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HOW TO MAKE SOLAR PANELS FOR SCIENCE MODEL?

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:18:20 +0000

Solar cells convert the energy of the sun into electricity. By using items commonly found in the home or your local hardware store, you can make a solar panel to demonstrate this photoelectric effect. You can also save energy by converting some of your traditional electrical supply over to solar power.
Things You’ll Need:
• One electric stove or hotplate (at least 1100 watts)
• Sheet metal shears
• One micro-ammeter (able to read currents between 10 and 50 microamperes)
• Tap water
• One 2 liter plastic bottle or glass
• Safety goggles
• Two to three tbsps. of table salt
• 1/2 -foot square sheet of copper flashing
• Electric drill with sand paper
• Two alligator clip leads
Harness the Power of the Sun. Here are the procedures:
1. Use sheet metal shears to cut the copper flashing in a square or rectangle to fit the size of the electric burner. Be sure to use a piece of copper flashing that is thoroughly cleaned. You may use sandpaper to thoroughly remove any sign of corrosion before proceeding.
2. Place the copper flashing on the electric burner and turn the burner on. You will need to "cook" the flashing for as long as 30 minutes or more to develop a thick layer of black cupric oxide.
3. Allow the copper to cool slowly once the layer of cupric oxide has formed. It will begin to flake off and may do so with some force as the oxide and the copper cool at different rates.
4. Scrub the completely cooled copper under running water to remove any last remaining bits of oxide. Be gentle, as you do not want to remove any of the red cuprous oxide that has been created in heating the flashing.
5. Cut another piece of copper to the same size. Attach both panels using the alligator clips to the inside of the wide-mouth glass jar or plastic bottle with the top cut off. The panels should not touch and should bend to match the curves of the jar or bottle.
6. Connect the lead of the alligator clip which fastens the clean copper plate to the positive terminal of the meter. The negative terminal should then be connected to the cuprous oxide plate.
7. Make a solution of salt and water by dissolving the salt in hot tap water. You should make enough solution to barely cover the bottom of the plates, leaving the clips high and dry.
8. Place your solar panel in the sun to see the gauge jump to reflect the current your project has created.

How large of a solar panel is needed to power a typical home central air unit?

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:02:22 +0000

I would like to offset my air conditioning bills by purchasing a solar panel setup. I guess the questions that need answered are these:

How much power does a central air unit use? 220 Volts / 8 Amps Sound about right?

How large of a solar array will I need to power this non-stop during peak daylight/sunlight hours?

If your state offers "New Metering" look into installing a grid-tie system. You won’t need to rely on batteries storing the energy your panels produce and if you produce more energy than you consume one month the utility company will actually credit your account for that surplus. I would recommend Global Solar Center as a good starting point (http://www.globalsolarcenter.com/). They will provide you with a free solar quote and inform you of all the incentives you’ll be eligible for, your estimated annual savings, payback period etc… They’ll provide you with all the info you’ll need to make a smart decision. Whether or not the system powers your entire central units consumption, at the end of the day you will be saving on your monthly utility bill. Your location will be a major factor as far as feasibility goes but you should definitely start by visiting that site.

How do I make solar panels for free?

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:48:44 +0000

Actually you could. Homemade solar panel is much cheaper than buying one.
Try the link below to build your very own solar panel.

What solar panel type to power a conventional typical light bulb?

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:55:07 +0000

I built a shed out back and I would like to install a solar panel to power a small light inside and outside of the shed. Or maybe just the inside. Does anyone have any advice and suggestions?
I’m confused now
Well, i plan on just using it when i go out to the shed and need a little light on to see inside at night.

Wow, so many great answers!

You want to use as little power as possible, so do not use a regular incandescent light bulb. Most of their electricity is used for heat, not light. Use a CFL (twirly bulb) or LED bulb. You can get them in DC power, so you don’t need to convert the DC power (like a battery) to AC power (like what you plug into your wall outlet). They are more expensive, but will save you a lot of money in the long run.

How many hours a day would the light be on? Let’s do the math with 1 hour, you can multiply it by how ever many hours you need it.

15 watts x 1 hour = 15watt hours (wh). (If it’s 2 hours, that’s 30wh) Take that number and put it in a solar calculator like http://www.altestore.com/store/calculators/off_grid_calculator/. It asks how many days you want to store in case you have no sun, how cold it gets there, and how many volts. That will tell you how big of a battery. 2 days, really cold, 12V, you’ll need a 10ah battery, that’s really small.

Then it will ask where are you, to decide what size solar panel you need. Here in Boston, I need a 5W panel.

To make sure the battery doesn’t get over charged, you should use a charge controller.

