EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Solar Power
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-13-09, 05:22 PM   #1
gascort
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Saint Louis, MO
Posts: 59
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default Bought solar cells... can't get them to work!

I recently purchased a 100- pack of 3x6 inch 1.8w solar cells on Ebay.
link to the same item on Ebay
I got them in good shape through the mail(they are fragile - one of my students already broke one!) and today tried checking one for output. My DMM won't read any voltage or current output. I double checked connections and tried another DMM; same thing. Is there something I'm missing?
I emailed the seller and he hasn't replied yet. I'll post his response in this thread when he does.
Matt

gascort is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-09, 07:39 PM   #2
Higgy
The Gardener
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Manitoba - Canada
Posts: 492
Thanks: 17
Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts
Default

Duuu-uuude....you're tempting me to buy those.

Keep us posted and let us know how it works out. Oh...and how badly beaten was that student after he broke the cell?
Higgy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-09, 08:49 PM   #3
gascort
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Saint Louis, MO
Posts: 59
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

lol, only lightly scolded - $2.50 is a small price to pay to teach the rest of his project group how fragile they are.
Luckily he broke the first one he touched; this way they will be veeery careful with the others.
gascort is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-09, 09:16 PM   #4
gascort
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Saint Louis, MO
Posts: 59
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

AHHHH! the front side of the cell is connected to the two tabs. The back side is all conductive. To put the cells in series, lay the next cell on top of the previous cell's tabs.
Cells work fine; in my living room, lit with CFLs, the cell is putting out about 0.15V.
gascort is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-09, 10:30 PM   #5
Ryland
Master EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Western Wisconsin.
Posts: 913
Thanks: 127
Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts
Default

Yes, the electrons flow from one side to the other, it's how they have always worked, it makes me wonder why students would have these in their hands if they didn't know what was going on.
Ryland is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-09, 07:17 PM   #6
gascort
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Saint Louis, MO
Posts: 59
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

They/we knew how they worked, but the two leads coming out of the cell was the killer... plus, the back side doesn't look as conductive as it is.
One tab / lead on the front wouldn't have played as well into misleading.
gascort is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-01-09, 06:45 PM   #7
gascort
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Saint Louis, MO
Posts: 59
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

The kids finally came in outside of school to put the cells together - they put 26 in series for a target output of 13V. They read almost 14V when they took them outside midday today, at almost 4A, so they're as good or better than advertised. These even had about 5% of each cell overlap due to size constraints of their design, so they're good cells.
They were easy to solder using the tabs and the solder points on the backs.

gascort is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:29 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design