Ward's Cheap Solar Power System

We've been asked the same question over and over, ever since Otherpower.com
was created: 'How cheaply can I build a solar power system?' The answer, of
course, is 'it depends on what you want to run!' If you want to run a normal house
in town off of solar, you're in for a investment of tens of thousands of dollars,
thanks to a house that's almost certainly full of power-wasting, inefficient lights
and appliances. But if you can start from scratch...that's a different story! The
awesome little 7-sided log cabin Ward bought has never had an electrical
system...in fact it was built back the 1960s using NO POWER TOOLS of any kind.
The builder didn't believe in power tools...It's located only a mile from
Otherpower.com headquarters.

Total cost of Ward's cabin solar power system : Less

than 700 Bucks!

Ward thought carefully about what electrical appliances he needs to run at his new
home. It's important to do this before planning and purchasing your power system! He's
a bachelor, but still wanted enough 'stuff' for a comfortable lifestyle. Here's what he
came up with for essential items:

 Lighting--all lights to be high-efficiency. 120 VAC compact fluorescent (CF)

 lighting was chosen because bulb cost is so cheap compared to 12VDC CFs
($50/ea for 12VDC, $9/ea for 120VAC)
o 120 VAC CF room light, 9 watt
o 120 VAC CF light over kitchen counter area, 6 watt
o 12 VDC halogen light in bedroom, 20 watt (this way he can turn off the
inverter before bed to save power, and still have light to get back to the
bedroom). Plus, halogen lights are better for reading
o 120 VAC Halogen outdoor spotlight, 50 watt....there's bears, cougars,
and rogue moose up here all the time. Better to see them first when you
have to visit the outhouse at 3 AM!
 TV/VCR--We have about zero TV reception up here...so it's hard to waste much
power on television. So Ward bought a little 13 inch color TV, rated 54 watts
(though in normal use it draws only about 25 watts), and brought up his VCR
from town. Winter nights up here are long and dark, and movies can save you
from serious depression!
 Boom Box--Get the CHEAPEST one available. Why? Because Fancy stereo/TV
equipment that lets you turn it on and off with the remote will draw power even
when it's turned off!!! The inexpensive model he bought has a hard-wired on/off
switch, and wastes no power (called a 'phantom load') when off.
 Future Needs--always remember to factor these in when designing a system!
Eventually he might put in pressurized water (with a 12VDC pressure pump),
more lights, etc.
 Non-Electric Appliances--these can save you lots of money on solar panels and
batteries. The 'downtown' versions suck up electricity fast, but these simple
alternatives are far more efficient.
o Refrigerator--Propane, RV size. Less than $200 used from an RV
dealer, uses very little propane so it can be run off of 40 lb. portable
tanks. Ward's road is too rough for propane trucks.
o Heating--Woodstove, from Harbor Freight.
o Cooking--Propane cooktop, used from an RV dealer.
o Water Heating--A big pot of water on the woodstove!
o Plumbing--Maybe a pressurized water system in the future, but just a
sink with an outside drain and 5-gallon buckets for now.
o Outhouse--The outhouse works just fine, is not subject to mechanical
breakdown, and uses no electricity. TIP: During winter when it's 20
below zero outside, keep the toilet seat in your house near the stove, and
bring it with you when you have to visit the outhouse!
South Side of Cabin Showing Solar Panel. Shading is from trees...Ward's planning on
some chainsaw work, both for solar exposure and wildfire protection! That's DanF's
dogs, Kodiak and Tarmac, in the picture.

System Components
 Battery Bank--4 golf cart batteries. 6 VDC, 220 amp/hours, only $45.99 each
from Sam's Club. Wired in series and parallel, these give 440 amp/hours of
storage. That's more than enough for the minimal loads in the cabin, especially
when you consider that the owner is away from home at work during the day,
giving the system time to charge back up.
 Solar Panel--BP 75 watt, from an internet distributor. $310 new, plus $20 for
shipping. Wired to contoller and battery bank with #10 Romex.
 Solar Panel Mount--Home built from 1 inch aluminum angle, adjustable for
summer and winter positions. About $20 total for aluminum stock, nuts, and
bolts.
 Charge Controller--An industrial model from Jade Mountain, rated for 16 amps
(to provide room for adding more solar panels later), and cost only $62. Ward
had to buy 2 fuse holders and 20 amp fuses, mount this controller on a home-
made aluminum heat sink and build a cover himself....but for the price he'll be
able to add 2 or 3 more solar panels without a new controller.
 Inverter--A 350-watt Wagan from Harbor Freight, only $40. Includes fuse on
main power cable and overload shutdown. DanB has used one of these for a
year, heaping abuse and neglect on it, and it's performed like a champ. The only
 drawback of this model is that the fan is on all the time, and produces a little
noise. Ward plans to to turn the inverter off at night, and during the day while
he's at work.
 Metering--Cheap digital multimeter, only $10. Not real accurate, but enough to
determine general battery state of charge. Plus, the controller has an LED to
indicate full charged condition.

TOTAL SYSTEM COST: Less than 700 bucks!

Battery Bank -- 4 Golf Cart Batteries

Power Panel with Inverter and Charge Controller

BP 75 Watt Panel
 It would be impossible to power a home down in town with a system of this
size...but this design goes to show that if you are conservative with your power use,
realistic with your expectations, and thrifty with your equipment purchases, you
can power up a home for under a grand. Just don't try to plug in that damn air
conditioner!
 Solar Power

Solar power is the basis for all life on earth! Solar heating has been used for thousands of years
to warm dwellings (solar thermal). But solar electricity (photovoltaics) is a very new industry.

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) --a zero maintenance, zero fuel

cost electric generator
Solar panels have no moving parts. You just mount them out in the sun, hook up the wires, and
collect power, without adding fuel or replacing worn-out parts. It's amazing that nobody knows
for sure how long a solar panel will last. That's because many of the very first photovoltaic
panels are still producing power today.

Solar Electricity Basics

We often receive questions here along the lines of 'how many solar panels do I need to power
my 3,000 square foot house?' We don't sell or install solar power systems, so we can't provide
free consulting services and still keep our business running. However, we've written numerous
articles on the topic and compiled a list of resources to help answer your questions and start
you on the right track for doing your 'homework' on the topic:

 The design, size and cost of a solar photovoltaic power system for your home depends
on only a few simple factors:
1. How much energy in kilowatt-hours (kwh) do you use per month, and how
much does it cost you?
 2. What can you do to reduce your energy usage, and how much will that cost
you? (Every dollar spent on conservation will save you $3-$5 on the cost of an
RE power system).
3. What solar resource do you have available at your location?
 Renewable Energy Basics -- This article guides you through answering ALL those
questions above, in great detail. Includes information on grid-tied, off-grid and grid tie
with battery bank systems.
 Designing a tiny solar power system for a camping trailer -- This article goes through the
basics of designing a properly-sized solar power system, including calculating your
inputs, loads and battery bank size.
 If you are serious about moving to a solar power system for your home or cabin, most
local solar dealers / installers will provide you with a free or low-cost estimate and
energy estimate. Going local is an excellent choice!
 Most internet solar power retailers have lots of free information online, including
system sizing spreadsheets. Two retailers that we patronize frequently because of their
great customer service are The Alternative Energy Store and Backwoods Solar -- but
there are many more excellent retailers online.
 Shopping by Dollars per Watt is the best way to choose solar panels. Photovoltaic panel
prices have steadily been dropping at 3-5 percent per year for the last decade or so.
However, prices may not seem all that low to you, because in general the technology is
getting better, so each panel is making more watts than those of a few years ago. You
have two options for buying photovoltaics, new and used:
o New photovoltaic panels -- This page gives some details about new panels,
including how the technology is advancing, and information about tracking
mounts.
o Used photovoltaic panels -- This page discusses how to inspect used panels for
damage and test their output before purchasing.
o We are no longer maintaining our used solar panel mailing list. Because of
strong demand for large photovoltaic installations around the world, there has
been a general shortage of new panels. This has increased demand for used
panels too, and we have not seen any large lots of used panels available for 4
years now. The best places to look for used PV panels are your local newspaper
classifieds, Craigslist, and Ebay.