15W DC CFL Light bulb (equal to 100W incandescent) – http://www.altestore.com/store/Lighting-Fans/Compact-Fluorescent/Compact-Fluorescent-Dc/Phocos-CL1215W-12V-15-W-Warm-CFL-Lamp/p1007/

6W 12V panel – http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Panels/1-to-50-Watt-Solar-Panels/Sunwize-SC6-12V-6-Watt-12-Volt-SolCharger/p4218/

12V 12ah battery – http://www.altestore.com/store/Deep-Cycle-Batteries/Batteries-Sealed-Agm/Universal-UB12120-12V-12AH-20HR-Sealed-AGM/p1996/

4.5A 12V charge controller – http://www.altestore.com/store/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/PWM-Type-Solar-Charge-Controllers/Morningstar-Charge-Controllers-PWM/Morningstar-Sunguard-45A-12V-Pwm-Charge-Cntrlr/p793/

Or buy one already made with solar, lights, and batteries built in – http://www.altestore.com/store/Lighting-Fans/Outdoor-Lighting/Sunwize-Solar-Outbuilding-Light-System-10-Watt/p4644/

How exactly do wind and solar power companies make their money?

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:29:07 +0000

I only invest in small-cap energy based companies like oil, gas, petroleum, and more recently, wind and solar power.

What I would like to know is how exactly do wind and solar power companies make their money? Please, I’d like to understand the industry a bit better. Thanks!

Your question is fairly general. Perhaps you would like to read these introductory articles and then post more specific questions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power

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How to set up a solar panel system for a static caravan.?

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:04:09 +0000

How to set up a solar panel system for a static caravan. I’m looking into fitting solar panels for my static and was wondering if anyone could advise me on the things i need to run a TV. Fridge ect:
I know i need an inverter or maybe more then one, but i need to know what type and AMP/Watts. (85 amp battery or higher) Do i need more then one battery and what amps should they be. Also what type of inverter. All help would be appreciated. THANKS.

Before you can figure out how much you need to make, you need to figure out how much you use. You need to figure out how much power the items you are powering draw, and for how long. If it is AC items (like you use in your house) you can use a kill-a-watt meter to measure how much power you use. http://www.altestore.com/store/Meters-Communications-Site-Analysis/Meters-Battery-Monitors/Power-Meters/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-P4400-Kill-A-Watt-Power-Meter/p932/

If they are DC powered, used off your battery without an inverter, you’d need to do the math of how many watts and for how many hours. Many items have a label on the back telling you the max watts they use, multiply that times the hours a day you’ll use it.

Once you know how many watt hours you need a day, put it in a calculator like this to figure out the size of panels and batteries. http://www.altestore.com/store/calculators/off_grid_calculator/

For the fridge, if you can use a propane powered one, you are much better off. They use a ton of electricity, it’ll be expensive to try to power it off solar.

What percentage of solar panels & windmills built in the US are built using illegals?

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:22:17 +0000

Months ago when Obama toured a solar panel manufacturing plant all of the workers were told to stay home that day. The vast majority were hispanics.

Didn’t Obama want a bunch of illegals in his green energy photo op?

Almost none. Those kind of manufacturing jobs are high paying, skilled labor jobs, the kind that Americans in unions have. There’s no need for unskilled undocumented workers.

Can you cite a source, and a factual one at that? Every photo I can find of Obama’s solar plant photo ops show him with workers. If "all" the workers stayed home, who is that he’s with?

Where can I buy a portable solar panels for my home in the Philippines?

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:57:01 +0000

With the power crisis looming in, I think it’s better to have a solar panel than buy a portable generator which eats up petrol. Philippines must have the costliest fuel per liter in Asia. Problem is, solar panels can’t be bought as easily as generators.

the endless world of the internet

Has anyone used solar panels to heat their pool, and what are your comments about them?

admin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:01:05 +0000

Trying to decide between a wood burner that heats the pool, or solar panels. Has anyone had any experiences with either and what are your opinions?

Solar pool heating is an incredibly efficient method of heating the pool. You need to be sure to size it correctly, 1 panel isn’t going to make any difference. Generally you need the equivalent of 70 – 100% of the pool surface in solar panels, depending on your location.

You can check out some solar pool heating kits at http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Pool-Heaters-and-Pumps/Unglazed-Solar-Pool-Heating/AquathermSolar-Industries-Pool-Packages/c1175/

Here’s a great article on solar pool heating from the US Department of Energy; http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13230

How do you make solar panels work better?

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:22:08 +0000

Well, we’re having a solar car competition tomorrow at school, and since my car’s motor and belt drive don’t work too well, I need a way to make the car go faster. Since I can’t have any other source of energy other than the solar panel, is there any way I could make it better? Like with stuff you’d have around the house? Or possible improvements on the car itself?

Add some small mirrors around the cell to direct more light on it. If the weight of the mirrors is too much, try foil paper, or using a couple large mirrors held by yourself and classmates, directed at your car.