Evergreen Solar

May 10, 2011 11:19 am | Products

Has anyone welded solar cells?

I bought 3 "x 6" Evergreen Solar cells to make a solar panel. They each have 6 squares in the back (three in each row) son directly behind the two stops on the forehead. If I understand correctly, I 'm supposed to scrape off the white surface of the squares until they are shiny and solder the son of the tab next solar cell for them. I "canned" the wire with solder, then tried to add more solder up to secure the wire to the squares. The solder melts, it does not stick very well or do good electrical connection. (A voltmeter on a cell reads a little over 0.5 volts, but when touched to the next cell who should read a little over 1 volt, it indicates 0.0.) I also used the supplied "flow" to clean my pen surfaces before soldering. What am I doing wrong?

It looks like you heat the solder, not the metal that you want to weld together. The solder does not stick, because the metal is cold. Hold the iron on the tab of the solar panel and the wire - Let it warm. Once it is hot enough, touch the solder wire, no soldering iron. The solder should flow and obligations after removing the iron. Also, make sure the tip of your iron is clean. Oxidation which is usually formed on the soldering irons greatly reduces the temperature. You can clean hot with a damp cloth or something abrasive, like sandpaper if you need.