Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+

 How to build my own solar panel?, Smart ppl opinion required xD

views
     
Chein
post Jul 15 2010, 01:24 AM

New Member
*
Junior Member
5 posts

Joined: Oct 2008


QUOTE(heavenly91 @ Jun 15 2010, 09:37 PM)
haha bro...
thx for so much of ur help..
Perhaps I shall keep this mission for my final yr.. xDD
*
Just a few tips for you:

1) Creating PV cells on your own is a good experiment, but not a good solution. The light to electricity conversion efficiency for homebrew PV are very low.

2) if you are interested in PV, get a small commercial PV panel and fiddle with it. 1 x 1 foot sized PV cost around RM200 (yes it's pricey)

3) Energy storage for renewable source (ie solar, wind etc) need to be able to handle trickle charging. Meaning the battery is able to store small charges (when the sky is cloudy, slow wind, etc). The only solution is Lead-Acid battery. The big ones are the car batteries, the smaller ones are inside UPS devices etc. You can buy small lead acid batteries from electronic part stores. Do not use Lithium-Ion, Nickel Cadmium batteries as they can only be charged when a certain voltage threshold is reached.

4) To generate electricity from kinetic energy for wind turbines, do not use those lame old bicycle dynamo. Source for a 3-phase motor (washing machine part shops, RM150 or so). Alternately, look for a unipolar stepper motor (normally comes with 5 or 6 wires variants). Can be salvaged from broken photocopier, fax machine, printers. Go to your neighborhood kedai besi buruk, they normally put junk computer stuff aside, you can get a broken printer / fax machine for RM10. Final alternative is the CD drive tray motor (DC 12v) it's cheap, easily sourced, but it need high RPM to generate decent current/voltage.

5) Convert your stored energy in a battery to usable AC (so tht you can plug your household device) with an inverter. An inverter electronically creates the sine wave form your DC storage thus duping your household appliance into "believing" that it is being plugged into the AC wall socket. The sine wave created are not perfect sine, which makes it quite unsuitable to be used with sensitive electronic devices.

6) Magnets that are being sold in Malaysia are mostly quite useless for electric generation as they are mainly Ferrites (the same type as the black fridge magnets) or Alnico (nickle plated, slightly stronger than ferrite). Don't be fooled by the magnet size, as bigger magnet will just increase the weight requiring more torque to get your turbine turning, but not necessarily increase your energy output. The best option is Neodymium magnet, look for grade of around N50. They have the highest flux density of all magnet types, and thats what you really need for high output (dense flux cutting through your wire coils). I once bought mine at Ace Hardware Midvalley and that probably just an N30 grade Neodymium (medium strength)

Lastly, don't be discouraged by naysayers here..tinkerers like you were the ones who figured out that rubbing two sticks together can produce fire.

 

Change to:
| Lo-Fi Version
0.0141sec    0.38    6 queries    GZIP Disabled
Time is now: 25th November 2025 - 07:14 PM