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Can you make PV at home? Thermoelectric devices are interesting because they can be manufactured using comparatively simple metallurgy. Not because their effic

Can you make PV at home? Thermoelectric devices are interesting because they can be manufactured using comparatively simple metallurgy. Not because their efficiency is competitive with semiconductor photovoltaics.

pfdietz 2y ago
> Can you make PV at home? https://hackaday.com/2018/01/26/home-brew-solar-cells-for-the-chemically-curious/ https://hackaday.com/2018/01/26/home-brew-solar-cells-for-th... Not anywhere near as efficient as commercial PV cells, of course.
- kilpikaarna 2y ago
  This is by the same person as the OP btw (and linked in the original article).
  - pfdietz 2y ago
    So why did you ask the question, if it was answered in the original article?
    - kilpikaarna 2y ago
      Rethorical question, sorry.
gene-h 2y ago
Perovskite solar cells could be and dye sensitized solar cells can be[0]. The better question is why should one make solar cells at home? [0]https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-Use-A-Dye-Sensitized-Solar-Cell-DS/ https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-Use-A-Dye-Sensiti...
- AtlasBarfed 2y ago
  Solar panels enabling offgrid power is tagcloud-related to surviving human civilization collapse. We're entering an era of decreased globalism, where megacorporation scale actually becomes a danger to society due to reduced warehousing/stockpiling and long extended supply lines, and of course offshored manufacturing that goes with that.
  - margalabargala 2y ago
    Before solar panels become impossible to purchase, they will be difficult to purchase. Before solar panels become difficult to purchase, they will become more expensive to purchase. Mass produced solar panels have been getting both cheaper and easier to get. What you describe could happen, but it's far enough off that we have not seen even the first warning signs yet.
    - lukan 2y ago
      "What you describe could happen, but it's far enough off that we have not seen even the first warning signs yet." Well, some disagree on there being no warning signs. https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/ https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/
      - kragen 2y ago
        Yeah, if some shithead nukes China, solar panels would get expensive in a hurry.
      - margalabargala 2y ago
        Okay, sure, but that's no different than the same identical "warning signs" that people have been flipping out about since the 1960s. Maybe some individual country will have some collapse, but all of human civilization will not. I.maintain that if you're worried about any of that, you are still better off stockpiling panels now, than developing ways to make your own much worse ones in your backyard. DIY photovoltaics can be a fun hobby but for someone worried about an actual collapse they can acquire a lifetime supply of solar panels and batteries for less money and time than setting up a custom fab that's able to operate in a collapse situation.
- kilpikaarna 2y ago
  hacker spirit and/or hedge against the end of the industrial age Personally, I don't have much faith in sustaining a modern industrial lifestyle for billions of people very long term on PV panels or any renewables really (EROEI issues, rare earth minerals etc.). But I'm bullish on electricity in general.
  - kragen 2y ago
    By far the most common PV systems are single-junction monocrystalline silicon. These have had pretty decent ERoEI for many years (9–10 according to https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/67901.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/67901.pdf, but the energy required for PV modules has dropped precipitously since then) and don't use any rare-earth minerals. Wind turbines have typically had even higher ERoEI (15–20 according to https://davidturver.substack.com/p/eroei-eroi-of-onshore-offshore-wind-power https://davidturver.substack.com/p/eroei-eroi-of-onshore-off...), and, while they do most commonly use rare earths, that's an engineering tradeoff rather than necessary; currently viable alternatives include switched-reluctance-machine generators (which just use conventional electrical steel, like transformers and relays) and other kinds of rare-earth-free generators: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420717300077 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142071...

pfdietz 2y ago

> Can you make PV at home? https://hackaday.com/2018/01/26/home-brew-solar-cells-for-the-chemically-curious/ https://hackaday.com/2018/01/26/home-brew-solar-cells-for-th... Not anywhere near as efficient as commercial PV cells, of course.

kilpikaarna 2y ago
This is by the same person as the OP btw (and linked in the original article).
- pfdietz 2y ago
  So why did you ask the question, if it was answered in the original article?
  - kilpikaarna 2y ago
    Rethorical question, sorry.

gene-h 2y ago

Perovskite solar cells could be and dye sensitized solar cells can be[0]. The better question is why should one make solar cells at home? [0]https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-Use-A-Dye-Sensitized-Solar-Cell-DS/ https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-Use-A-Dye-Sensiti...

AtlasBarfed 2y ago
Solar panels enabling offgrid power is tagcloud-related to surviving human civilization collapse. We're entering an era of decreased globalism, where megacorporation scale actually becomes a danger to society due to reduced warehousing/stockpiling and long extended supply lines, and of course offshored manufacturing that goes with that.
- margalabargala 2y ago
  Before solar panels become impossible to purchase, they will be difficult to purchase. Before solar panels become difficult to purchase, they will become more expensive to purchase. Mass produced solar panels have been getting both cheaper and easier to get. What you describe could happen, but it's far enough off that we have not seen even the first warning signs yet.
  - lukan 2y ago
    "What you describe could happen, but it's far enough off that we have not seen even the first warning signs yet." Well, some disagree on there being no warning signs. https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/ https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/
    - kragen 2y ago
      Yeah, if some shithead nukes China, solar panels would get expensive in a hurry.
    - margalabargala 2y ago
      Okay, sure, but that's no different than the same identical "warning signs" that people have been flipping out about since the 1960s. Maybe some individual country will have some collapse, but all of human civilization will not. I.maintain that if you're worried about any of that, you are still better off stockpiling panels now, than developing ways to make your own much worse ones in your backyard. DIY photovoltaics can be a fun hobby but for someone worried about an actual collapse they can acquire a lifetime supply of solar panels and batteries for less money and time than setting up a custom fab that's able to operate in a collapse situation.
kilpikaarna 2y ago
hacker spirit and/or hedge against the end of the industrial age Personally, I don't have much faith in sustaining a modern industrial lifestyle for billions of people very long term on PV panels or any renewables really (EROEI issues, rare earth minerals etc.). But I'm bullish on electricity in general.
- kragen 2y ago
  By far the most common PV systems are single-junction monocrystalline silicon. These have had pretty decent ERoEI for many years (9–10 according to https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/67901.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/67901.pdf, but the energy required for PV modules has dropped precipitously since then) and don't use any rare-earth minerals. Wind turbines have typically had even higher ERoEI (15–20 according to https://davidturver.substack.com/p/eroei-eroi-of-onshore-offshore-wind-power https://davidturver.substack.com/p/eroei-eroi-of-onshore-off...), and, while they do most commonly use rare earths, that's an engineering tradeoff rather than necessary; currently viable alternatives include switched-reluctance-machine generators (which just use conventional electrical steel, like transformers and relays) and other kinds of rare-earth-free generators: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420717300077 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142071...