Solar Thermal Panels -- using the suns energy directly

for heat
Using solar power directly to heat air or water is the most efficient way to do it. Solar electric is
not a very efficient way to heat things, but solar thermal works great! We don't have a huge
amount of information here about solar thermal, but there are some links below for you.

 Passive solar house design is an excellent way to heat a home. Generally it's designed
into the home from the ground up, with south-facing windows, thermal mass to store
heat, lots of insulation, and thermal blankets for the windows at night. DanF's home was
designed this way. Until we do get a page up here about passive solar heating, you can
 search the internet for the term and get a wide variety of books and articles on the
topic.
 Solar hot water heating panels became very popular in the USA in the late 1970s and
early 1980s for preheating a homes hot water. Government tax credits were offered by
the Carter administration, and many companies sprang up designing and installing
systems. When the Reagan administration cancelled the tax credits, many of these
companies went out of business, and there were very few people left to maintain and
repair these systems. Many of them are still sitting on roofs today, broken. HOWEVER, it
became obvious very quickly that some of these companies were 'fly-by-night' and their
products were poorly designed in the first place:
o In general, we advise against purchasing these old systems used. It's actually
easy to find one for free, which might be OK if you are experimentor and
enthusiast. But these older systems used numerous active controls, sensors and
pumps, and were very unreliable compared to the excellent, low-maintainance
and reliable systems available today.
o Solar water heating panels are NOT a new idea! This article about the history of
solar water heating is an excellent read. Thousands of systems were installed
and were very effective in sunny parts of the USA around 1900.
o On the other hand, modern solar water heating panels are an excellent
investment in most parts of the county! The technology has changed so much
that these systems are now completely different in design than those from the
Carter area that caused so many problems. Some industry analysts say that the
loss of the tax credits, while it had a large negative impact on the industry at the
time, ended up being the best thing that ever happened to the industry in the
long run.
o These systems are now often incorporated along with radiant floor heating
pipes. The sun heats the fluid, which circulates inside the high thermal mass
floor of the home. This is a VERY efficient way to heat a home!
 Solar air heating panels are another new technology that's catching on quickly. It allows
the homeowner to retrofit a house that was not orginally designed for efficient passive
solar heating, and reap the benefits and energy savings of heating with the sun.

STORAGE BATTERIES
 "FEW BATTERIES DIE A
NATURAL
DEATH...MOST ARE
MURDERED"

----Unknown Industry
Representative (please
take credit for this quote
if you originated it!)
Source: Sunelco Planning
Guide

BATTERIES ARE YOUR

MOST IMPORTANT
COMPONENT
Your battery bank is THE MOST important part of your remote power system. If you have to cut
corners to afford the system you need, skimp somewhere else. The rest of your system is only as
good as the battery bank!

BATTERIES ARE ANTIQUE TECHNOLOGY

Well, OK, not quite! But the most common and cost-effective banks of large batteries for remote
power storage are the flooded lead-acid type, and a battery reference book from 1910 will give
you all the information you need about charging and maintenence. And like the antiques,
modern batteries for remote power use are still heavy and cumbersome to move.

"DEEP-CYCLE" BATTERIES ARE NOT

Unfortunately, there's not a battery out there that thrives on abuse. "Deep-cycle" batteries are
designed to resist damage from repeated deep discharges (50% to 80% of capacity used
up)...but will still last significantly longer if discharged by only 20%.

CHECK OUT THIS CHEAP AND INFORMATIVE BATTERY BOOK!

Secrets of Lead-Acid Batteries by Thomas Lindsay is one of the best reference books on the
subject that we've ever seen. Plus, it's cheap, since he doesn't waste any paper talking about
irrelevancies. Available on our Products Page for only $4.95!

Battery Type Comparison Battery Bank Wiring Battery Bank Care

Battery Safety Battery Metering Battery Chargers

Small Rechargeable Batteries Deep Cycle Battery FAQs Battery References and Links
BATTERY MYTH:
"Never leave batteries on the ground or a concrete floor...all the power will leak out."
This one is a "rural legend"--batteries don't care what they sit on. It probably orginated from
when batteries came in porous wooden cases. There are some truths behind this myth, though!
All batteries do self-discharge over time when they are not being charged. If dust and dirt build
up on the battery tops, sulfuric acid will carbonize the grime into an electrical conductor, acting
like a short circuit across the terminals and quickly draining the power. Cold temperatures also
reduce available power from a battery. And thermal gradiants can reduce the life of large
battery...this can occur when the air temperature around a battery is much warmer than the
surface it is sitting on.

LED lighting
Despite our new information regarding white LED efficiency claims, they are still VERY
useful in certain applications. They are an excellent, efficient replacement for the terribly
inefficient SMALL incandescent bulbs found in task lights, nightlights, pathway lighting,
exit signs, and ESPECIALLY flashlights. As the amount of light needed gets larger
(lighting an entire room, for instance) LEDs are only marginally more efficient than a
100 watt incandescent--but a nightlight made with white LEDs is almost three times as
efficient as the incandescent it replaces. Also, if run at recommended current levels, LED
lights should last tens of thousands of hours, a huge improvement over other lighting
technologies. They are also very shock and cold resistant, perfect for portable and
outdoor applications.
Groups of 3-9 white LEDs are effective as
reading lamps. 3 of our white LEDs
running together use only 0.22 watts!
Single white LEDs make great pathway
lights, and can be left on all the time.
Flashlights can be easily converted to use
LED bulbs...this is probably the best
application for them. Converted LED
flashlights have become my favorite lights
for fire/rescue and wildland firefighting,
since the batteries last 6 times longer, I've
never replaced an LED bulb, and light
output is more even, though slightly
dimmer than the original.
Click Here for information about home
built LED room lighting
 Click here for information on converting flashlights to LED bulbs

Compact Fluorescent
These lights were a huge advance in energy efficient lighting--very efficient, with 10
times longer life than an incandescent bulb. Plus, the light quality (color temperature) is
much warmer than normal fluorescents, they fit in most normal light fixtures, and flicker
is hardly noticable. Models are available for any application, including spotlights with
reflectors.
We highly recommend these lights in both 120 volts AC
and 12 volts DC models. The AC versions are available at
any hardware store and are very inexpensive for efficient
lights ($8 to $15 each). DC compact fluorescants are more
expensive because of limited demand for 12 volt ballasts,
but only the ballast is different for AC and DC compact
fluorescents--the bulbs are the same! We may soon offer
interchangable compact fluorescent bulbs and ballasts for
both 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC systems. Currently,
interchangable parts are available from Jade Mountain.
The only drawbacks to keep in mind for compact
fluorescents are 1) they are not very bright at cold
temperatures, and 2) the quality of light is still not as good
as halogen or incandescent bulbs. I personally use 12 volt
DC halogen bulbs for reading lights, while lighting whole rooms with compact
fluorescents.

Standard AC Fluorescent Lights

These really are a very good, energy efficient method of area lighting, and are widely
available. They are the most efficient room light available. Problem is, the quality of
light is very irritating to some people. It's too blue, and some of them flicker (depends on
the ballast design), which is extremely annoying to me. Perhaps this is a reaction to my
lifelong aversion to large office buildings with windows that don't open! But fluorescents
make great energy efficient lights for shops, garages, etc. where you don't have to spend
too much time in the winter. I also use them for under-cabinet countertop lights in the
kitchen.

