Quote from: ResinRat2 on April 08, 2009, 11:30:11 PM
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I just need to purchase or obtain an LCD screen. Does anyone know where an LCD screen can be purchased?

@ Resin

You might want to browse eBay for non-working TV/monitor/laptop "for parts" sales.
No need to pay for a working device and dismantle it for parts when you can pick up something on the cheap and save another landfill deposit (speaking of which, keep a wary eye on trash day for the odd dead LCD device that might show up out next to the curb. It's not supposed to be disposed of that way, but it happens quite often and is picked up  by the garbage truck without complaint).

Also, should the efficiency be enough to warrant it and you would want to build more, You could take out an ad in your local paper offering to buy dead LCD devices. How much someone wants to sell you trash is a lot less than what they want to sell you a TV, and there is no shipping.

I've been spending a lot of time researching methods to do this, I have the following link that might be of some help to you.  Here is a page on how to make your own transparent conductive glass:

http://www.teralab.co.uk/Experiments/Conductive_Glass/Conductive_Glass_Page1.htm

it doesn't look too complicated.  I'm interested in hearing if anyone has done this.

thanks-Duane

mdmiller
  That does look easy enough and it even comes out looking like those oakley sun glasses that are coated with that rainbow colored stuff. if i were to take a leap forward in thought. The hot gas/smoke may be all that is needed when trying to stick the material to poly type sheeting like a plastic fresnel lens. The groves in the lens should provide more surface area. The method may work for a number of metals with low melt temperatures.Good find. I always wondered how they do that.

Quote from: ResinRat2 on April 08, 2009, 11:30:11 PM
I just need to purchase or obtain an LCD screen. Does anyone know where an LCD screen can be purchased?

If you check the IT departments of your local large multi-national type corporartions, you may be offered more than you can carry away.
Also, your local recyling depot may have started to get them in.
Paul.

This is a great thread, and very tempting to make these cells!  There's a wealth of info about Graetzel cells at wikipedia -->

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graetzel_cells

They go over the efficiencies of DSSc's, which are comparable to traditional silicon-based solar cells. DSSc's can typically be 11% efficient and traditional Si about %12 to %15 typically. DSSc's produce more voltage, ~ 0.7V, than traditional Si, ~0.6V, but DSSc's produce less current, 20 mA/cm², as compared to traditional Si, 35 mA/cm². BTW, those figures are not the power figures combined, but are simply the open-circuit voltage and closed circuit (shorted) current. DSSc's produce just about as much overall power as traditional Si.

DSSc's degrades from UV light, but that's not a big problem because they simply place a thin UV absorbing coating.

According to wikipedia, DSSc's are currently the most efficient third-generation solar technology available.

Development:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graetzel_cells#Development


It would help to have an inexpensive method of making the glass coated transparent conductive plates. One method is to place an metal on a ceramic plate just under a piece of glass inside a vacuum, and heat the metal. In this case, the vacuum does not have to be a high vacuum, although a high vacuum would help. A cheap $60 rotary vane pump from Harbor Freight should be sufficient -->

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=98074

This method is called deposition. There are a lot of methods of coating conductive layers on glass. Some better than others. It can be difficult to apply a pure metal coating, rather than an oxide coating. Metal oxides are very poor electrical conductors. The presence of air, which contains oxygen, will easily oxidize the heated metal, hence the vacuum pump. The vacuum method is one of the best, but there's probably a lot easier methods that work good enough.


Solar combined with wind turbines seems like a good complete package. They say that when the wind dies out the Sun usually comes out, and vice versa so one of them is often producing power.


PL