So, you are going green, and have started to successfully build your own solar panels. The next logical step will be building the solar cells, as well, right?

Its a noble idea most certainly, but one that you need to give some careful consideration to. Sure, you would have bragging rights to say that you created everything yourself, but you need to be aware of what it takes to create a solar cell, and whether or not it will really save you money, as these days they can be purchased very inexpensively.

Just to make one solar cell will require nearly an hour – and one panel might have hundreds or thousands of cells. Unless you really want to commit the time and money to do that, you’re probably better off buying.

Okay, so maybe youre a person who really likes a challenge, and you plan to forge ahead with this. If so, here are the materials you will need:

1) Copper flashing sheet – preferably 1/2 square foot. 2) 2 Alligator clip leads. 3) Micro Ammeter that measures between 10 and 50 microamperes. 4) An electric heating element ” either an electric stove or an electric hot plate. 5) Clear plastic bottle ” large, such as a two-liter sized soda bottle. 6) Salt ” several tablespoons. 7) Water – tap water is fine. Sandpaper. 9) Metal shears – sufficient to cut the copper flashing.

First, clean the copper sheet with the sandpaper and wash both it and your hands before proceeding. Then, cut the sheet using the metal shears to the approximate size of your heating plate or stove.

With your copper piece cut, put it on your heating device and set the power to “high.” Wait for 30 minutes to pass so you get a blackened copper piece, and then wait another 20 minutes for it to cool so you can handle it properly.

After the copper cools, the patina, or oxide, will have disappeared, leaving your copper sheet polka-dotted with black and red spots.

Then, cut another copper sheet that’s approximately the same size as your first one and make sure that they can both fit into your plastic bottle or jar without touching.

Using the negative terminal of your micro-ammeter, connect a lead to the copper you cooked. The positive terminal should then be connected to the raw or uncooked copper.

Combine the salt and heated tap water and pour it into the bottle to fill it just below the top of the sheets ” that should leave about a quarter of an inch of copper sticking out at the top.

Finally, test your new solar cell to see if it produces current in the sunlight. You should be able to see at least 10-50 microamperes of current if you did it properly.

Now the hard part ” if you want to power one single 100-watt light bulb, you will have to repeat this process enough times to produce 80,000 square meters of solar cells. A great experience, yes. A practical solution? Not necessarily.