Quartz-Halogen Lights
These bulbs are only about 15% more efficient than standard incandescents, but are
available in 12 volt DC versions. They were a lifesaver for our house--the inverter
doesn't have to run to use them, they are more efficient, and the quality of light is
excellent for reading or any other use. They fit in ALL standard light sockets, so the
 monetary investment is low. AC versions are available anywhere, and are still more
efficient than standard bulbs. They give out lots of light even in an outdoor situation
where its 25 degrees below zero, and last almost 3 times longer than incandescants. We
hope to offer 12 volt DC Halogen bulbs for sale on our products page soon, as they are
difficult to find--even most RV shops don't carry them, only the innefficient 12 volt
incandescents.

Standard Incandescent Bulbs

They give out more heat than light. Only 40 cents each, or lots more in 12 volt versions.
Popular electricity wasters, seen in almost every grid-connected house. Edison's
invention changed the world, but much more efficient lights are available now. Besides,
EDISON HAD GRID POWER!
Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute calculated that replacing a 75 watt
incandescent lightbulb with an 18 watt compact flourescent (that gives the same amount
of light) would, over the lifespan of the new bulb, prevent the emission of about 1 ton of
carbon dioxide and 8 kilograms of sulpher dioxide into the atmosphere, plus a huge
savings on electricity cost. And, the compact flourescent will last over 10 times as long.

Gas Lights
A real technological innovation a hundred years ago, these lights are still effective today
if you have no electricity and some propane or gasline to burn. Humphrey has been
making these lamps for 92 years, they are available from Jade Mountain, Lehmans, and
certain Amish catalogs. They make some noise, but not too much.
Coleman lanterns are another familiar gas light--they use white gas that is vaporized in a
heated generator tube. These are VERY noisy! Also, the mantles in these lights (and in
kerosene mantle lamps) are treated with radioactive thorium--it doesn't pose much of a
hazard, but don't carry mantles in your pocket! The thorium from lantern mantles can be
used to contruct a home built lightning detector for fun or experiments--see our plans on
this website.
Click here to read about making a home built lightning detector!
 Kerosene Lamps
The Aladdin mantle version of these (with the tall glass chimney) produces lots of light
and heat, more than enough to read by. Regular kerosene lamps produce enough to read
by, barely, but are much brighter than a candle. But most of us up here spent at least a
year with ONLY kerosene for lighting, and it sure beats a candle or nothing! Be careful
of the fire hazard--don't burn these lights unattended.

Emergency Lighting
Even off-grid systems can fail at the worst possible time, and the utility grid experiences
frequent failures. It's very handy to have automatic emergency lighting near the critical
areas of your home, especially the power control center. And in the USA, most
businesses (no matter how small) are required to have emergency lighting systems so
that people can safely exit the building during a blackout. There are various systems
available that use self-contained batteries and efficient CF or LED lights, but batteries fail
over time too. Recent technological developments have made Self-Luminous Emergency
Lighting possible, with no batteries or electricity involved. Both versions of these lamps
are very handy to have around, and have at least a 25 year life span.

12 Volt
Fluores
cent
Lamp
Drivers
Whenever there is
a need for battery-powered lighting, like for camping, solar powered cottages, cars, boats,
planes, or emergency purposes, fluorescent lamps have a great appeal. Firstly, they are very
much more efficient than glow lamps, so they produce much more light for less power
consumption. Secondly, their light color stays constant while the battery runs down, while the
color produced by a car lamp, really designed for 13.8 Volt, is very yellow-orange under the
typical battery-light conditions: 12 V at the battery, minus the voltage drop on some meters of
cable, usually results in only 11 V or so at the lamp.

This has lead to many manufacturers producing fluorescent lamp drivers for battery use,
generally accepting input voltages of 6, 12, or 24 Volt. Also there are a lot of complete
fluorescent lights available, powered by flashlight batteries. But most of these cheap
things have a quirk: They don't drive the fluorescent tubes correctly, resulting in low light
output, and an efficiency that is not so much better than that of a glow lamp. The
manufacturers are not to be blamed for this: The culprit is the public, which prefers
buying the cheapest thing available, instead of checking for specifications and paying
20% more for something that is 200% better.

In this article I will offer a little insight, and offer three drivers for 12 V that I'm using
myself: One for 20 Watt, one for 8 Watt, and one that puts 2 Watt into a 4 Watt tube.

The problem: Crooked impedance

A typical fluorescent lamp is basically a glass tube, filled with low pressure mercury vapor and a
mix of additional gases, and having a filament at each end. The glass tube is internally coated
with fluorescent salts. In use, an arc forms in the tube, the mercury emits ultraviolet light, this
excites the fluorescent substances, which in turn produce visible light. The exact color of the
light depends on the mix of different fluorescent substances used.

From an electrical point of view, such a lamp is a terrible thing to drive. While it is off,
the gas does not conduct, and the cold filaments have a very low resistance. The first
thing when powering up a tube is putting a rather strong current into these filaments, at
very low voltage (2 to 4 V is typical). When the filaments have heated up, the tube needs
a high voltage pulse to ionize the gas. Depending on the length, type, age and
temperature, the voltage required can be anything from about 100 to 10000 V. Once the
gas ionizes, the voltage breaks down dramatically. From then on, the tube needs a
controlled current of typically 0.1 to 0.3 A, depending on its diameter, at a voltage that
depends on length and other factors, and averages to about 100 V per meter of tube
length. The current must be reasonably controlled, which isn't easy, because the tube
exhibits negative resistance: Increasing the current decreases the voltage drop! And it
must be AC, because otherwise one filament cools off while the other overheats,
evaporates and darkens one end of the tube.

For office lighting, many years ago some electrical engineer found a simple way to
satisfy these needs: A series circuit is made from the AC power line through a ballast
inductor, one filament, a starter device, the other filament, and back to the AC line. At
first the starter has a closed contact, and the ballast limits the current that flows through
the filaments. They heat up, and so does a bimetal in the starter. Suddenly the starter
opens. If this happens while the current in the ballast was near a peak, a high voltage
pulse is produced by the magnetic field collapse, and the tube ignites. If it happens near a
current minimum, the tube doesn't ionize fully, the current ceases, the filaments and
starter cool off, the starter closes and the cycle starts anew. This leads to the well known
flickering when switching on such a light.

Once the tube has ignited, the ballast limits the current flowing through the tube, the tube
works steadily, and the starter contact keeps open because of some heat generated in it by
a fill of neon gas, which glows together with the tube. A simple circuit, exhibiting a
rather sophisticated behavior.

How can we do this electronically? Semiconductors are needed to produce the required
high voltage from a battery. But semiconductors don't like high voltage spikes! The
following sections will show you how I did it, but there are many other ways too.

The 20
Watt
driver
Here is
the
schematic
diagram
for a 20
Watt
driver. I
developed
this circuit
in 1985, and used it to build a lamp that found much use both as camping light and as
emergency light during the then-frequent power outages.

The two transistors work as a push-pull oscillator. To avoid crossover conduction, during
operation the bases are self-biased to a slightly negative voltage by the 1R5 resistor. The
220uF capacitor gives strong positive bias during power-up, in order to get the oscillator
started. 2k2 resistor's only purpose is discharging the capacitor when the circuit is
switched off, so it will restart the next time too!

I used a ferrite core salvaged from an old 12" black and white TV flyback transformer. I
wound the primary and feedback windings on one leg of the core, and the windings going
to the tube on the opposite leg. This arrangement is crucial for the circuit to work! The
only ballasting action in this circuit is the imperfect magnetic coupling between the
primary and secondary coils!

You may be wondering about the "ionization antenna" in the schematic. This is simply a
piece of wire that runs along the entire length of the tube. You can stick it there with tape,
or you can string it from socket to socket, like I did.

