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Learn to build a “thin film” solar cell is very interesting and educational project helps you become familiar with the photoelectric effect.

What you need:
• Copper plates
• Clear acrylic / acrylic / acrylic sheet
• Some thin strip of wood
• Copper wire
• Tape

Tools:
• Metal Cutting (optional)
• Band saw (optional)
• Tin snips
• Electric fires

First, cut a square of copper foil so that it is 8.6 inches square. It is much easier with a metal belt, however, if you do not have access to such equipment, shears work well.

When done, wash your hands thoroughly and dry. You must remove all traces of grease or oil from your hands that could cause problems for the next step. Remove grease or debris from the copper foil. Then take a piece of sandpaper, and sand until the piece of copper on both sides to remove the top layer of oxidized copper.

This leaves you with a good shine bright copper red below.

Now you need to heat treatment of copper to form an oxide layer on top. This may seem contradictory to just remove all the rust and now we will put the new oxide, but the oxide layer is applied a film of “copper oxide.You will need a stove to do. If you have “goves heat resistant” clamps and metal, it might be time to learn to manipulate hot metal.You must activate the burner position, with the copper strip, placed just above. Observe changes in the care of copper, which are very interesting.

As the heat of copper, which acquires a beautiful patina that live in different colors.

If you have access to nitric acid, which can be used as a superior method to remove the top layer of copper oxide.You will see a crisp black oxide form at the top of the copper plate. If you leave the iron to cool slowly, layer of dough should be quite fragile and easily separable from the underlying copper. When you have activated the plate and let cool completely, giving the board of a company song to blow up a hard surface. Some oxides will fall away. Oxide rub gently with your fingers under the tap, and you will find most of the black oxide layer is easily removed. If the bits are difficult in any way to go, because they do not want to damage the fragile surface.

Under this layer of black oxide, is another layer of reddish orange rust. This is the layer that is “light sensitive” and to do our work in thin film solar cell.Make a spacer now some thin strips of wood. I used duct tape to join my pieces of wood – Do not use metal fasteners, which could react electrolytically with other components of the cell.

Now we’re going to another electrode. You must have the property that does not affect the other part of the solar cell, and allows light to reach the surface. We’ll use salt water as our other electrode in contact throughout the cell surface of thin film, however, the conduction of electricity. We will then soak another copper wire to connect. You can also use another piece of copper plate around the outside of the thin film cell, but does not affect our oxidized copper.

In a commercial cell thin film of tin oxide is commonly used as the other electrode, as is obvious, but it conducts electricity. Now take a piece of Plexiglas to act like a lid, and glue a strip of tape on each side.Let us keep our wire electrode to the other piece of Plexiglas.

Remember to use thick wire for clarity, with some real zigzag, so you can clearly see what happens. To optimize the performance of solar cells, you want to do the CEO. It is therefore preferable to use a lot of thin wire on a much more fine zig-zag, it will still let light through, but at the same time gives a large surface of the conductor.

You can experiment with different types of copper and son – the trick is to try to maximize the copper surface, while trying to block less light can reach the solar cell.
Fold the tape on the cable and stick to the plate.

Now, we combine the electrode plate with space. Again, duct tape makes work easy, pleasant.
Then we have the copper plate, and stick tape on one side, with the sticky side of tape in the same direction as the oxide layer of copper.

Combine the plate and the module to meet the finished solar cells.
Now, take a little salt, and bridge the gap between the front section of Plexiglas and the copper plate. Seal with tape around the module to prevent leakage.

Finally, connect the module to a multimeter, find a bright light source, and explore some of the electrical properties of the solar cell.

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