Help for a newbie!

[jmag]

Hey everyone! As I stated in my "hello" post, I am planning on building a 60 watt 36 cell solar panel for a Christmas present. Could I please get some ideas from you all on what materials I could use for a quality frame? I would ideally like to keep it around $30 or less but don't know if that is realistic (the frame, not the whole solar panel, of course). I am also stuck on the type of soldering I should use, and if I should I buy some high temperature silicone.

Anyone make a panel using the Sylgard/Qsil, or should I stick to a wood frame/pegboard panel?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[SunEagle]

Hello jmag and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

I am sure other members that have built a DIY panel will provide you some information on the type solder as well as any other material to use.

[inetdog]

You will have a hard time keeping your material cost that low if you will be using a good encapsulant and glass.
And to have a reasonably long life of the resulting panel you should figure out a way to pull a vacuum on it while encapsulating to remove as much moisture as possible.
Using silicone as a sealant is OK but do not use the air curing (vinegar smelling) standard household silicone variety as that will eat you wiring and cell plating.

[jmag]

You will have a hard time keeping your material cost that low if you will be using a good encapsulant and glass.
And to have a reasonably long life of the resulting panel you should figure out a way to pull a vacuum on it while encapsulating to remove as much moisture as possible.
Using silicone as a sealant is OK but do not use the air curing (vinegar smelling) standard household silicone variety as that will eat you wiring and cell plating.

Thank you for the response! I AM running into the budget problem, like you stated. I want to keep total cost less than $200, but of course, being under that would be great. Any ideas/areas where I could bring the cost down? How would I go about vacuuming out the moisture while encapsulating?

[SunEagle]

Thank you for the response! I AM running into the budget problem, like you stated. I want to keep total cost less than $200, but of course, being under that would be great. Any ideas/areas where I could bring the cost down? How would I go about vacuuming out the moisture while encapsulating?

To vacuum out the moisture will require a very expensive machine. You are now beginning to see that building a quality solar panel may be fun and educational but it is far from being cheap.

You probably could have gotten a 100 watt manufactured panel for less then that $200. Just sayin.

[jmag]

To vacuum out the moisture will require a very expensive machine. You are now beginning to see that building a quality solar panel may be fun and educational but it is far from being cheap.

You probably could have gotten a 100 watt manufactured panel for less then that $200. Just sayin.

I know! I know! I try to not look a prices because they make me discouraged, but I am excited to do this project. Vaccuming is out, haha. How about EVA instead of Q-Sil? I'm guessing it would be a much larger pain to work with but is much much cheaper.