How it works: When applying the 12 V, the 220uF capacitor biased both transistors into
conduction. Due to the positive feedback they start oscillating immediately at a frequency
of a few kHz, producing an audible sound. The tube is still in high impedance, so the
coupling to the secondary winding is quite good. This applies 4 V to each filament, 150 V
between filaments, and about 400 V between the tip of the ionization antenna and the
tube end. These values are valid for RMS, but there are higher switching transients. The
transients are high enough to ionize the tube right from the first moment, and it will
exhibit a dim glow. But it takes only one half to one second for the filaments to heat up.
As they can now emit more electrons, the already ionized gas breaks into arc discharge
less than a second after applying 12 V power, and the circuit enters its normal mode of
operation: The heavy secondary load makes much of the magnetic field close through the
air. This reduces the coupling between the two sets of windings, and at the same time
changes the magnetic characteristics enough to shift the oscillating frequency high into
the ultrasonic range, making the sound disappear. The tube will run at about 70 V
between filaments, and each filament will keep only about 2 V across it.

Construction notes
Try to get the exact type of transistors. If you cannot get them, you may have to experiment
with replacements. Switching speed is crucial, because if you use slow transistors you will get
cross-conduction, which cause very high loss.

The ferrite core I used has a cross sectional area of slightly less than 1 square cm, and a
path length of about 20 cm. These rather slender cores were usual in old TVs.

You may have to tweak the 1R5 and 2R2 resistors, depending on the specific core you
use. Select them so that you get a current drain of slightly less than 2A at 12V. If the
efficiency is right (not too much heating), you will be putting about 20W into the tube.

This circuit is not a clean design. It has worked for me, I have used it for several thousand
hours, still on the original tube, but I had to devote some time to tweaking the values. It is
a bit touchy, and the efficiency is only about 80%, which means that you must bolt the
transistors to some kind of heatsink. In addition, this circuit does generate some RF noise,
so it's not a good idea to use it in the immediate proximity of a sensitive receiver's
antenna.

On the good side, the 20 Watt tube seems to burn a lot brighter than in a standard AC
fixture. Somewhere I read that high-frequency driving increases a tube's efficiency. I
cannot explain how it does so, but it seems to be true. And the visible flickering of
fluorescent lights powered from 50 or 60 Hz is absent here, due to the high frequency.

The 2 Watt driver

I wanted a small fluorescent lamp with built-in battery that could be used for camping. It should
be reasonably small and lightweight, and give good light for many hours on a single charge.
After some research, I settled for a 4 W tube, driven at the 2 W level, powered from a 12 V, 2.2
Ah sealed lead-acid battery that lasts for 10 hours continuous use and can easily be recharged in
the car.

Striving
for the
highest
possible
efficienc
y, I came
up with
the
design
shown in
this
schemati
c
diagram.
A CMOS hex inverter is used as an oscillator and driver for a MOSFET, which drives a high
voltage autotransformer that feeds the fluorescent tube via a ballast capacitor. The circuit is
very simple and small, uses just 8 components, yet it is extremely efficient (I could not measure
the loss, it seems to be below 3%), and it drives the tube with true AC, despite the simplicity!

The tube filaments are not explicitly heated. On powerup, the gas ionizes from the high
voltage alone, and the small discharge that starts has enough anodic heating effect to
warm up the filaments. Soon the discharge increases, generates a runaway effect, and less
than a second after applying power the tube is fully on, working at the 30 V level, with
the ballast capacitor limiting the current.

This capacitor, a 3.3 nF, 500 V type, needs to be of very good quality. It has to work at a
steady reactive power level of around 50 W, while dissipating as little power as possible.
A capacitor Q of 1000 should be the absolute acceptable minimum in this application.
Few ceramic capacitors achieve this, but many plastic caps do. Use a plastic (polyester)
capacitor, and try it. If it gets warm, try a better one... Some ceramic capacitors may be
so bad that the circuit just refuses to work.
The transformer was made on a small double-C core (dimensions are on the schematic),
salvaged from an old PC power supply. The core was originally used for noise filtering at
the line input. As the ferrite works far away from saturation in this circuit, it exhibits very
low loss.

The entire circuit was assembled on a small printed

circuit board, and integrated into a plywood box with
the tube, reflector, and battery. No heat sink is
needed, and no ventilation either. The power switch
was mounted in a recessed location, to avoid
accidentally turning the lamp on and depleting the
battery. The lamp has been my companion on many a
camping trip, and has been useful around the home
too.

This circuit should be possible to duplicate without

trouble.

The 8 Watt driver

I developed this circuit in early 1999, when Chile was affected by a severe drought, most
hydroelectric power plants had no water, and we were subjected to planned power cuts for two
hours each day. I needed more battery powered lights in the home...
The schematic for the 8 Watt driver will show you that this design is quite different from
both previous ones. It uses capacitive ballasting like the 2 Watt driver, and a two-
transistor saturation-limited oscillator like the 20 Watt design. But note an important
difference: This circuit has a choke added in the DC supply, that produces more effects
than you may think: Thanks to this choke, mutual conduction between the two transistors
is no longer a problem, allowing for a very simple drive scheme and almost lossless
operation. The input current becomes almost clean DC, minimizing further filtering
requirements. And the waveform becomes a quite clean sine wave, which gives a
tremendous advantage in terms of radiated noise! This lamp can be used in a radio station
without causing any interference.

The transistors used in this design are high-gain types. I just happened to have them on
hand, salvaged from an old video recorder. You can use lower gain transistors, but then
you must lower the value of the bias resistor (2k7 in my design). No heat sinks are
required.

The ferrite core (detailed on the printable version of the schematic, obtained by clicking
on this one) is one that was not designed for saturation-limited operation at this
frequency. This kind of ferrite has considerable loss when operated at saturation flux
densities at 25kHz, and so it gets very warm. It still worked well, but I was not satisfied
with the performance. Not having a proper square-loop ferrite core in my material box, I
came up with a solution that may well be an invention! At least I have not seen anyone
using this before: The bottlenecked magnetic core!

I used a Dremel tool fitted with one

of the green grinding stones
(designed for very hard materials) to
grind off some of the ferrite from the
center leg of one E-half, as shown in
this photo. The effect of this is interesting and very useful: At low flux levels the core has
almost the same effective permeability it would have without this treatment. But the
small section remaining after the grinding has to carry the same flux as the thicker rest of
the core, and so works at a much higher flux density. When the flux increases, this small
section will saturate, while the rest of the core is still far from doing so. When the small
section saturates, the core changes its behavior to that of an air-gapped core, drastically
reducing its effective permeability! The result is that a saturation-limited oscillator built
around this core will be controlled by saturation of just this little segment, while the rest
of the core will work at a low flux density level. Only the small segment will run at the
high loss level associated with saturation, while the rest of the core will work at a very
low volumetric loss! Since the amount of saturated ferrite is so small, the losses of it are
negligible, and the overall core losses are very low despite working in saturation-limited
mode!

Here is the completed circuit. Almost all parts were recycled from old equipment, which
explains the white cement residues on the capacitor and the choke. Note that the primary
winding is not made from one solid wire, but from several twisted strands of thin wire.
This makes it possible to wind it around this small bobbin, and also results in lower AC
resistance.

I
mo
unte
d
this
circ

uit into an aluminum canoe reflector made to size for the 8 Watt tube. This is very
elegant, since the canoe is used as a return connection and ionization antenna, eliminating
any visible wires.

This circuit is technically the best of the three, being easily reproducible, quite uncritical,
small and cheap, highly efficient and RFI-friendly.

How I built an electricity producing Solar

Panel
It was easy. You can do it too

Several
years ago
I bought
some
remote
property in
Arizona. I
am an
astronome
r and
wanted a
place to
practice The R
my hobby enewa
far away ble
from the Energ
sky-wrecking light pollution found near cities of any real size. I y Han
found a great piece of property. The problem is, it's so remote that dbook
there is no electric service available. That's not really a problem.
No electricity equals no light pollution. However, it would be nice
to have at least a little electricity, since so much of life in the 21st
century is dependant on it.

