Can DIY Solar Panels Match Commercial Quality?

[Chiel555]

Is it possible to make/solder solar panels yourself from solar cells that are as good as automatically made solar panels ?

 

[berkeman]

Can you give some examples of what you are starting with and what you want to make? For example, what solar cells do you have access to, and what kind of solar panels do you want to make? Are you going to make or buy the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) electronics?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_power_point_tracking

 

[DaveE]

Is it possible to make/solder solar panels yourself from solar cells that are as good as automatically made solar panels ?

Probably not, although I suppose it depends on what's in your workshop. Give some credit here to all of the manufacturing engineers, test engineers, QA people, and financial investment that create a reliable manufacturing facility. How much money and time do you want to invest?

But why would you want to do what they do? What they do is hard and expensive.

Step 1, probably, is to give up on soldering.
Step 2 is to think about your performance and life testing plan to learn about the results of your process and improve it. No one gets it right the first time, even if they have stolen copied the IP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_bonding

PS: TLDR: No.

 

[Ken Fabian]

Is it possible to make/solder solar panels yourself from solar cells that are as good as automatically made solar panels ?

It seems very unlikely any hobbyist can match commercial solar panels on quality or price. I'm not sure why anyone would try when solar panels are so cheap in most places... depending on tariffs.

 

[Rive]

Is it possible to make/solder solar panels yourself from solar cells that are as good as automatically made solar panels ?

DIY making custom (size, form and/or power/voltage) panels is possible and is actually done if needed, but the price is usually several times larger than a standard panel would cost so at the end most people rather go back to the drawing table to adjusts on the idea than actually do it.

Not recommended.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Is it possible to make/solder solar panels yourself from solar cells that are as good as automatically made solar panels ?

It's a bit like contemplating building a car from spare parts or building a microprocessor with discrete components. The big-boys can afford to do it much more efficiently and get much more into a small space.

Otoh, experiments with a very few PV cells would give interesting results - but not produce any really useful electrical power. You could, for instance, investigate using a number of PV diodes to operate an LED and find the best way to connect them.