# Solar Silver Cell



## rfd298 (Aug 6, 2010)

I didn't know if I should put this in Silver or Build your own Equipment well here goes.

Has anybody built or is using solar power to run a Silver Cell? I'm thinking it would be fun to build. I'm looking to build a power plant for my 3 Liter Cell that would yield an optimal Voltage of 4 Volts and 5 or 6 Amps.

Thanks
Ken


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## lazersteve (Aug 6, 2010)

If you look closely at the Silver Refining DVD you'll notice I used a solar cell as the power source during a portion of the video. I edited it out of the final cut to reduce the complexity of the process, but the cell can still be found in several of the scenes in the released DVD version of video.

Steve


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## rfd298 (Aug 6, 2010)

Steve,

What size Solar cell or array are you using?


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 6, 2010)

Do yoiu have the solar cell hooked up directly to the leads or are you useing a battery charged by the solar cell then hooked up to the leads?


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## lazersteve (Aug 6, 2010)

rfd298 said:


> Steve,
> 
> What size Solar cell or array are you using?



The one in the video (in the background if you look closely) is 3 V @ 7A with peak sun.I built it myself for the cell.

I hooked it directly to the cell.

Steve


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 6, 2010)

Have you thought about putting some batteries in for the solar cell to carge and then run you cell from the batteries with a voltage regulator in between?


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## lazersteve (Aug 6, 2010)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> Have you thought about putting some batteries in for the solar cell to carge and then run you cell from the batteries with a voltage regulator in between?




Yes.


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## HAuCl4 (Aug 7, 2010)

Would love to see plans, pics, material lists, and instructions for building solar voltaic cells.

"Silver and gold refining plant running on sun light and sea water"...restless mind...

Lol


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## lazersteve (Aug 7, 2010)

HAuCl4 said:


> Would love to see plans, pics, material lists, and instructions for building solar voltaic cells.
> 
> "Silver and gold refining plant running on sun light and sea water"...restless mind...
> 
> Lol




Here's a few more photos of my setup:

*The finished 3V @ 7A peak panel:*






*The parts used to fabricate the panel (plus a 14" x 17" picture frame- not shown):*





*The overall schematic diagram:*





A true system would also include a charge controller, inverter, and battery bank (deep cycle AGM cells).

Here are the batteries I'm looking to purchase one day:

12 V 115 Ah Battery

Steve


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## HAuCl4 (Aug 7, 2010)

Very nice Steve. Lead-sulphuric batteries from trucks or cars would do as well instead of purchasing?. 

Let's build it all from scrap, I says!. Lead is cheap and so is sulphuricc.


Are the photo cells hard to build, you think?. Great info, thanks.

Think end of world, no stores to shop. Only earth, wind, water, fire... And spirit!!.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 7, 2010)

HAuCl4 said:


> Very nice Steve. Lead-sulphuric batteries from trucks or cars would do as well instead of purchasing?.



The battery that Steve has chosen is a deep cell battery which means it the charge on the battery can be drawn wat down numerous times before it will no longer be a good battery. An auto battery will cause a failure in the battery if you try and use them on a constant basis by drawing them down. A deep cell battery is what you need to use. Plus you can hook them up the same way he has his photo cells hooked up and increase the storage load capabilites for later power use.


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## lazersteve (Aug 7, 2010)

Car and truck batteries are not well suited for solar. Solar requires deep cycle batteries for repeated charging and deep discharging cycles.

I've built a few panels already and plan on making enough to provide a few thousand watts of power each day. The biggest expenses will be the batteries. Old electric signs, golf cart, and electric forklift batteries are a good source for second batteries.

Assembly is pretty straight forward if you have any soldering skills.

Steve


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## HAuCl4 (Aug 7, 2010)

It shouldn't be too hard to copy one of those batteries, and the materials seem to be lead and sulphuric too, same as the truck batteries.

Some plans and drawings would help. Will see if I can find some. Likely the only difference is physical setup, dimensions, etc.

I was asking about making the individual cells from scrap, not buying and assembling. This looks harder than the batteries. Nice project.


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## lazersteve (Aug 7, 2010)

The only homemade solar cell I know of is a low power one made from a sheet of copper that has been heated to form a thick layer of black copper oxide. 


Copper Oxide Solar Cell

Steve


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## gorfman6154 (Aug 8, 2010)

HAuCl4 said:


> I was asking about making the individual cells from scrap, not buying and assembling. This looks harder than the batteries. Nice project.




Here's a link for a pdf, which makes a solar cell from conductive glass, which could be recycled from laptops or other displays,Titanium dioxide, blackberry juice, and iodine. It's only experimental, but is works. :arrow: :arrow: 

http://www.sciencegeekgirl.com/activities/Blackberry solar cell.pdf


There are also some videos on youtube. Search under dye sensitized solar cell.

Gary


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## gold4mike (Aug 9, 2010)

Would the batteries designed for trolling motors for fishing boats be a good storage battery for solar? I believe I have heard them called "deep cycle".

I've also been saving the lead/acid batteries from UPS / Battery Backup's with the same purpose in mind. I had a storage shed built recently and thought about using solar and battery storage for lighting, rather than digging a long trench to run power to it from the house.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 9, 2010)

gold4mike said:


> Would the batteries designed for trolling motors for fishing boats be a good storage battery for solar? I believe I have heard them called "deep cycle".
> 
> I've also been saving the lead/acid batteries from UPS / Battery Backup's with the same purpose in mind. I had a storage shed built recently and thought about using solar and battery storage for lighting, rather than digging a long trench to run power to it from the house.



THe batteries for fishing boats if they are deep cycle will work fine.

The UPS batteries will not because they store only a small amount.


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## Chumbawamba (Aug 10, 2010)

Mike, I had the exact same idea in mind. The only problem is that by the time you get around to using the batteries you're storing up they'll be no good. Typical (cheap) UPS batteries are good for about 5 years, less if they've been cycled many times (i.e. drawn down and recharged). Even after sitting for a short time they can go bad.

I get UPS batteries through my recycling operation all the time, and I always try to pick out the good ones based on their charge when I test them. Anything over 12V I keep. If they later are found to hold a good charge after charging then I keep them, otherwise I recycle. I did a fair amount of experimentation on a large batch of seemingly good ex-UPS batteries but my conclusion is that, unless they are only a year or two old, they will not work very well in serious applications. They're good for experimentation and low-amperage applications, but relying on them to store power from a solar cell is not recommended.

I always throw out any batteries that are bulging or even cracked, as those are obviously bad. But some that look just fine are deceptive: if you shake them and hear stuff rattling around inside then they are also most likely bad.

Good for experimentation, but if you have a serious application then buy them new.


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## gold4mike (Aug 10, 2010)

Chumbawamba,

Thanks for the info - I've stored some of those batteries for over two years with this thought in mind. Considering their short life span I'd probably be better off selling them to the scrap yard and taking the money to buy a new deep cycle marine battery. I have roughly 400 pounds of them stored in milk crates.


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## HAuCl4 (Aug 11, 2010)

lazersteve said:


> The only homemade solar cell I know of is a low power one made from a sheet of copper that has been heated to form a thick layer of black copper oxide.
> 
> 
> Copper Oxide Solar Cell
> ...



Where did you get your solar cells for assembly Steve?.


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## lazersteve (Aug 11, 2010)

Flea bay.


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## rfd298 (Aug 11, 2010)

I got 36, 3 x 6, 3.6A .5V Cells coming from flea bay. That should give me enough to build a couple of Panels to play with. It should be a fun little project. I will be replacing my 3L cell I am currently using and going to a 5L cell.


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