>to make a solar panel !
>From the raw materials and chemicals
>to make a photovoltaic cell, to
>getting it to work !
>I want to make my own !
>But am finding it difficult to
>get even the most basic books
>or materials explaining the process. I
>do not mind if my attempt
>is primitive and shoddy. I will
>get some satisfaction from putting one
>together, and I am sure it
>will work !
>Please advise on materials or sources of
>this 'BACK TO BASICS' INFORMATION.
I loved the response from the fellow that developed the pacemaker. Classic stuff!
Really, it's a royal pain to try and make PV cells yourself without the proper tools. Clean room, furnaces, chemicals, etc. Doing it in your garage is probably not an option. There are books that explain the science and actually give you dopant concentrations for certain substrates and all that jazz - all to generate a little bit of power. In fact, solar cells that generate more significant power are separate cells wired in arrangements to yield a higher voltage and/or current.
There is one gentleman that comes to mind who actually created PV's from amorphous silicon (silicon with random structure instead of the precisely grown crystal). Anyway, his name is Stan Ovshinsky and he founded Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. with a similar spirit and conviction. He actually created a transistor type switch from silicon melted in a crucible with electrodes. Doesn't get any more basic than that does it? Good luck.
