How to build a 60 Watt Solar Panel for $20
The 40 solar cells cost me $12 off eBay. The 40ft of solar tabbing was $5 off amazon. The caulk was $3 from a hardware store. I got the windows and backing from salvage and made a frame for one panel from salvaged lumber. You can get glass, lumber, and backing material for free, or dirt cheap, from local sign shops, junkyards, and construction sites if you just ask nicely. That's $20 even for over 60 Watts of free power! I had all the tools already so I didn't include those in the cost total. The polyurethane spray wasn't necessary but I had some old cans lying around that I decided to use to make sure it was 100% waterproof. It can be bought for $8 at a hardware store. This is two panels wired in series because I didn't have a single window pane large enough to fit all the cells on. The large panel puts out over 45W and the small panel generate about 20W. Together I got about 19 Volts and 3.25 Amps from the two panels. That's a little less than 62 Watts! That was in less than perfect conditions so I don't know what my real maximum is. There's a tropical depression moving into my state at the moment so I can't test it for a while and I wanted to upload this video already as I'd been filming it for weeks. This took a lot of time to make so I don't think I'll do anymore of these. I never realized how much I pause while talking or how much a pain that is to edit out. However, if you like nature footage and learning biology please consider subscribing as I hope to continue making those videos for years to come!
The 40 solar cells cost me $12 off eBay. The 40ft of solar tabbing was $5 off amazon. The caulk was $3 from a hardware store. I got the windows and backing from salvage and made a frame for one panel from salvaged lumber. You can get glass, lumber, and backing material for free, or dirt cheap, from local sign shops, junkyards, and construction sites if you just ask nicely. That's $20 even for over 60 Watts of free power! I had all the tools already so I didn't include those in the cost total. The polyurethane spray wasn't necessary but I had some old cans lying around that I decided to use to make sure it was 100% waterproof. It can be bought for $8 at a hardware store. This is two panels wired in series because I didn't have a single window pane large enough to fit all the cells on. The large panel puts out over 45W and the small panel generate about 20W. Together I got about 19 Volts and 3.25 Amps from the two panels. That's a little less than 62 Watts! That was in less than perfect conditions so I don't know what my real maximum is. There's a tropical depression moving into my state at the moment so I can't test it for a while and I wanted to upload this video already as I'd been filming it for weeks. This took a lot of time to make so I don't think I'll do anymore of these. I never realized how much I pause while talking or how much a pain that is to edit out. However, if you like nature footage and learning biology please consider subscribing as I hope to continue making those videos for years to come!