How To Build A Solar Cell Easily
By: elisem72 | Posted: 20th May 2010
It is easy to find out how to build a solar cell with the help of just some simple things! This will let you transform energy generated from the sun straight into electricity. Besides blowing thousands on gigantic, perplexing factory solar power panels, it is possible to be taught how to build a solar cell just in approximately an hour or so. Rather than silicon components put to use in manufactured solar panels, you can easliy use cuprous oxide to figure out how to build a solar cell. Cuprous oxide has become the very first substances that displays the photoelectric outcome, where light will cause electricity to run through a substance.
Standard Resources For Learning How to build A Solar Cell:
1 sheet copper flashing from equipment store (half a square foot)
2 alligator clip leads
1 hypersensitive micro-ammeter which is able to read currents that are in between 10 - 50 microamperes
1 electric stove or a one-burner hotplate
1 large, clear plastic bottle with the top cut
1-2 tablespoons of salt
Tap water
Sand paper, a wire brush, or an electric drill
Sheet metal shears to cut the copper sheet
This is in fact everything that you have got to master how to build a solar cell, in simple terms.
How to build A Solar Cell: How Does It Work?
Cuprous oxide provides a semi-conductor. At this point, a semiconductor is positioned amongst a conductor (electrical power is permitted to flow freely ) and an insulator (electrical power is able to flow without restraint and electrons are firmly bound to their atoms , nor flow extensively). With the semiconductor, a space occurs (known as a bandgap) stuck between electrons that are tightly chained to the atom and the electrons that happens to be far from the atom, which could keep moving around openly and conduct electrical power. The electrons cannot stay inside of the bandgap since an electron can't develop solely a small sum of energy and set off to transfer away from the atom's nucleus and right into the bandgap. The electron demands to develop enough energy to proceed farther away from the nucleus and outside of the bandgap.
Additionally, an electron which is on the outside of the bandgap are unable to reduce a small sum of energy and slide marginally nearer to the nucleus. It needs to get rid of an adequate amount of energy to slide beyond the bandgap in the direction of the spot where the electrons are alotted. As light actually reaches the electrons in the cuprous oxide, several develop adequate energy to soar past the bandgap and turn out to be free enough to execute electrical power. These electrons transfer via the saltwater, into the copper sheet, into the wire, up the meter, and back down to the cuprous oxide sheet. As the electrons shift up in the direction of the meter, they give off enough energy to move the needle. If you find a lesser amount of sun energy accessible, lesser electrons exist to do the job, causing a dip in the meter's needle.
Finishing Information On How to build A Solar Cell
The solar panel prepared with these supplies provides 50 microamps at .25 volts, which is .0000125 (12.5 microwatts). There isn't a sufficient amount of energy in this solitary homemade cell to light a light bulb or charge a battery, but you can use it as a simple light detector or light meter.
Try it for yourself! If you would like a lot more solutions to discover how to build a solar cell that emits sufficient energy to power bigger things and perhaps your complete home, visit www.GreenEnergyApproach.com.This article is free for republishing
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Tags: tap water, electron, sheet metal, sand paper, nucleus, electrons, insulator, solar panels, electrical power, alligator, solar cell, semi conductor, electric stove, solar power panels