/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>150275
>buy a shit ton of those little solar powered yard lights
>remove all the solar panels
>return the lamps to the store with no panels
>don't get caught
>pay with cash, receive cash back
>connect your new mini panels into one great big panel
>???
>profit

Solar voltaic sucks. Look into solar thermal.

Someday, someday, we'll be able to print or extrude solar sheets from our homes. Then solar voltaic will be worth looking at.

you can't avoid buying the small cells and it is not cheap at all. you'll save a few bucks at best

>>150280
Have you seen the paint that is being worked on? It's painted on in layers with wires running between the layers. It's literally sprayed on over the the wires onto your house. The sun hits it and it produces electricity. It comes in whatever color you want too.

I can't wait for it to hit the market, it'll be awesome.

>>150375
can this be developed at home now to produce even very small voltages per cell/layer?

making panels from bare cells sucks. have fun vacuum laminating glass/eva/cells/tedlar

>>150386
and that the problem with them currently isnt it? too expensive to manufacture for commercial? but wouldnt it be more beneficial and cheaper in the long run compared to other carbon based fuels?

Why don't you just make stirling engine if you want electricity?
And if you want direct heat you can make solar can heater (google it).

>>150639
This is something I'll be doing in my future I think. Solar heat for a Stirling engine to make power.

>>150709
Why not now? Stirling engine is 10 times more easier and cheaper to make for the same output power. There are also great tutorials online.

>>151359
My greenhouse is not finished yet. That is where the collection will happen. The room in which the engine would be is full of stuff awaiting to be put in another section once the floor is install. I have people working on the floor right now actually. First the floor gets done then the stuff gets move then I wait until spring for the foundation to be made for the greenhouse then I design the last bits of the system and install it. Only then will I be able to move to the Stirling engine part which I'll be making in a room now having the floor dealt with.

It's a huge process.

>>151359
Can you link me some good schematics?

Could you run a stirling engine on a soda can solar heater? What could you power with it?

>>150275
I've built several solar panels before.
I went through all of ebay and drew up a table to figure out how to get the most amount of voltage*current for the least amount of money.

This was the winner:

>http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140642079761&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:
CA:1123

Next I went down to the local junk store and bought a nice big picture frame to hold everything in.

You're supposed to connect the panels together with something called "tabing wire". I found that solder whick works much better and costs less.

>>151971
I Forgot to mention that you can buy "broken" solar cells for ridiculously low money. Professional manufacturers don't want to use them because they look like shit, but they still work properly if mostly in one piece.

>>150375
Link?

I'm also really interested in the solar can heater/Stirling engine idea. Does anyone know what the most efficient way to connect those two systems would be?

Also, I'm a complete solar nub. What sort of power (in surface area or type of system [batteries etc]) would it take to run a normal (quad core, no crazy graphics card though) desktop computer, a fridge/freezer combo & a lamp or two?