place your elements on its surface. Place the photocells along the entire structure with the conductors down (you push them into our drilled holes).
Then they need to be soldered together. There are many schemes on the Internet for soldering photocells. The main thing is to connect them into a kind of unified system so that they can all collect the received energy and direct it to the capacitor.
The last step will be to solder the “output” wire, which will be connected to the capacitor and output the received energy into it.
Installation
This is the final step. Once you are sure that all the elements are assembled correctly, fit tightly and do not wobble, and are well covered with plexiglass, you can begin installation. In terms of installation, it is better to mount the solar battery on a solid base. Perfect metal carcass, reinforced with construction screws. The solar panels will sit firmly on it, not wobble or succumb to any weather conditions.
That's all! What do we end up with? If you made a solar battery consisting of 30-50 photocells, then this will be quite enough to quickly charge your mobile phone or light a small household light bulb, i.e. What you end up with is a complete homemade product Charger for charging the battery of a phone, an outdoor country lamp, or a small garden flashlight. If you have made a solar panel, for example, with 100-200 photocells, then we can already talk about “powering” some household appliances, for example, a boiler for heating water. In any case, such a panel will be cheaper than purchased analogues and will save you money.
Video - how to make a solar battery with your own hands?
This section presents photographs of some interesting, but at the same time simple options homemade solar panels that you can easily assemble with your own hands.
What is better - to buy or make a solar battery?
Let's summarize in this part everything we learned in this article. Firstly, we figured out how to assemble a solar battery at home. As you can see, a DIY solar battery can be assembled very quickly if you follow the instructions. If you follow the various manuals step by step, you will be able to collect excellent options for providing you with environmentally friendly electricity (or options designed to power small elements).
But still, what is better - to buy or make a solar battery? Naturally, it is better to buy it. The fact is that those options that are manufactured on an industrial scale are designed to work the way they should work. When manually assembling solar panels, you can often make various mistakes that will lead to them simply not working properly. Naturally, industrial options cost a lot of money, but you get quality and durability.
But if you are confident in your abilities, then the right approach you will assemble a solar panel that will be no worse than its industrial counterparts. In any case, the future is here and soon solar panels will be able to afford all the layers. And there, perhaps, there will be a complete transition to the use of solar energy. Good luck!
With the development of technology, modern society strives to use environmentally friendly methods of generating electricity. This makes it possible to save natural resources and also protect the planet from global warming. In addition, using solar energy is a great way to save money. Although solar cell technology is not new, the equipment remains expensive. Therefore, radio amateurs prefer to make such batteries with their own hands.
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Device Description
A device for obtaining energy from the sun is a photographic plate that changes its conductivity when exposed to sunlight. This releases electricity. The main elements of the device are LEDs, which are needed to make a solar panel. However, the amount of electricity generated by one LED is small, so for powerful battery a fairly large number of elements will be required.
Manufacturing Features
LEDs are used to make a homemade solar battery. An LED differs from a conventional diode in the presence of a special housing, which acts as a lens. Thanks to the lens, the sun's rays are focused on a conducting crystal. It is the lens that helps increase the generated voltage.
The power of a homemade battery also depends on what color LEDs are used:
- Green gives a voltage of 1.5 V.
- The red-transparent indicator is 1.3 V.
- With an infrared element, the voltage is 0.9 V.
The elements are installed on a textolite substrate. If this is not available, thick cardboard can be used. When assembling a panel of hundreds of LEDs, a current of approximately 0.45 mA is provided. This is a low figure, so you should not count on a high-power device.
Build process
The first step in making a homemade battery is to remove the elements from the case. Any available tools from a chisel to a hammer can help with this work. However, it is necessary to remove the case so that the crystals are not damaged. If this happens, this LED should not be used in batteries. Many craftsmen advise not to remove the housing from the LED at all.
A sheet of thick cardboard can be used as the battery base. It is necessary to make holes in it according to the diagram. Do not forget the elementary laws of physics: when connecting elements in parallel, the current strength is summed up, and when connected in series, the voltage is added up. Therefore, it is recommended to use both connection schemes simultaneously.
LEDs must be inserted into the finished holes according to a pre-selected pattern. At this point, the main stages of assembling the battery with your own hands are completed. All that remains is to check its performance using a special device. Don't expect high scores. A homemade panel often produces readings in excess of 0.3 mA. In addition, a homemade battery will occupy a large area due to the placement of the elements.
Battery glow
When creating a solar battery with your own hands, LEDs are used, so it will glow. In this case, it is impossible to turn off the glow and leave only the effect of converting electric current from solar energy. Therefore, due to spontaneous glow, part of the generated electricity will be consumed to glow the elements.
