Solar Cell Tester - DIY

[jim91505]

I'm new to the forum and want to share this DIY cell tester that I came up with today. It's made from a couple of 8x10 inch sheets of plastic window glass. A small piece of copper clad PC board is glued to each piece to solder tabbing and a wire lead to. The tabbing runs across the inside of the glass where the cell that is being tested is placed. The meter is set to amps and the cell is held out in the sun. Not scientific, but should help sort the cells out, identifying the bad ones.

-Jim

[Mike90250]

Cool, that's better than 99% of the folks do, What's a Test?

How has the yield been ?

[Naptown]

The only problem I can see is inconsistent lighting due to humidity etc If you can add a metal halide or other light source that is more consistent it would be a more reliable test.

[jim91505]

Cool, that's better than 99% of the folks do, What's a Test?

How has the yield been ?

100% so far. One cell tested, one good In today's Los Angeles sun that seemed to be a bit down, I got 6 1/2 amps.

I purchased a bunch of cells but have them stored away for now while I test a new panel that I just finished yesterday. It's my own design that I came up with after a considerable amount of you-tubing and other research. I have it set up out in the backyard to see how it weathers and degrades over the winter and into the hotter part of the year. If it works out, I will go into DIY production and share. It's for an emergency power supply system to power my ham radio station in the event of a disaster where the grid would be down for an extended period.

-Jim

[bartelby]

Thanks

for sharing this idea