DIY Solar Panel Kits

i got a 20 watt solar panel and a 120v pump.the thing is that most electronics have a piece that reduces electricity into the voltage the part wants.will the solar panel make the pump work.

20 watts is not much power. That would run a small DC fountain pump. For anything larger, you would have to match the power rating of the pump.

There is an entire forum devoted to solar water pumping here http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/forumdisplay.php?f=10 . If you browse around, you may find what you’re looking for. The people there are pumping larger volumes, to water cattle, irrigate, or fill cisterns.

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.

well my mom got a whole load of solar powered lights for outside. is there any way i can make these into a solar panel ? if so how?if not why?

it’s probably not a good idea.
they only generate enough power, with the sun shining on ‘em all day, to produce a few watts to light a diode at night.
you could string a hundred of ‘em together, and you’d probably not be able to run your computer.
added all together, they’re not as big as a single solar panel.
and you need several panels to make a useful amount of electricity.

enjoy the lights.
they’re kinda nice.

I’m not sure what’s my roof is made of, could be clay or concrete or decra. But you know this material absorb heat and subsequently travel all the way down into the house, that makes a house hot. Nevertheless, thought of going green, if i replace my roof with solar panel/cell, does it also make my home less hot since it does not absorb heat as much as conventional roof (solar cells are suppose to absorb light, right?)

From a purely theoretical standpoint, the solar energy that your panels convert to electricity can’t make your house hotter.

From a practical standpoint, the solar panels will shade the roof somewhat, especially if they are mounted on some kind of support a couple of inches above the roof plane.

Hard to say how much of an effect this would have.

I have made a wind generator out of cheap, everyday materials.
Is it possible to make solar panels for generating electricity from everyday materials, perhaps something like a thermocouple with two different metals?

Not unless you can figure out a way to produce a semi-conductor at home. Basically a solar cell (photovoltaic cell) is a couple of layers of silicon P type and N type. Electrons become excited when light quanta penetrates into the P layer. The excited electrons move to the N type and (very oversimplified) create electricity.

I doubt you would have the facilities to create the materials at home.

i just need or wants to make solar panels

There are international companies that build solar plants for cities (see link for the biggest one, over 10 000 employees). If you buy one, it will be much cheaper than if you build it.

But if you have to build one because of a college project or something like that, first, you should tell your current skills

please help me on this. I am 17 year old boy and i don’t know so much about science.
please help me in simple(deeply) steps and things using in this.plz plz plz
thanks in advance.

This a quote:

"Materials you will need
The solar cell is made from these materials:

1.A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store. This normally costs about $5.00 per square foot. We will need about half a square foot.
2.Two alligator clip leads.
3.A sensitive micro-ammeter that can read currents between 10 and 50 micro amperes. Radio Shack sells small LCD multimeters that will do, but I used a small surplus meter with a needle.
4.An electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won’t work — mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot.
5.A large clear plastic bottle off of which you can cut the top. I used a 2 liter spring water bottle. A large mouth glass jar will also work.
6.Table salt. We will want a couple tablespoons of salt.
7.Tap water.
8.Sand paper or a wire brush on an electric drill.
9.Sheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet."

Go to this website for the rest including pictures.
Scroll part way down page to see.
http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/echem/echem2.html

Other places to go on the source info. below.

Wingman

would someone please tell me how in a simple way how to make a solar panel please? ive searched but no luck.

put clear pipes which connect to your water supply in a box with a black matt surface and shiny under side on the roof.

the black matt helps absorb heat radiation
the shiny light surface helps reflect heat back inside the box.

it is probably very hard to make though and there are many places to buy them.

hope that helps =)

For school, I need to heat 2 lieters of water with a solar panel.

anyone know how to do this

Making a black plastic container with a large surface area will do it. I worked at an archaeology field camp out in the mountains one summer and we took hot showers every day by filling these things called "sun showers". They were black plastic 10-liter bags with a screw on lid at one end to fill it up and a hose with a clamp valve and spray head at the other. We would fill them every morning after breakfast and then lay them out in the sun. By supper time they would be over 100 degrees and we would each take one and hang it on a hook above us in a shower room we built out of boards and tarps and be able to take a nice long hot shower.

Here’s an article and photo of the bag:

http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/228/1/Solar-shower-bag.html

Hi, if I were to do a laboratory experiment on how to find the energy conversion rate for a solar panel (an array of pipes), how can I make cold water (from a beaker at one end) flow through the panel? Then make hot water on the other end?

Please advise, many thanks!!

Gravity.

Since you are not going to be able to heat the water to a boil, use a funnel and a stopcock valve on the top.

You probably won’t get a true reading unless you have enough water to completely fill the system, so you’ll also need a stopcock on the bottom.

Measure your change in temperature of the H20 over, say, 5 minutes. (Fill system, wait 5 minutes, drain system and measure temp in outlet flow.)

And, if possible, use copper - better heat absorption.