The disadvantages of the design include the fact that it is impossible to get rid of the glow effect. In addition, the structure will only generate electricity when exposed to direct sunlight. Even during the day clear sky, but there is little cloudiness, the output voltage will be zero.
Conclusion
When using LEDs, a homemade solar battery will not have high power. After all, even if you follow all the rules for do-it-yourself assembly, use high-quality materials and a large number of elements, the device will turn out to be ineffective and low-power. Such a device can only be used to power a small device.
However, creating such devices with your own hands will bring maximum satisfaction to electrical engineers and radio amateurs. But if you want a higher performance solar panel, it is recommended to purchase one from a store.
All of humanity today strives to use environmental technologies that save resources. What could be more environmentally friendly and economical than solar energy? As long as the sun continues to shine, its energy can and should be used for your own purposes. But for this you need a special catcher - a solar panel or otherwise - a battery.
Even though this technology is not new, it is still expensive. Therefore, many craftsmen prefer to assemble such devices with their own hands. The easiest way to tap into the free energy of the sun is to assemble a device from diodes. Today's article will tell you how to assemble this miracle of engineering at home.
What kind of device is this?
Before you start assembling a solar battery with your own hands, you need to find out what it is.
A solar battery is a special photographic plate that can change its conductivity when exposed to sunlight. This process occurs with the release of electrical energy.
Note! Converting sunlight into the right type energy today is the most promising path of development in energy terms.
Classic look of a factory solar panel
And such an acquisition will not be superfluous in an apartment or house. And making it yourself at home has some advantages. So, you can save on purchasing a production model. And, of course, get a certain moral satisfaction that always comes from making a good thing with your own hands.
But on the other hand, in the case of self-assembly there is always one drawback - the lack of guarantees of quality and performance. Of course, if you are a jack of all trades and constantly solder electrical appliances at home, then you will succeed at the highest level, but for a beginner the prospects are not so bright. Therefore, decide for yourself whether it is profitable to make a solar panel yourself or whether it is easier to buy it in a specialized store.
Having decided to assemble such a diode-type device, you need to know the principle of its operation. A solar battery made of diodes can basically contain two types of elements:
- LEDs;
- old diodes.
The diode contains a semiconductor crystal with a p-n band. When an element is exposed to sunlight in the region of the p-n zone, the movement of electrons begins to be observed, which form a directed flow. The result is a photocurrent. Thanks to this operating principle, it becomes possible to assemble a solar battery with your own hands from diodes.
But here it is necessary to remember that the voltage generated by the diode will be very small (for example, about 0.5 V for CD-type diodes). In this case, the current strength will not exceed 7 mA. But for a white LED, current consumption can reach up to 20 mA. As a result, quite a lot of diodes are needed to obtain relatively normal battery power.
First build option
Light-emitting diode
As has already become clear, today a solar panel can be made by home craftsmen in two versions: from LEDs and old diodes.
Let's consider the first option, when a regular LED will act as the main element.
Modern LEDs can be widely used for self-assembly of a mini solar battery. Their operating principle is almost similar to conventional diodes. The LED differs from the latter by the presence of a special housing. It acts as a lens, with the help of which the sun's rays are focused on a conducting crystal.
Note! Due to the presence of this lens, the generated voltage here will be slightly higher than that of standard diode elements.
It should be remembered that the generated voltage depends on the type of LED glow:
- for a red-transparent element this figure will be approximately 1.3 V;
- for green – 1.5 V;
- for infrared - 0.9 V.
Installation of elements can be done on thick cardboard or textolite substrate. By assembling a battery of 100 LEDs, you can get a current of approximately 0.5 mA.
The assembly process proceeds as follows:
Ready battery
- we remove the elements from the body. To do this, you can use a wide variety of available tools (hammer, chisel, etc.). The case should be removed carefully to avoid damage to the crystal;
Note! The housing on the LED does not need to be removed at all.
- We will use cardboard as a board. We make small holes in it. We don’t make holes as we please; a diagram is used for this. When choosing a circuit, take into account the fact that when the elements are connected in series, their voltage will be summed up, and when connected in parallel, the current strength will be summed up. The greatest effect will be when combining both connection schemes;
- We insert LEDs into the holes made and connect them together according to the chosen scheme.
That's it, the battery is ready. All you have to do is check its performance using a recording device. Don't expect to see impressive numbers. Often, with such an assembly, the device will output a current of 0.3 mA.
In fact, apart from purely “sporting” interest, little can be achieved here. You will waste money, time and effort, but get minimal results. Another disadvantage of such a device will be the large area where diode elements are placed.
