DIY Solar Cell From Scratch

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-solar-cell-from-scratch/

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DIY solar cell from scratchby akolk1 on February 28, 2015

Table of Contents

DIY solar cell from scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: DIY solar cell from scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Gathering Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Cleaning the plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3: Titanium Dioxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 4: Finishing up the plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 5: Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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Author:akolk1 author's websiteInventor, entrepreneur and student. I'm currently 18 years old and from the netherlands.

Intro: DIY solar cell from scratchHello! In this instructable I will be showing you how to create a solar cell! I must warn you, the end product does not have any esthetic appeal whatsoever and is far froman professionally produced solar cell, but it works! This instructable will cover everything from gathering materials to measuring the output of your newly created solarcell.

According to Wikipedia a solar cell or photovoltaic cell is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. It is a formof photoelectric cell, defined as a device whose electrical characteristics, such as current, voltage, or resistance, vary when exposed to light. Solar cells are the buildingblocks of photovoltaic modules, otherwise known as solar panels.

The photovoltaic effect the creation of voltage or electric current in a material upon exposure to light.

Step 1: Gathering MaterialsLike any project there is a shopping list, most of these items are household items or tools, and you will most likely already have them. I recommend vendors on eBay foritems like the glass plates and titanium dioxide.

- Titanium Dioxide (white powder, often used in make-up)- 2 Binder clips (to hold the plates together)- Acetone or rubbing alcohol

- Glass plates*

- Graphite powder/pencil/lubricant stick

- Syringe (not a must, just handy)- Multi meter

- Cotton pads/swabs

- Alligator clips

- Aluminum profile (or something straight, non-porous like a piece of hard plastic)- 2 dishes, both shallow

- Spoon

- Demi water (de-mineralized water)- Raspberry, blueberry or blackberry juice- Iodide solution

- Cooktop/hotplate

The total cost of this project was about 30 dollars for me, as I had quite a lot of the items on the list already.*These glass plates need to be covered (on one side) in tin oxide (SnO2) this makes the plates conductive which is important. Searching conductive glass on eBaygives some good results.


Step 2: Cleaning the platesAfter you have collected all the items for the solar cell you can start building!

Find a clean surface to work on.

Put some acetone on one of the cotton pads and clean both sides of the first plate. After both sides are cleaned only pick up the plates by the sides! Place the plate onthe cotton pad and pull out the multi meter; you want the dial on a setting that detects short circuit. Test the plate for conductivity on the top slide, if the top is conductiveplace it somewhere clean. If its not conductive flip it over and try again, this time you should have the conductive side.

For the other glass plate just repeat the process, clean it on both sides and test it for conductivity. This time you want the conductive side down. Place this plate to theside as well and put the first plate (conductive side up) back in front of you.


Step 3: Titanium DioxideFor now you can leave the conductive side down plate to the side, we wont be needing it until the end.

The conductive side up plate however Is going to be coated in titanium dioxide. First take one of the dishes and pour in a little water. Next, start adding a little titaniumdioxide to the water, frequently stirring. You want to remove all the lumps from the dioxide. You will know you have the right consistency when the liquid turn into almost agoo.

Once you have made this titanium dioxide goo take a little out of the bowl with the spoon and place it on the plate, try to spread it out a bit but dont get to close to theedges.

Now we want to equally cover the entire surface. We are going to achieve this by place 2 items slightly taller than the plate on either side of the plate (I used 2 stackedslides) and going over it with the aluminum profile or whatever you chose as your straight, non-porous material. Doing this we cover the entire surface in an equal layer.If it spills a bit over dont worry about it.

Once the plate is covered, we need to bake the titanium dioxide to the plate. Carefully move you plate to your cooktop or hotplate. Slowly warm it up so the glass hasno chance of breaking. When its up to temperature leave it for a few hours so it has the chance to bake onto the plate.


Step 4: Finishing up the platesOnce the titanium dioxide is baked on we are only about 15 minutes away from a solar cell.

Take the berry juice and put it in the other shallow dish. Put the plate in with it so the juice covers the titanium dioxide. Leave this to soak for about 10 minutes. The berryjuice/titanium dioxide is what produces the electrical current, When light hits the juice it creates a negative electron and a positive "hole" and normally speaking thesewould just bind to become neutral again. Instead of binding the titanium dioxide transports the electron to the terminal (alligator clip) which transports it further to the restof the circuit.

