It’s easy to cut open a power transistor like the 2N3055 to expose the NPN silicon material inside to make a solar cell. When exposed to sunlight, or household lights, it conducts electricity. The N-type and P-type materials work like a solar cell. The best way is from the Base to the Collector though from both the Base and Emitter combined and then to the Collector also works well. The voltage and current aren’t much but with just a few of them in series you can power a small 1.5 volt calculator.
Oops. At 0:54 where I show a transistor diagram ignore the arrows. It should be Emitter=N, Base=P, Collecter=N. The two pins are Emitter and Base. The transistor’s case is Collector. If you turn on annotations you’ll see a note saying this same thing.
See also:
http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/make_solar_cell_using_transistor_2n3055.htm
See my “Make Solar Cell Transistor Powered Calculator using 2n3055″ video where I make a solar panel out of these cells to power a calculator:
Also, watch “How to make solar cells (DIY/homemade solar cell)” where I make a solar cell from a copper sheet and salt water:
And here I use a 2 foot by 4 foot fresnel lens to concentrate sunlight on a normal silicon solar cell in my “Concentrated Solar Cell Test with Fresnel Lens” video:
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Post time: Jan-31-2017