Panel glow
Since LEDs were used to create the solar battery, they will glow. The spontaneous glow of such elements is another disadvantage of the idea of using LEDs to create a panel to convert electric current from solar energy.
This effect is due to the fact that some of the circuit elements will generate electricity. But the other part of them will consume it.
Note! It is impossible to remove the glow effect from an LED solar battery.
Here, to the disadvantages of the design, we can add the fact that the panel will generate electricity only in direct sunlight. If there is at least one cloud in the sky or just a cloudy day, then the output voltage will be zero.
Second option
Old diode
Another option for assembling a solar battery would be to use old diodes. The principle of their operation is the same as that of modern electrical circuit elements of a similar design.
IN in this case The panel is manufactured as follows:
- open the diode housing so that the sun's rays can fall on its crystal;
- the upper part of the body just needs to be cut off. In this case, the lower part should be heated using the gas stove turned on. You need to hold the element over the fire for no more than 20 seconds;
- Once the solder has melted, you can remove the crystal without any problems. To do this we use tweezers;
- the removed crystals should be soldered to the board. The diagram is shown below. It may differ depending on the desired final parameters.
Installation diagram
To get 2-4 V, it is necessary to mount 5 blocks consisting of 4-5 crystals soldered in series. As a result, you will get the required voltage at the required current. Parallel connection will bring less current. This DIY solar panel can be used to power a small LED device.
Conclusion
Of course, it is difficult to assemble a powerful panel from diodes to capture sunlight. After all, even in its best design (old diodes), such a device will be ineffective and at most it will be possible to power a small LED device. Therefore, if you are not an amateur electrical engineer and all kinds of electrical circuits are not your passion and you don’t particularly like to tinker with them, then you should not waste energy on assembling such batteries, but it is better to buy a factory model and get the output good result. In such a situation, you will recoup the money spent much faster, and with greater comfort.
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But that was a ready-made solution.
Now I will tell you about my experience in creating DIY LED solar battery.
Please note that the article is marked with symbols ƒ↓ (the experiment was unsuccessful). Before starting work, I like to look at similar crafts and evaluate who has done what. Here is the topic of one forum, where this question came up earlier, but no one took it upon themselves to implement it and make a detailed review of the efficiency of LEDs.
Personally, the idea came to me completely by accident, just as accidentally as I happened upon someone else’s couple as a free listener. They talked about LEDs and the possibility of using them as photodiodes. That is, in other words, LEDs too convert light into electricity!
First you need to determine which LEDs are best to use. But now is not the season and it won’t be possible to test in direct sunlight, and it’s not constant sun. What to do? Forget Forget until summer? This is not the approach of brainiacs and all do-it-yourselfers))
The halogen lamp purchased in the article about comes into play.
The halogen lamp was not chosen by chance, but due to its proximity to the solar radiation spectrum and high power.
I decided to collect and unscrew everything somewhere LEDs, which were in our Mozgochin laboratory.
For maximum comparison accuracy all LEDs were brought perpendicularly and close to the center of the lamp. But before you look at the table, choose, based on your personal knowledge and experience, which LED produces the highest voltage? White, red, maybe infrared?
| 5 mm | Volt |
| Green opaque LED | 1,51 |
| Green transparent LED | 1,48 |
| UV LED | 0,11 |
| Infrared LED | 0,93 |
| Red transparent LED | 1,37 |
| Orange opaque LED | 1,52 |
| Red translucent LED | 0,52 |
| White LED | 0,32 |
| 3 mm | |
| green opaque LED | 1,52 |
| green opaque with reflector!!! | 1,57 |
| 10 mm | |
| Red opaque LED | 1,16 |
Who made the wish green, that’s great!
Therefore, we select all green indicator diodes.
Next I soldered 9 LEDs sequentially and further 9 in parallel to compare the efficiency of 2 types of connection. I stopped at 3 mm because... they produce the same voltage as lights 5 mm each (oh, this word infuriates me).
The results came out as follows:
When connected in series, only 1.25 V
parallel 1.56 V. I expected something completely different. It was not possible to measure the current strength (due to my multimeter). But I already know that it is negligible there. Interestingly, with a series connection the voltage only decreased. Maybe this is due to the fact that LEDs partially consume energy, which they themselves convert from light!?
In general, the professor’s words (from 1 F:))) were confirmed and nothing came of it. But to make sure of this for sure, I connected the LEDs to an electronic thermometer, which is powered by 1 1.5-volt tablet. AND…. drumroll …
Nothing.( Epic Fail!
Conclusion: The p-n junction area of LEDs is very small (compared to a solar battery). For example, a strip is several centimeters long.