I built a wind turbine to provide some power on the remote

property. It works great, when the wind blows. However, I wanted
more power, and more dependable power. The wind seems to
blow all the time on my property, except when I really need it too.
I do get well over 300 sunny days a year on the property though,
so solar power seems like the obvious choice to supplement the
wind turbine. Solar panels are very expensive though. So I
decided to try my hand at building my own. I used common tools
and inexpensive and easy to acquire materials to produce a solar
panel that rivals commercial panels in power production, but
completely blows them away in price. Read on for step by step The H
instructions on how I did it. ome O
wner's
Let me state up front that I probably won't be able to help you out Guide
to Ren
much if you decide to build your own solar panel(s). This web site ewabl
has become insanely popular, often taxing the bandwidth limits of e
the server. I get dozens of requests for help each day. I simply Energ
don't have time to answer the majority of them. Most of the y
questions and requests I get are the same ones over and over
again. I have crated a FAQ to handle these repetitive questions.
Please read it before emailing me. Simple questions, not covered
by the FAQ,which only require a quick and simple answer may
get replies if time permits. However, there is no way I can help
you out with complex issues, teach you electronics theory, help
you locate parts, build a charge controller for you, or custom
design a system for you. There just aren't enough hours in the
day. Sorry.

So what is a solar panel anyway? It is basically a box that holds Got Su

an array of solar cells. Solar cells are the things that do the actual n?
work of turning sunlight into electricity. However, it takes a lot of Go Sol
cells to make a meaningful amount of power, and they are very ar
fragile, so the individual cells are assembled into panels. The
panels hold enough cells to make a useful amount of power and
protect the cells from the elements. It doesn't sound too
complicated. I was convinced I could do it myself.

I started out the way I start every project, by Googling for

information on home-built solar panels. I was shocked at how few
I found. The fact that very few people were building their own
panels led me to think it must be harder to do than I thought. The
project got shelved for a while, but I never stopped thinking about
it.

After a while, I came to some conclusions:

 The main stumbling block to building solar panels is

acquiring solar cells at a reasonable price.
 New solar cells are very expensive, and can even
sometimes be hard to find in quantity at any price. Solar
 Blemished and damaged solar cells are available on Ebay Water
Heatin
Ebay and other places at a fraction of the cost of g: A
new perfect cells. Compr
 These second rate solar cells could probably be used to ehensi
make a solar panel that would work just fine. ve Gui
de
Once I came to the realization that I could use blemished and
factory-second solar cells to build my panels, I finally got to work.
I started by buying some solar cells off of Ebay Ebay.

solar cells Search

Solar Cells For Sale on Ebay Now!

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Photov
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Design
1200 new solar cells, each has 2.45W $2,043.66 37 1h 04m and
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of
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ency
Solar Cells/Panels Assembly How-To Guide NEW V 1.6 $4.99 - 3h 20m

Solar Cells/Panels Assembly How-To Guide NEW V 1.6 $4.99 - 3h 20m

Solar Cells/Panels Assembly How-To Guide NEW V 1.6 $4.99 - 3h 21m

Solar Cells/Panels Assembly How-To Guide NEW V 1.6 $4.99 - 3h 21m

The
Solar Cells/Panels Assembly How-To Guide NEW V 1.6 $4.99 - 3h 22m
Self-
sufficie
nt Life
and
View all 899 items on eBay disclaimer
How to
Live It
 I bought a
couple of
bricks of 3
X 6 mono-
crystalline
solar cells.
It takes a
total of 36
of these
type solar
cells wired Conve
rt It!
in series to
make a
panel.
Each cell
produces about 1/2 Volt. 36 in series would give about 18 volts
which would be good for charging 12 volt batteries. (Yes, you
really need that high a Voltage to effectively charge 12 VoltIf you found the
information on
batteries) This type of solar cell is as thin as paper and as brittle
this web site
and fragile as glass. They are very easily damaged. The seller of
useful, please
these solar cells dips stacks of 18 in wax to stabilize them consider
and making
make it easier to ship them without damaging them. The wax is donation
a small
quite a pain to remove though. If you can, find cells for saleto that
help defray
aren't dipped in wax. Keep in mind though that they may suffer our hosting and
some more damage in shipping. Notice that these cells have bandwidth
metal tabs on them. You want cells with tabs on them. Youcosts. are
already going to have to do a lot of soldering to build a panel from
tabbed solar cells. If you buy cells without tabs, it will at least_s-xclick
double the amount of soldering you have to do. So pay extra9715838 for
tabbed cells.

Your donations
help keep this
web site free.
Thank you.
 I also
bought a
couple of
lots of
cells that
weren't
dipped in
wax from
another
Ebay
Ebay
seller.
These
cells came
packed in
a plastic box. They rattled around in the box and got a little
chipped up on the edges and corners. Minor chips don't really
matter too much. They won't reduce the cell's output enough to
worry about. These are all blemished and factory seconds
anyway. The main reason solar cells get rejected is for chips. So
what's another chip or two? All together I bought enough cells to
make 2 panels. I knew I'd probably break or otherwise ruin at
least a few during construction, so I bought extras.

There are lots of other sizes of solar cells besides 3 X 6 inches

available. You could use larger or smaller cells for your panel.
Just keep a few things in mind.

 Cells of the same type all produce the same voltage no

matter what size they are. So the same number of cells is
always needed.
 Larger cells produce more current (Amps) and smaller cells
produce less current.
 The total power your panel can produce is determined by
Amps X Volts.

So using bigger cells produces more power, but the panel will be
large and heavy. Using smaller cells keeps the panel small and
light, but won't produce as much power. Also, mixing cell sizes is
not a good idea. This is because the current your panel can
produce will be limited by the smallest cell in the group and the
larger cells won't work to their full potential. Northe
rn
Industr
ial
The cells I settled on are 3 X 6 inches in size and are rated at
High
roughly 3 amps. I will wire 36 of them in series to get a little over
Watta
18 volts. The result should be a panel capable of delivering
ge
almost 60 Watts of power in bright sunlight. It doesn't sound like a Solar
lot, but it sure beats no power at all, which is what I had on my Panels
property before. And that is 60 Watts all day when the sun is -
shining. That power will go into charging batteries which will 15
primarily be used for powering lights and small appliances for only Watt
a few hours after dark. Once I go to bed, my power requirements
drop to almost nothing. So 60 Watts is actually quite a lot of
useful power, especially when I also have my wind turbine adding
to the power production when the wind is blowing.

After you buy your solar cells, put them away in a safe place
where they won't get dropped, played with by the kids, or eaten
by the dog until you are ready to install them in the panel. These
cells are very fragile. Rough treatment and excessive handling
will turn your expensive solar cells into little, blue, shiny shards Sunfor
that aren't ce 7
useful for Amp
anything. Charg
e
A solar Contro
panel is ller
really just
a shallow
box. So I
started out
by building
myself a Sunfor
shallow ce 5
box. I Watt
made the Solar
Batter
box
y
shallow so the sides wouldn't shade the solar cells when the sun Trickle
comes at an angle from the sides. It is made of 3/8 inch thick Charg
plywood with 3/4 X 3/4 pieces of wood around the edges. The er
pieces are glued and screwed in place. This panel will hold 36 3 X
6 inch solar cells. I decided to make 2 sub-panels of 18 cells each
just so make it easier to assemble later. So there is a center
divider across the middle of the box. Each sub-panel will fit into
one well in the main panel.

