Tabbing Solar Cells
Tabbing solar cells is a process where two flat pieces of wire are attached to the face of a solar cell. I remember failing miserably when I tried to do my first couple solar cells. The wire wouldn't stick, I left the soldering iron on too long and discolored the cell etc. etc. Through a little experimentation I found a method that works quite well for tabbing solar cells.
First we need to decide what kind of solar cells we're going to use for our solar panel. I recommend getting 4" x 4" or 3"x6" cells as they 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 produce 0.55 volts and 3.98 amps. To find watts just multiply volts and amps 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. We'll start out with what's required. Of course you will need your solar cells. In addition, you'll also need a soldering iron, solder, tabbing wire, flux and a ceramic tile or piece of glass. Tabbing wire is simply flat wire that is highly conductive. For the flux I recommend you get the pen type flux as it's quite a bit easier to apply. The ceramic tile or glass is used to draw heat away from the cell as you're soldering 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). Take out your flux and apply a thin layer on the two white lines that run down the face of the 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. Each piece of tabbing wire should be twice the length of your cells because you'll need some wire when you go stringing your cells together. You will need two pieces of tabbing wire for each cell that you do. Once all the pieces are cut you need to tin your tabbing wire. 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!
First we need to decide what kind of solar cells we're going to use for our solar panel. I recommend getting 4" x 4" or 3"x6" cells as they 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 produce 0.55 volts and 3.98 amps. To find watts just multiply volts and amps 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. We'll start out with what's required. Of course you will need your solar cells. In addition, you'll also need a soldering iron, solder, tabbing wire, flux and a ceramic tile or piece of glass. Tabbing wire is simply flat wire that is highly conductive. For the flux I recommend you get the pen type flux as it's quite a bit easier to apply. The ceramic tile or glass is used to draw heat away from the cell as you're soldering 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). Take out your flux and apply a thin layer on the two white lines that run down the face of the 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. Each piece of tabbing wire should be twice the length of your cells because you'll need some wire when you go stringing your cells together. You will need two pieces of tabbing wire for each cell that you do. Once all the pieces are cut you need to tin your tabbing wire. 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!