In the meantime go back to the plate that was put aside (conductive side down). Flip it over and clean the surface one last time with a cotton swab and acetone. Now takethe graphite pencil/lubricant and cover the enite surface of the CONDUCTIVE side with graphite.

Go back to the titanium dioxide plate, take it out of the juice and rinse it with demi water. To get all the liquids off DAB it with a cotton pad. I was so stupid as to wipe theplate; most of the titanium dioxide came off my plate. Dont make the same mistake!

Note: This step is not really well documented with pictures. The picture shows the graphite plate covered in graphite powder. This is not how you want you slide, youneed to spread it out and rub it into the plate.


Step 5: Putting it all togetherAfter the last step the plates are ready to be put together. Place the plates on each other but leave about half a centimeter on both sides open so you can attach it tothe alligator clips.

Hold the plates together with the binder clips; place them on the sides. There is one last thing we need to do to get good conductivity between the plates. Take off one ofthe binder clips again and put a few drops of the iodide solution on the sides of your creation so it gets between the plates, this will successfully electrically bond theplates. Absorb any iodide solution that did not go in between the plates with a cotton swab.

Congratulations! You have now created a solar cell!

You can measure the output of the cell by attaching alligator clips to both of the exposed parts of the plate and to the leads of the voltmeter (dial now set to millivolts).mine generates about 25 millivolts when exposed directly to sunlight (simulated with a lamp)You have now created a working solar cell!

This couldbe the start of something bigger, one individual cell does not produce a lot of electricity but if you were to make multiple larger versions of these it could really producequite some electricity. Use your imagination!

Feel free to leave any suggestions in the comment section!

~Alex


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Comments14 comments Add Comment

alex_the_creator says: Feb 28, 2015. 10:30 PM REPLYDoes it last forever or get dull after a while?

akolk1 says: Mar 1, 2015. 1:44 AM REPLYi'm not sure, i would imagine that if the plates are not completely sealed the juice could spoil or the cell could dry out.

discostu956 says: Feb 28, 2015. 3:24 PM REPLYThis is awesome. Got my vote !! enjoyed reading your comments on what the parts do as well, adding this into the write up would make a great instructableeven better.

Awesome work


akolk1 says: Feb 28, 2015. 3:49 PM REPLYThank you! i completely agree, i added some information to the last page and the 4th page.

Thanks for the advice and the vote!

johng652 says: Feb 28, 2015. 1:57 PM REPLYExcellent, to all those coming here make sure you vote. Now have you load tested it yet or tried to charge a capacitor or battery?

akolk1 says: Feb 28, 2015. 2:41 PM REPLYI havent load tested it yet, the output of the cell is so small it is next to impossible to power or charger anything. even charging a capacitor would proballytake a long time. that being said it is not impossible to hook it up to a load.

I used a multimeter to show a direct result.

Lectric Wizard says: Feb 28, 2015. 9:59 AM REPLYVery interesting , what does the berry juice do ?

akolk1 says: Feb 28, 2015. 10:42 AM REPLYGreat to hear that you like it! It hard to explain but basically the berry juice is used as a dye for its organic properties. When light hits the dye it creates anegative electron and a postive "hole" and normally speaking these would just bind to become neutral again. But in stead of binding the titanium dioxidetransports the electron to the terminal (aligator clip) which transports it further to the rest of the circuit.So yeah, you could say this solar cell is organic.

Lectric Wizard says: Feb 28, 2015. 1:31 PM REPLYI'm somewhat familiar with OLEDs so this sounds like the reverse effect. I'm going to have to try this when I get a chance... Thanks for posting agreat 'able !!!

slivdahl says: Feb 28, 2015. 11:57 AM REPLYWhere did you learn about making solar cells?

akolk1 says: Feb 28, 2015. 12:18 PM REPLYMostly internet research and old science kits! this is my first attempt at a home made solar cell

evilmunkey says: Feb 28, 2015. 11:04 AM REPLYthanks for posting. I like others have wanted a solar panel D.I.Y. keep up the good work.

Skwurlito says: Feb 28, 2015. 9:43 AM REPLYEpic. I couldn't find anything for the longest time on the cell construction. just happen to scroll past it today.

willi1131 says: Feb 28, 2015. 9:23 AM REPLYThis is amazing!

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DIY Solar Cell From Scratch