Here is my
sort of
back of
the
envelope
sketch
showing
the overall
dimension
s of the
solar
panel. All
dimension
s are in
inches
(sorry you
fans of the metric system). The side pieces are 3/4 by 3/4 and go
all the way around the edges of the plywood substrate. also a
piece goes across the center to divide the panel into two sub-
panels. This is just the way I chose to do it. There is nothing
critical about these dimensions, or even the overall design. Feel
free to deviate in your own design. These dimensions are
included here for those people who always clamor for me to
include dimensions on my projects. I always encourage people to
experiment and innovate on their own, rather than blindly follow
the way I (or anyone else) does things. You may well come up
with a better design.
 Here is a
close-up
showing
one half of
the main
panel.
This well
will hold
one 18 cell
sub-panel.
Notice the
little holes
drilled in
the edges
of the well.
This will
be the bottom of the panel (it is upside down in the photo, sorry).
These are vent holes to keep the air pressure inside the panel
equalized with the outside, and to let moisture escape. These
holes must be on the bottom of the panel or rain and dew will run
inside. There must also be vent holes in the center divider
between the two sub panels. width
=120
height
Update: After using the panel for a while, I now recommend that
=400
the vent holes be increased to at least 1/4 inch in diameter. Also, borde
to keep dust and critters out of the panel, stuff a little fiberglass r=0
insulation in the holes in the bottom rail of the panel. The alt='ru
insulation is not needed in the holes in the center divider. ssian
woma
n'>
 Next I cut
two pieces
of
masonite
peg-board
to fit inside
the wells.
These
pieces of
peg-board
will be the
substrates
that each
sub-panel
will be
built on.
They were cut to be a loose fit in the wells. You don't have to use
peg-board for this. I just happened to have some on hand. Just
about any thin, rigid and non-conducting material should work.

To protect
the solar
cells from
the
weather,
the panel
will have a
plexiglass
front. Here
two pieces
of scrap
plexiglass
have been
cut to fit
the front of
the panel.
I didn't have one piece big enough to do the whole thing. Glass
could also be used for this, but glass is fragile. Hail stones and
flying debris that would shatter glass will just bounce off the plexi.
Now you can start to see what the finished panel will look like.
 Oops! This
photo
shows a
close-up
of where
the two
halves of
the
plexiglass
cover
meet over
the center
divider. I
drilled and
countersu
nk holes
all around the edges of both pieces of plexiglass so I could screw
them onto the face of the panel with 1 inch drywall screws. Be
careful working close to the edge of the plexi. If you get to
aggressive it will break, as happened here. I just glued the broken
piece back in and drilled another hole a short distance away.

Next I
gave all
the
wooden
parts of
the panel
several
coats of
paint to
protect
them from
moisture
and the
weather.
The box
was
painted inside and out. The type of paint and color was
scientifically chosen by shaking all the paint cans I had laying
around in my garage and choosing the one that felt like it had
enough left in it to do the whole job.

The peg-
board
pieces
were also
painted.
They got
several
coats on
both sides.
Be sure to
paint them
on both
sides or
they will
curl when
exposed
to moisture. Curling could damage the solar cells that will be
glued to them.

Now that I
had the
structure
of the
panel
finished, it
was time
to get the
solar cells
ready

As I said
above,
getting the
wax off the
cells is a real pain. After some trial and error, I came up with a
way that works fairly well. Still, I would recommend buying from
someone who doesn't dip their cells in wax. The first step is a
bath in hot water to melt the wax and separate the cells from each
other. Don't let the water boil or the bubbles will jostle the cells
against each other violently. Also, boiling water may be hot
enough to loosen the electrical connections on the cells. I also
recommend putting the brick of cells in the water cold, and then
slowly heating it up to just below boiling temperature to avoid
harsh thermal shocks to the cells. Plastic tongs and spatulas
come in handy for teasing the cells apart once the wax melts. Try
not to pull too hard on the metal tabs or they may rip off. I found
that out the hard way while trying to separate the cells. Good
thing I bought extras.

This photo
shows the
complete
setup I
used. My
girlfriend
asked
what I was
cooking.
Imagine
her
surprise
when I
said solar
cells. The
initial hot
water bath for melting the wax is in the right-rear. On the left-front
is a bath of hot soapy water. On the right-front is a bath of hot
clean water. All the pots are at just below boiling temperature.
The sequence I used was to melt the bricks apart in the hot water
bath on the right-rear. I'd tease the cells apart and transfer them
one at a time to the soapy water bath on the left-front to remove
any wax on the cell. Then the cell would be given a rinse in the
hot clean water on the right-front. The cells would then be set out
to dry on a towel. You should change the water frequently in the
soapy and rinse water baths. Don't pour the water down the sink
though, because the wax will solidify in your drains and clog them
up. Dump the water outside. This process removed almost all the
wax from the cells. There is still a very light film on some of the
cells, but it doesn't seem to interfere with soldering or the working
of the cells. A solvent bath would probably remove the rest of the
wax, but that would be dangerous and stinky since the only
solvents I could think of that would cut wax are either flamable,
toxic or smelly, or all three.

Here are some separated and cleaned solar cells drying on a

towel. Once separated from their wax stabilized brick form, they
are amazingly fragile and difficult to handle and store. I would
recommend leaving them as bricks until you are ready to install
them in your panel. That way you won't wreck them before you
get to use them. So build the panel first. Now it's time to start
installing them in the panel
 I started
out by
drawing a
grid
pattern on
each of
the two
pieces of
pegboard,
lightly in
pencil, so I
would
know
where
each of
the 18
cells on them would be located. Then I laid out the cells on that
grid pattern upside-down so I could solder them together. All 18
cells on each half panel need to be soldered together in series,
then both half panels need to be connected in series to get the
desired voltage.

Soldering the cells together was tricky at first, but I got the hang
of it fairly quickly. Start out with just two cells upside-down. Lay
the solder tabs of one cell across the solder points on the back of
the other cell. I made sure the spacing between the cells matched
the grid pattern.
 I used a
low-
Wattage
soldering
iron and
fine rosen-
core
solder. I
also used
a rosen
pen on the
solder
points on
the back
of the cells
before
soldering. Use a real light touch with the soldering iron. The cells
are thin and delicate. If you push too hard, you will break the
cells. I got careless a couple of times and scrapped a couple of
cells.

I repeated
the above
steps and
soldered
solar cells
together
until I had
a string of
six cells. I
soldered
tabs from
scrapped
cells to the
solder
points on
the back
of the last cell in the string of six. Then I repeated the whole
process two more times to get three strings of six cells for a total
of 18 for this half of the panel.
The three strings of cells need to be wired in series. So the
middle string needs to be rotated 180 degrees with respect to the
other two. I got the strings oriented the way I wanted them (still
upside-down) on top of the pegboard panel before the next step
of gluing the cells in place.

Gluing the
cells in
place
proved to
be a little
tricky. I
placed a
small blob
of clear
silicone
caulk in
the center
of each
cell in a
six cell
string.
Then I flipped the string over and set in place on the pencil line
grid I had laid out earlier. I pressed lightly in the center of each
cell to get it to stick to the pegboard panel. Flipping the floppy
string of cells is tricky. Another set of hands may be useful in
during this step.

Don't use too much glue, and don't glue the cells anywhere but at
their centers. The cells and the panel they are mounted on will
expand, contract, flex and warp with changes in temperature and
humidity. If you glue the cells too tightly to the substrate, they will
crack in time. gluing them at only one point in the center allows
the cells to float freely on top of the substrate. Both can expand
and flex more or less independently, and the delicate solar cells
won't crack.
 Next time I
will do it
differently.
I will
solder
tabs onto
the backs
of all the
solar cells.
Then I will
glue all the
cells down
in their
proper
places. Then I will solder the tabs together. It seems like the
obvious way to go to me now, but I had to do it the hard way once
to figure it out.

Here is one half panel, finally finished.

Here I
used
copper
braid to
interconne
ct first and
second
strings of
cells. You
could use
solar cell
tabbing
material or
even
regular
wire. I just
happened to have the braid on hand. There is another similar
interconnection between the second and third strings at the
opposite end of the board. I used blobs of silicone caulk to anchor
the braid and prevent it from flopping around.

