Can I make my own Photovoltaic Solar Cell?
Question:
Answer:
You can make your own cells but the efficiency is so horribly low you'll be lucky to register it on a voltmeter. Most people won't have the facilities to make and process silicon so you have to find some other materials.
Yes, with copper oxide. The trouble is you need a transparent top contact layer, and stannous oxide is usually used for this, and it's not easy to apply.
Basically you take a sheet of copper, heat the devil out of it with a propane torch to get an oxide layer, solder a connection to the backside, and paint the front with stannous oxide and cast a small skeleton current collector for the stannous oxide with lead or lead/tin. It won't be very efficient, but it would work.
Other stuff also works or PV, like Selenium, etc. but that stuff is so toxic you need not bother.
No. Years ago Radio Electronics did an April fake out on how to make them that stll fools people. It may come up on a web search.
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