With the growing economic and environmental crisis that we’re facing nowadays like the decrease in the energy supply and the altering climates and global warming, many people are becoming wise on looking at alternatives to save energy and money. One of these alternatives is the use of solar panels and this article will provide you information on how to build your own solar panels and benefit from the various advantages of solar power.
Is Building Your Own Solar Panels A Good Idea?
When you build your own solar panels at home, these will help you more on your electricity bills because out of these panels you can create free energy. Not only will you save energy and money but using these can provide environmental benefits too.
Materials You Will Need:
- Copper
- Circular Plexiglas (12-inch wide)
- Silicone caulk
- Cork pieces
- Stovetop
- Tin snips
- Compass (Mathematical)
- Alligator wire clips
- Salt
- Hot water
Time To Start Building – Follow the Steps Below
1 – To build your own solar panels, set your compass to a 4-inch radius. Position the tip of one arm on the copper and continue tilting it while anticipating the drawing arm to touch the copper. Turn the compass to illustrate an 8-inch broad circle. Illustrate a second circle just like this and cut them equally by using tin snips.
2 – Place one copper circle on the stove burner. Heat it for about an hour and let it cool for half an hour. Check the copper circle color and normally it’s black. When it cools down, the black coating will peel-off but avoid from scrubbing it because that will destroy it’s oxidize form. Alternatively, for the other copper circle let it stay shiny and dirt-free.
3 – Place the two Plexiglas circles to a flat and dirt-free surface. You can buy pre-cut circles or incise them with glass-cutting diamond knife.
4 – Run a lean bead of silicone caulk approximately one-quarter inch starting from the frame of every copper circle.
5 – Push one circle on the center of every Plexiglas circle. Run a bead of caulk on the boundary of the shiny circle while sending-off about 2-inch notch near the top. Push the heated copper in the silicone while bonding the circles altogether. Make sure to scrutinize the edges for presence of holes. Close them with thin lines of caulk. Let everything in position for 24 hours.
6 – Affix an alligator clip wire to every copper circle near the 2-inch hole. Make a mixture of salt (3tbsp.) and hot water (1/2 cup) then pour it in the gap amid the copper sheets. Then, press on a cork piece in the hole to close it. Lay down the homemade solar panel with the heated copper in the sun and affix the alligator’s clips to a tiny ammeter to calculate the amount of electricity emission.
Although homemade solar panels in the past were not that highly refined as compared with the commercial ones, however now it is possible for you to build your own solar panels in such a way that it will work as efficiently as a commercially produced solar energy panel to achieve free energy to save money from electric bills.