Finally : cheap DIY selfmade solar cell with common materials !

[yaz]

Stumbled upon this homemade solar cell how-to booklet. Some good ideas in there.

http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_OTHER/SMALL/solarcell.pdf

[hartiberlin]

Stumbled upon this homemade solar cell how-to booklet. Some good ideas in there.

http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_OTHER/SMALL/solarcell.pdf

Copper-Oxid cells are just too inefficient and also use too much
energy ( Heat for the Oxid layer to form).

Also the other Cadmium-combination solarcells are only quoted by their
patents and it is not shown,how this really could be done at home.
Also these chemicals are hard to get and are pretty toxic too.

Maybe someone can try out these Cadmium cells and can post a real
how to do it yourself explanation?

But I guess the Graetzel cells are easier to do at home,
if you have ITO coated glas.

Many thanks.

Regards, Stefan.

[hartiberlin]

I wonder if an all colloidal-mineral type of solar cell could be designed by using the available array of easily purchased colloidal minerals and simply mixing two to simulate doping. Say by mixing colloidal platinum and colloidal silver you would get the P-layer, and by mixing silver and zinc colloids you would get the N-layer. I am not sure how to join them, but maybe similar to the LCD screens with conductive paint or copper wires. I am not quite sure how it would go together, but the idea of an all-colloidal solar cell really sounds interesting to me. Transparency is no problem.

I need to think about it for a bit.

The available colloidal minerals that are easily purchased comprise Boron, Calcium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Germanium, Gold, Indium, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Platinum, Potassium, Selenium, Silver, Sulfur, Tin, Vanadium, and Zinc.

I am just not really sure if mixing two colloids would simulate doping; but it does sound interesting.

Hi RR,
yes,I think this is a good possibility.

Also electroplating could work.
I just need a good silicon salt, that is soluable in water and that will
coat my graphite paper when I do an electrolysis.

Any idea what cheap silicon salt to use ?

Many thanks.

Regards, Stefan.

[turbo]

A Reminder:
Silicon is toxic and can cause permanent lung damage.

M.

[infringer]

Marco,
So are them cigarettes that you smoke or that cardboard that you touch and the plastic you cook with ...
But here is an interesting article to lend credibility to what you talk of.
http://food.oregonstate.edu/glossary/c/colloidalsilicondioxide.html it would appear to me that this is best handled in damp conditions where there will be little dust... For the most part though silicon seems to be safe its everywhere... Personally I believe it is less harmful then forms of insulation and fiberglass... It would be more of an equal to plastic but plastic may even have more negatives.

We are survivors its amazing how much the human body can tolerate.

Stephan,
water-soluble material, sodium methyl siliconate, which is applied as a very dilute water solution; with exposure to the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere it is converted to a water-insoluble resin.

All,
Maybe someone here can lend Stephan a better hand here to get him what he is looking for.

Thanks again guys for participating.