My Best Answers from Yahoo Answers
How do Solar Panels work, and how can it generate electricity?
Can you guys help on how solar panels work and how it generates electricity or can you give me a good website that has solar panel info on it?
Best Answer – Chosen by Asker
Solar panels are made up of a number of solar cells. A solar cell will generate from 0.5 to 0.55 volts DC and a current depending on the size and type of cell. The current can be milli-amps or amps. We have a list of solar cell manufactures on our blog http://brutuscontry.com under products that are sorted by watts per area. Also go to wikipedia to get more detailed information on solar cells.
Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell
Asker’s Rating: 5 out of 5
Solar Panel Voltage Question?
I am building a solar panel. I have wired in series 36 .5 volt solar cells to produce 18 volts. I have another panel that has 34 .5 volt solar cells to produce 17 volts. Any issues with wiring these 2 arrays in Parallel? I.E. would the smaller array take usable power away from the larger array?
Best Answer – Chosen by Asker
The solar panels should have the same output voltage. If you wire them in parallel, I doubt that the 34 cell panel will add any current to the output. Do the solar cells panels have about the same output current? If so you can hook them in series to increase your output voltage. If not then you should remove 2 cells from the 36 cell panel so that both panels have 34 cells, then you should be able to hook them in parallel and the output currents should add to give you more power.
Asker’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Can you help me out with a solar panel?
Hi. does anybody know how to make or build a solar panel, with just home stuff, and not anything too expensive? If necessary just spend no more than 100 dollars. Thanks
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
The cost of solar cells add up quickly so the size of the solar panel you want or need to build will be the main determining factor. The panels are easy to build with plywood backing.
We are building a solar powered concentrator into a satellite dish, using as many parts as possible from our home or neighbors. Check out our blog at http://brutuscontry.com/
Solar Panel: Watts, Amps, Volts? mA?
What do these mean? I’m interested in doing a solar panel project. The problem is I know nothing about electricity, wiring, or panels so I’ve bought a small panel to experiment with first.
I don’t know what amps, watts, or volts are; what I should be reading on the batteries I will be charging? Or on the small appliances I will be running?
The panel I bought has four settings:
1. 3V —- 200mA
2. 6V —- 100 mA
3. 9V —- 50mA
4. 12V —- 50 mA
(What is mA?)
Also, will you give examples of what I can run with this? Make up any scenarios with whatever amps/volts/watts.
I know I won’t be able to run big devices, that’s why I said, “*what I should be reading on the batteries I will be charging? Or on the small appliances I will be running?”
I meant *”what should I” by the way. I bought this small panel to experiment with and learn some basics, wiring, conversions, etc. Then I will move on to bigger projects, maybe using some deep cycle batteries to power bigger devices that use more juice.
Best Answer – Chosen by Asker
I don’t know what amps, watts, or volts are;
Volts is like the water pressure in a hose, amps is like the volume of water coming out of the hose and watts is the power, volts times amps or water pressure times water volume. Watts means how much work can be done. Watt-hours or killowatt-hours is how much energy you use or amp-hours is a measure of the amount of energy stored in a battery.
A great project to help you understand electricity is get some LEDs which you can hook up to your solar panels. Some of the LEDs have a forward voltage of 2 volts DC and some have a forward voltage of 3.5 volts DC, but they only require 20 mA of current. The LEDs have a positive and negative terminals just like your solar panels.
You could hook 5 to 10 LEDs each in series with a 50 ohm resistor and then hook these LED-resistors in parallel and connect them to your 3 volt–200 mA setting. The maximum current for the LEDs is 50 mA so the 50 ohm resistor will limit the amount of current that can flow through the LEDs.
You could then re-arrange your circuit and hook 4 LEDs in series with a 50 ohm resistor to the 12 volt –50 mA setting.
PS: The 9 volt setting should be 66.6 mA to make 0.6 watts. I am assuming that the LEDs are 2 volts DC forward voltage.
See our blog http://brutuscontry.com/ to see our solar panel project.
Source(s): http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl…
Asker’s Rating: 4 out of 5
How do I know what size charge controler I need for my solar panels?
Do I add up output Amps of each photo voltaic panel or what?
Best Answer – Chosen by Asker
Does each solar panel have the same output voltage, that is does each panel have the same number of cells, if so then you can hook each panel in parallel which will add the current from each panel together. You then multiply the voltage of the panels times the combined current to get the wattage or power capability of your panels. The output voltage of your panels should be about 14.5 volts DC to be able to charge a 12 volt battery. Make sure the charge controller can handle the combined output current of your panels. When doing design work, I always used a safety factor of 2 times, if your panels current output is 10 amps then your charge controller should be able to handle 20 amps.
- Asker’s Rating:
Can mirrors be used to concentrate solar power?
As in,aim beams of light at a solar panel or does it lose what it needs through the transition to supply power?
Additional Details
Holy **** I thought I was way out of line lol thanks!
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
Yes you can concentrate the sun light on to a solar panel, but as they have said the heat build up is some thing you must determine how to dissipate. The more you concentrate the solar energy the more heat must be handled.
Can I make solar panel at home?
If YES, then HOW???
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
Yes you can build a solar panel at home. This is a very good project on the benefits of solar energy and they can be built for a small amount of money unless you plan on building a large panel. There is a lot of information on the web, with some sites asking you to pay for the information. Look around and I think you can find the information you need.
Will a solar panel 130 watts max 24.5 volts. charge one 12 volt battery or do i need 2 batteries 24v wiring?
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
You need about 13.5 volts DC to fully charge a 12 volt battery. 24.5 volts DC will not fully charge two 12 volt batteries. You could charge the 12 volt battery with a simple charger controller, or use a DC to DC converter to charge a 12 volt battery up to 13.5 volts. The simple charge controller will waste a lot of power to get the 24.5 volts down to 13.5 volts to fully charge your battery.
I want to buy a solar panel for 800 mA inverter with 12 V backup. Please advice me.?
I want to use a solar panel as battery charger of 800 ma inverter
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
You did not specify how long you needed to produce the 800 ma. You need to determine the watt-hours required to run your inverter and its efficiency. This will determine what size of solar panel and battery you need as solar power is only available for 8 to 10 hours per day on average.
Each solar cell generates from 0.5 to 0.55 volts DC and the current is dependent on the size and type of solar cell. So the solar panel will need at least 28 cells to produce the required 14 volts DC to charge a battery.
Solar panel construction?
I am looking for schematic diagrams for a solar panel to generate enough charge to power a series of LEDs, and other small low voltage items, ideally the panels would have to be no larger than 4×4cm each.
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
We have diagrams on how to connect solar cells in series and in parallel on our products page. Sign up for our news letter and get free access to the products page. We also have a down loadable list of solar cell suppliers where you can purchase a number of different sizes and shapes of solar cells.
What happens when you use too much current and/or voltage on a DC motor?
I’ve got a solar panel which is 6V while my motor is 3V max. What do I do so that it wont damage my motor?
Best Answer – Chosen by Asker
If your 3 volt motor was designed correctly, that is it should be able to withstand twice its rated voltage with out damage. The motor should run faster at the higher voltage level.
To be safe you could connect a resistor or variable resistor in series with your motor to control the voltage across the motor. A variable resistor would be more fun as you could control the speed of the motor with it. Check the resistance of the motor and then use a resistor with that same amount of resistance. Then 1/2 of the voltage will be across the resistor. Make sure your resistor or variable resistor is of high enough wattage or it could get too hot and or burn open.
Asker’s Rating:
5 out of 5
Asker’s Comment:
That is excellent. Thanks Brutus
