How to make solar cells (DIY/homemade solar cell)

Cuprous oxide is a semiconductor, just like doped silicon, and was one of the first materials experimented with as a solar cell. But its efficiency was found to be so low that people stopped trying, though the occasional set of experiments are still done in research labs and papers published. It was also used to make commercially sold diodes and may still be, since that's what a solar cell is - a photosensitive diode.

And before you comment that it's a battery... At 2:30 the cell is getting full sunlight and it is around 10 microamps. At 2:35 I block the sun and it is around 0 microamps. Then at 2:41 I unblock the sun so the cell is getting full sunlight again and it is around 10 microamps again. If it was a battery then the current wouldn't be going back and forth when I block and unblock the sun. So it's solar.

This shows how to make and test a solar cell using a sheet of copper. These solar cells are basically sheets of copper with a layer of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) on them. The cuprous oxide is a semiconductor. You won't get much electricity from it but it's fun to make!

More details can be found at
http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/sp_diy_homemade_solar_cell.htm

Watch my how-to video, http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-video-399003/ How to make a homemade solar cell with a sheet of copper on WonderHowTo.

- http://rimstar.org

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Solar Cell
• solar
• cell
• cells
• homemade
• diy
• make
• build
• copper
• cuprous
• oxide
• cu2o
• Energy

[lilredlove911]

the copper sheets were like impossible to find...

[RimstarOrg]

@lilredlove911 Do you mean you found some but had a hard time? If not, try craft stores, construction stores or scrap yards. Just remember not to spend too much money on this; it's a good science project but doesn't produce a useful amount of power.

[sakura206haruno]

I got the copper online. It was professional sheeting. It was .005 inches thick or a bit thicker. I used a gas stove. It took about 20 minutes. And the black coating didnt get really thick. It just looked more like dust. After hours, nothing peeled off so I just rubbed the dust off. When I connected my solar cell to the ammeter, the negative clip needed to be connected to the unburned copper sheet to make the reading positive. And vise versa. Isnt that supposed to be the other way around?

[RimstarOrg]

@sakura206haruno Thanks. .005 inches is the same as mine, which I got from a scrap yard. I asked because I found if it was a really solid sheet then less flaking occurred than with our thin flexible stuff. But in your case, nothing flaked off so there goes that theory. And I also connected the negative clip to the unburned copper sheet to get a positive reading. I just checked the sci-toys website and they say they did it the opposite way we did. My guess is they have an error.

[sakura206haruno]

Woah! I got 90 microamps as the best and an average of 45!

[RimstarOrg]

@sakura206haruno Wow! The best I've heard of before was around 50. 90's great! Where'd you get your copper? I don't mean what location but was it from an art shop, was it flashing for building? When trying to make cuprous oxide diodes the source of the copper actually matters. Also, how thick was the copper sheet? What did you use to heat it?

[lilredlove911]

@RimstarOrg we looked everywhere....we found a small piece in a hardware store and we had to cut it

[JOHN27398]

the elec. is from cemical reaction.

[metalmolisher666]

@olpi71 What did you use? Could you be more specific? Also the full spectrum isnt characterised by just 400nm-700nm. You have to mimic the sun. So most studies are done with an am1.5 spectrum. Since the sun is a blackbody like kirchoff described it, you cant use a flat spectrum. So please be a bit more specific.

[olpi71]

@metalmolisher666 I did not use monocrystaline CdS. My technic was very cheap! secondary, I used the full spectrum of visible light from 4000A (blue) to 7000A (red). the company I worked for does not exist anymore. I never published my findings. I would say that todays technology could go higher than 27%? where is someone interested? my be the Chinese?

[metalmolisher666]

@RimstarOrg Yeah it is actually fun to watch.

[metalmolisher666]

@olpi71 27% in the 70's?? thats even better than monocrystaline solar cells. How did you get that? Todays solar power plants get something between 13-17% with the newest technology. On what spectrum did you archive that?? am1?? I know that concentrator cells can reach up to 40% under lab conditions. Can u cite an article, perhaps one you wrote, since 27% in the 70's was extraordinary, my guess would be that you published an article about it.