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Tabbing Solar Cells

By: andrew richards

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Tabbing solar cells is simply a process where you attach two pieces of tabbing wire to the face of the solar cell. I remember failing miserably when I tried to do my first couple solar cells. I had problems like the wire not sticking to the cell, leaving the iron on too long and ruining the cells etc. After quite a bit of experimentation I found a method that works very well for tabbing cells.

The first thing you need to do is decide what kind of cells you're going to use for your panel. I always go with cells that produce around 2 watts each. Do not buy cells where the measured output is in milliamps as you'll end up with a 20 volt panel that wouldn't power a flashlight. You're looking for cells that are rated at 0.55 volts at 3.98 amps. It's easy to find watts as you just multiply amps and volts together.

Now that we have our cells it's time to tab them. As long as you do the preparation work tabbing them is a very easy process. Let's start with what you need. Of course you will need your solar cells. You're also going to need: solder, tabbing wire, flux and a soldering iron. Tabbing wire is special wire that's used in the building of solar panels. For the flux I recommend you get the pen type flux as it's quite a bit easier to apply. The purpose of the ceramic tile or glass (etc) is to draw heat away from the cell which can damager it.

Get your work area set up and start heating up your soldering iron. Lay the solar cell flat on the piece of glass (that's what I use). Get your flux out and apply a thin bead down the two white lines that run down the face of each cell. Those two white lines are where all the negative power flows in from the smaller lines running horizontally across the cell.

Next, we'll need to prepare our tabbing wire. You should cut each length of tabbing wire twice as long as each cell. Each cell requires 2 pieces of tabbing wire. After all the pieces are cut you're going to need to tin them. This is a fairly simply process. Lay the wire down flat and apply a thin coat of solder to half of the wire. This way the solder is on the underside of the wire when you go to solder them on to your cell.

Once you've prepared your cell and tinned your wire all you need to do is solder the wire onto the cell. It's a fairly painless process just make sure not to leave your soldering iron in one place for too long. After I'm finished I usually take a toothpick and make sure that there is a good bond between the wire and the cell.

Congratulations, you've learned how to tab your solar cells. All you need to do now is string them together and put them into a frame and you have a solar panel!

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Andrew is very interested in renewable energy. He has 16 years experience living off the grid, and has completely built his own renewable energy system. If you want to learn more about tabbed solar cells check out the previous link. There is also some great information in another article about tabbed solar cells.

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