Here I am
testing first
half panel
outside in
the sun. In
weak sun
through
clouds the
half panel
is
producing
9.31 Volts.
YAHOO! It
works!
Now all I
had to do
is build another one just like it.

Once I had two half panels complete, I could install them in their
places in the main panel frame and wire them together.

Each of
the half
panels
dropped
right into
their
places in
the main
panel
frame. I
used four
small
screws
(like the
silver one in the photo) to anchor each of the half panels in place.

Wires to
connect
the two
half panels
together
were run
through
the vent
holes in
the central
divider.
Again,
blobs of
silicone
caulk were
used to
anchor the wire in place and prevent it from flopping around.

Each solar
panel in a
solar
power
system
needs a
blocking
diode in
series with
it to
prevent
the panel
from
dischargin
g your
batteries
at night or during cloudy weather. I used a Schottky diode with a
3.3 Amp current rating. Schottky diodes have a much lower
forward voltage drop than ordinary rectifier diodes, so less power
is wasted. Every Watt counts. I got a package of 25 31DQ03
Schottky diodes on Ebay Ebay for only a few bucks. So I
have enough left-overs for lots more solar panels

My original plan was to mount the diode inline with the positive
wire outside the panel. After looking at the spec-sheet for the
diode though, I decided to mount it inside since the forward
voltage drop gets lower as the temperature rises. It will be warmer
inside the panel and the diode will work more efficiently. More
silicone caulk was used to anchor the diode and wires.

I drilled a
hole in the
back of
the panel
near the
top for the
wires to
exit. I put
a knot in
the wires
for strain
relief, and
anchored
them in
place with
yet more
of the silicone caulk.

It is important to let all the silicone caulk cure well before screwing
the plexiglass covers in place. I have found through past
experience that the fumes from the caulk may leave a film on the
inside of the plexiglass and the cells if it isn't allowed to
thoroughly cure in the open air before screwing on the cover.
 And still
more
silicone
caulk was
used to
seal the
outside of
the panel
where the
wires exit.

I added a polarized two-pin jones plug to the end of the panel

wires. A mating female plug will be wired into the charge
controller I use with my home-built wind turbine so the solar panel
can supplement it's power production and battery charging
capacity.
 UPDATE:
10/12/09
I've been
getting a
lot of
emails
from
people
giving me
grief for
using a
male plug
on the
solar
panel.
They say
that power sources should always have female pugs on them to
prevent short circuits. I understand their point. However, the
reason I used the male plug on the solar panel is because there is
a much greater danger of a short circuit on the cable going to the
charge controller and battery bank. The solar panel can only
supply 3 Amps to a short circuit at most. The battery bank though
could pump hundreds or possibly thousands of Amps through a
short circuit. That is enough energy to do serious damage. So I
put the female end on the cable to the charge controller. Still, I
agree that it is dangerous to have a male plug on the solar panel.
On a recent trip to Radio Shack I found this sort of plug. It only
cost a few bucks and will solve the potential short circuit problem.
When unplugged, neither end can short out.
 Here is the
completed
panel with
the
plexiglass
covers
screwed
into place.
It isn't
sealed
shut yet at
this point. I
wanted to
wait until
after
testing it
because was worried that I might have to get back inside it if
there were problems. Sure enough, a tab popped off one of the
cells. Maybe it was due to thermal stresses or shock from
handling. Who knows? I opened up the panel and replaced that
one cell. I haven't had any more trouble since. I will probably seal
the panel with either a bead of silicone caulk, or aluminum AC
duct tape wrapped around the edges.

Here I am
testing the
Voltage
output of
the
completed
panel in
bright
winter
sunlight.
My meter
says 18.88
Volts with
no load.
That's
exactly
what I was aiming for.

Here I am
testing the
current
capacity of
the panel,
again in
bright
winter
sunlight.
My meter
says 3.05
Amps
short
circuit
current.
That is
right about what the cells are rated for. So the panel is working
very well.

So how much did all this cost to build? Well, I saved all the
receipts for everything I bought related to this project. Also, my
workshop is well stocked with all sorts of building supplies and
hardware. I also have a lot of useful scrap pieces of wood, wire
and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff (some would say junk) laying
around the shop. So I had a lot of stuff on hand already. Your
mileage may vary.

Part Origin Cost

Solar Cells $74.00*

Ebay Ebay

Misc. Lumber Homecenter Store $20.62

Plexiglass Scrap Pile $0.00

Screws & Misc. Hardware Already on hand $0.00

Silicone Caulk Homecenter Store $3.95

Wire Already on hand $0.00

Diode $0.20±
Ebay Ebay

Jones Plug Newark Electronics $6.08

Paint Already on hand $0.00

Total $104.85

Not too bad. That's a fraction of what a commercially made solar

panel with a comparable power output would cost, and it was
easy. I already have plans to build more panels to add to the
capacity of my system. I'll post more here as the project evolves.
Stay tuned
* I actually bought 4 lots of 18 solar cells. This price represents only the two lots that

went into building this panel. Also, the price of factory second solar cells on Ebay

Ebay has gone up quite a lot recently as oil prices have skyrocketed.

± This price represents 1 out of a lot of 25 diodes I bought on Ebay Ebay for
$5.00.

UPDATE
07/18/08

Once
again I
stayed on
my remote
property
during my
recent
vacation in
Arizona.
This time I
had both
my home-built wind turbine and my home-built solar panel with
me. Working together, they provided plenty of power for my
(admittedly minimal) electricity needs.

Here is a
close-up
of the
solar
panel in
action. I
have to
move it
several
times each
day to
keep it
pointed at
the sun,
but that
isn't really
a big hardship. Maybe someday I will build a tracking system to
automatically keep it aimed at the sun.

UPDATE
10/12/09

Here is a
close-up
of the
solar
panel after
having the
edges
sealed
with
aluminum
tape. This
is not the
cheap
duct tape. This is the thin metal tape with an adhesive backing. I
applied it all the way around the edges of the panel and across
the center seam. I burnished it down well to make a good seal. I
was careful to punch out the vent holes so they wouldn't be
blocked. The tape seems to be quite weather-proof, and the panel
seems to be thoroughly sealed and protected. Only time will tell
how well it works. However, since my panels are only outdoors
when I am staying on my remote property, and are not exposed to
the weather all the time, I suspect it will hold up well for a long
time.

The Aluminum tape gives the panel a whole new look. It looks like
the frame is made of metal, rather than wood. To my eye, it looks
a lot more professional.
 I have also
completed
a second
solar
panel.
This is a
smaller 15
Watt
panel. It
folds up
for easier
storage
and
transportat
ion. Click
the photo
to learn more about it.

Question: what is an inverter?

Answer: An inverter is a device that changes a 12 v dc car battery or deep cycle marine battery
into 120 volts ac useable household electricity! You can run your Lights, TV set, refrigerator, VCR
tape player,
DVD player, computers, power tools, shavers, etc....

The 12 volts is stepped up to 120 to 125 volts dc, then the dc is converted into 120 volts ac by a
very special design of ours. You can run light bulbs with 120 v dc but to run your TV, VCR etc..
the 120 v dc needs to be converted to AC. Which is no problem, You can do it by electronic
switching or use our new mechanical can oil filled canister type commutator design. All you need
is to use is a high efficient electric motor that runs in the milliamps to turn the commutator
switching shaft, the oil in the can will keep the commutator from sparking! You can even convert
an old DC motor from an auto junk yard, rewire it and fill it with oil just as well. You can adjust the
speed of the motor to get the desired 60 Hz or any Hz you desire. The plans are not step by step
like many of our other plans, but this is knowledge that everyone should know in case of an
emergency!

