You can buy a pack of re-used solar cells for around $3. In addition, you will need some conductive copper mesh (available at most art stores), glue gun and sticks, a multimeter and a conductive pen. In this tutorial, the author will try to explain the best technique he found to connect these broken cells, in order to create your own CHEAP solar panel.
Step 1: get the solar cells. They will be broken into small pieces.
Step 2: check power and ground. When you look at the solar cell, make sure you check voltage between the positive side (the back side which is usually grey) and the negative side (which is the black side, with all the lines on it) of each cell. You can simply use a multimeter by placing its leads on the cell itself. This step is crucial; otherwise you'll connect bad cells in the middle of your link, causing the whole panel not to work.
Click here to read the rest of the post on the original website, Instructibles.com.
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