Thursday, April 12, 2012

How to make a solar cell using diodes

So the other day while i was studying about solar cells, i realized that a photovoltiac solar cell is very similar to a standard silicon diode, they are both p-n junctions, the only difference  being that a solar cell has a higher surface area. So i decided to use an 1N4148 standard small signal rectifier with an exposed die. I connected it to a Multimeter to check the voltage coming out of the diode. To my surprise, it worked! After concentrating the light to the diode with a magnifying glass, i was a able to get a usable voltage from the diode

Although i doubt that this would be more efficient than a standard photovoltiac cell, i believe that this might be useful in low cost applications
Please feel free to give any suggestions and improvements in the comments

Thank for watching!

EDIT: I got featured on Hackaday.com!

7 comments:

  1. Hello,
    I got 21mV from an OA90 (Ge). Got more "power" from LED's
    See the experiment at: http://speakyssb.blogspot.pt/2011/12/powered-by-leds.html and http://speakyssb.blogspot.pt/2011/12/powered-by-leds-ii.html

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I´m getting more than 2v from LED´s, but is a low current. I, will post as soon a Buy a new voltimeter... :p someone has stolen it

    ReplyDelete
  3. Solar cell! nice and interesting. I got one solar cell from MyDeals247.com for bets deal

    ReplyDelete
  4. This post is very simple to read and appreciate without leaving any details out. Great work!
    solar panel uae

    ReplyDelete
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