If you ever wanted to build your own inverter then you should get these plans. The plans
are not yet as step by step as we would like them to be right now, but they are good plans,
packed with information you may not find any where else! See the many new approaches we
have discovered in making an easy to build homemade inverter! Can be used as a modified sign
wave if you allow the DC to be pulsed into a large transformer and choke. By doing it this way you
should not need an oil switching commutator canister to turn the DC to AC, the transformer will do
that for you. 240 v could be made by using 2- 12 v dc batteries in series / inputting 24 v dc. Great
as a science fair project.
These plans do not actually show you how to build a 5000 watt inverter, but start you off by
showing you how to build a 100 watt section first. You then simply build more 100 watt units to
stack and multiply the wattage to the desired wattage needed. It should be possible to scale
these plans up to get 500 watts, 1000 watts or 5000 watts. Another design we have can be
stepped up by simply using larger size wire to equal the desired wattage output etc.

What makes our inverter so unique is the stepping up process, very different from other
inverters and works very well. Manufactures make the process very hard and very expensive for
anyone to build for themselves. I'll give you an example, a 4,000 watt pure sine wave 120 volts ac
x 60 Hz inverter sells for about $3,000 or more! But it could be possible to build one for yourself
for about $500 or less. We have made it simple and cheap for you to construct your own inverter
at any size wattage you desire using our plans and information as a building block.. We have
many new updates, designs and discoveries that are in this device! You can also build smaller
wattage inverters using the techniques outlined in these plans. you could build a 500 watt inverter
for about $30 or less.

Build 2 units to run your entire home! Then Use a free energy DC generating device to keep
your battery bank charged up and your system running smooth! ( It is best to use a deep cycle
marine battery ), The same batteries that are used in Solar panel home electrical systems. You
can buy these batteries at most K-mart stores, Wal-mart stores, or any RV or marine boat supply
store..
 Copyright 1996 - 2010 Creative Science & Research

Learn how to build this amazing heater to heat your entire home!

No More Heating Bills!

Click Here to see more photo's

* An Amazing New Way To Heat Your Home!

( Can also be used as a hot water heater )

Your existing thermostat can all stay the same! The only thing that should be replaced is the old heating source,
everything else can stay the same. The heat can then be controlled by using your old thermostat, your
thermostat can turn the unit on and off as needed or you can use the heater as a room to room space
heater. Supplies and parts can be found at any hardware store and purchased from the internet.
( See our plans )

Our Fuelless Heater system can be used as a stand alone home heating system. Built right next to your existing
home heating furnace using standard sheet metal and a fan blower connected to your existing air ducts. To get
this kind of high efficiency, free energy is produced and applied as the reaction is started.

The Fuelless Heater is very safe to use! Safer than using Natural Gas!

( The Fuelless Heater is not radio-active or harmful in anyway other than high temperatures )

We recommend that you use our plans to build a small space heater first so you can learn how the device
functions, then build a larger heating unit to heat your entire home, garage, or office with.

Our first prototype was a simple soup can heater and it worked very well! We were amazed at the amount of
heat it produced. We then built a larger bean can heater and it did much better than the small soup can heater.
The bean can heater produced 158 degrees F. in just two minutes! You will find that our heaters are very cheap
to build and the parts and supplies are easy to find. The bigger you build this heater the more BTU's the heater
will output.

The above drawing shows the main heating unit. A small one hp free energy motor is then added and is used to
blow the hot air around a room or furnace air duct system to help heat your entire home.
 Copyright 1996 - 2010 Creative Science & Research

Question: How does it work?

Without giving out to much free information, we will use our small space heater as an example. First we start
with a 7" x 11" metal drum ( Which is the outer drum ). Then motor oil is poured into the inner can, It does not
use oil, it only uses the atoms from the oil which is very safe to use and does not produce an odor or
smell because the outer container is tightly sealed. The oil can last for years! If water is used it would
evaporate into steam, so water is not a good choice unless you want to use it as a hot water heater. A zinc
rod or long bolt is then placed and attached in the center of the inner drum, etc... in return, a safe heat reaction
takes place which creates a strong chain reaction within the atoms of the oil creating an enormous amount of
heat!

You can buy zinc plated long bolts at any hardware store. Most nuts and bolts are zinc plated.

We believe that a strong magnetic flux may also be penetrating the inner metal drum and creating the strange
heating effect, which is safe to use just about anywhere! You can also use many other types of liquid as well,
such as water, coke, sprite, transmission fluid etc., but it is best and recommended to use 10w40 oil.

Many people heat their homes with natural gas, which is not a safe alternative at all! Why? Because every year
hundreds of people die of natural gas poisoning and from home gas explosions, but our Fuelless Heater is very
safe to use and does not need natural gas to run it! The Fuelless Engine works very well with this device! One of
the ways it can be used, is to replace the blower motor with the Fuelless Engine motor. The blower fan is what
blows the heat around a room ( space heater ), or is also used in every home furnace to blow the heat through
the entire home using air ducts.

Knowledge Is Power!

FREE ENERGY - FREE POWER FOR YOUR HOME, CAR, TRUCK OR

GARAGE!
These type of motors have been seen and demonstrated on the Johnny Carson TV show, as well
as many
local TV News and Radio shows all around the country in the early 1970's and 1980's.
 Copyright 2010 Creative Science & Research

Lab simulation of potential energy of our SP500 High Efficiency AC

Generator and our Fuelless Engine free energy motor.

You can build this free energy motor out of parts that many people have just laying
around their house. David Waggoner has designed it with you in mind. He has made these
plans very easy to follow. Easy to follow because they take you one step at a time, part by
part.
If you know how to use a hacksaw, a hammer, a screw driver or an electric drill, then you can
build this engine ( If you have an old microwave oven at home you are not using, you can even use the parts
from it to build one of our smaller free energy motors! In fact you can find old microwave ovens for free, people
throw them away all the time here in the USA ).

You do not have to be a professional engineer or machinist to build this motor. We

have many women that buy our plans, we even offer free technical support by E-mail if
needed.

You can use this motor to power our special AC generator to power your home ( See
our Sp500 AC generator plans ). We have professionally designed these plans and video so
just about anyone can easily build this motor in the privacy of their own home! These plans
will be easy to follow and will give you the confidence you need to successfully build this
motor for what ever application it is needed for. This is an easy to build low cost home project
that can pay for itself! We have spent over 14 years researching and developing this device.
It has been tested by our lab as well as thousands of our customers who have successfully
built these motors for themselves! Free energy motors and generators have been suppressed
since the early 1900's. If they would allow free energy motors to be manufactured and sold
here in the USA, we would manufacture them in a heart beat and sell them to you. But that is
not the case. So for now the only safe thing to do is to sell our plans to people like you and let
you build them for yourself.
Our motors run very smooth and cool to the touch, they do not get hot! The rpm's are
adjustable or can be built to run at one speed. This free energy motor does not run on any
type of gasoline, oil or any other combustible fuel. It is a true fuel-less free energy system.

The free electrical energy produced by the motor is replaced back into the
motor and is reused by the motor. This raises the efficiency of the motor to super high
levels. Our plans are simple to follow and provide a complete parts list as well as a list of
supply companies.

You can build this motor in the privacy of your own Garage or Basement! Plans are
made from actual working lab prototypes. These plans include color digital photos as well as
many drawings and illustrations. Packed full of step by step information and instructions!

We wanted to make these plans quick and easy for our customers to successfully build and
run our motor. We want you to be satisfied so you will come back and buy more plans, as well
as or our entire CD Package # 1 of all 33 plans and 4 videos. CD Package Details
Complete step by step plans are available in low horsepower or high horsepower working models. Our video is a
demo video and is a great addition to these plans. Video demonstrates our low horsepower motor as well as our
high horsepower motor, and can be purchased on CD, DVD or downloaded or both.