Hi and greetings from Ireland !!

I have recently made a panel from polycrystalline cells.

I got the glass made up too small so couldn't fit all 36 3x6 cell.(could fit 33 full ones)

To maintain voltage, I squeezed in 3 broken in half cells.

To my amazement, the panel only produces 1.2 amps at 19 volts = 22watts.

Why is it not producing at least 50 watts? Is it the toughned glass? or the half cells I put in? Any advice appreciated.

I put a simple vid on youtube
YouTube - solar panel double glazed

thanks
Tom

Half the cells will only produce half the amps. (series bottle neck)

I would have left it at 33 and called it a good first try.

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Making the world a better place just makes sense.

Darn it, was thinking that, No way to fix now its sealed?

if i put high current through the panel would the smaller cells fry and become conductors?

Or just accept its output

Nope you just discovered what thousands of DIYers before you have discovered.

A panel is like a chain. It is only as strong as the weakest link. The cells you buy from Ebay are factory rejects. What I mean is your cells are wired in series. So let's say they are suppose to be 3 amps, but one or two only produce 1 amp. You whole string will be limited to 1 amp, no matter what you do. Think of it as a one lane highway with a 60 MPH speed limit, and grandma is driving 25 MPH with traffic piled up behind Her.

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Dereck, PE, MSEE
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