How to Build a Solar Panel - Part 3 of 3 (New) encapsulated/sylgard184.Free electricity 

This is the best DIY video for solar panels i have found on the entire Internet !! This man could have made money just by selling the DVD with this information, yet he made it freely available ! Thank you, very kind person.

I am inspired and I am working on building my Energy Free Home... It takes a process which your videos were very clear and full tutorial. I cannot thank you enough... Thank you

Hi Mark, Your instruction video on solar panels 3 of 3 is the best I have seen of all the DIY and I have been researching for the last 2 years. Keep up the good work. If Sylgard 184 works well you have made my day. Looking forward to your future instructional videos. Thank you so very much.

Your videos are probably the best, most thorough I've reviewed - Thanks for the fantastic work!!!

THANK YOU! I live half the year in central america and built 4 of my own panels. I probably made every mistake possible. You have finally given me the information I needed. I will be contacting you soon. Thanks again for a real video on how to the this!

I really enjoyed your videos. Your on-camera presence is very casual, straight forward, informational and 'next door neighbor' friendly. Thank you so much for making these videos.

Your voltage and current test are a good real life example of values and procures. BEST EXAMPLES I HAVE SEEN. THANKS

Finally, I'm here on Part-3. Thanks for these instructional thing, it's like having the whole course on DIY solar panel :)

THE GREATEST 3 videos about solar panels I have ever seen. I will be checking your website now for the frames and glass! :)

One of the most helpful videos I have seen on youtube. Thanks Mark and good luck to you!

Best videos I've ever seen on DIY Solar Panels!

thanks mark. I visit here almost everyday for your great videos

Well, I watched all three of these videos and learned a lot. Thank you for sharing your practical tips and methods.

I really appreciate the time you take to answer our questions and making for all of us this kinds of tutorials, Thank you. Yes, from the start i didn't think a only solar panel would help since i live in a tropical island so it's bound to have many rainy days and power will suffer from no direct sunlight, also i am checking around for magnetic motors and that hydro system you are talking about sounds interesting i will check on that later tonight.

Thanks for a great display of knowledge. You have taken a lot of the mystery out of the building of solar panels. Terrance, Canada

By sharing your videos you are doing so great to humanity. Thank you so much.

Thanks for sharing, your instruction is detailed an easy to follow. My project will benefit.

Great vid Mark. Anyone who follows every step of your instructions will have a quality panel. CHECK THOSE SOLDIER JOINTS BEFORE ENCAPSULATING!

Great Job on Presentation Marc, I learned so much and definatley will be buying your products for my Sailboat!

Mark, I live in the place where Cepalco's 1MW solar PV power plant in Bgy. Indahag, Cagayan de Oro City is the biggest such facility in the third world which is directly connected to a power grid: But when I saw your video today, I did not hesitate to buy the book myself. Both the book and your 3 videos on the subject are all cool stuff for me. God bless your work!

Thank God, I finally found someone who gives clear description of building panels. Everyone else just filmed themselves doing it and didn't explain anything they were doing. Yours should be the only one. Everyone else should have their ass kicked for wasting peoples time.

lots of info, and right on the mark. you do an awesome job. thanks : ) im working on bedini circuits with a magnet wheel. when the sun is not out, I still want power. so I am working on power 24/7. so I think I will add some solar or wind for back up boost, just to peak my battery bank

Hi, Mark. Great video!!!, Thank you very much. I am in Thailand "the land of Sun and Smile". Always HOT or HOTTER. Learn so much from your video. Thanks again.

Thanks buddy you just helped me make my own panel :D

Greetings from Sweden Mark, Im so thankful that you share this idea and knowledge. I wish you and your family all the best. Now im off to start shopping and see what i can get on ebay, it will take some time to learn all this new stuff but it will be worth it!

Thank you for posting. wish I would have seen this sooner. I made the same sized panel last year out of wood and plexy glass. it works well and was a fun project ,but this is so much better i plan to ditch my second frame and build it your way.

Thanks heaps for the vids. Your frame and encapsulation system looks great.

Awesome video. I am planning my solar build and these videos you have are great.

Ok, thanks for your input Mark and again this problem has nothing to do with the quality of your products. In fact you do a fantastic job on precision for those frames! Fit like a glove!

Great videos! Thank you for putting this information out there.

I learned something great today , thank you . Keep the good job up .

Thanks, I taught myself at of need. "Necessity is the mother of inventions" Plato.

I enjoy your video instructions. At your convenience, I think you should shoot a video on the construction of your vibrating work table, that your refer to in your videos. So those of us who follow your videos and want to build solar panels can construct them properly with the assistance of the use of a vibrating table and how its built and where to get the parts. Looking forward to seeing your video on the vibrating work table. Thanks, Dave

Damm! This video was to good... Now I HAD to learn more about solarpanels and probably I will build my own... Thanks for this video...and the other 2 parts. I saved it so I dont forget and have to search for it. Good job man!

Thx so much, this was the best DIY video that I have found

You are a genius, Mark !

Awesome set of videos, very informative. Thanks so much for sharing all this knowledge. Best regards.

Thanks Mark. Very informative.

@picnic366 Yes the encapsulant makes the back rainproof and you can cover the diode and wires with it too. Mark

I love it and i will learn more. Thanks be Blessed.

thanks for your promt repley ...after looking at your page i have found i had already been veiwing some of your videos ....i gota hand it to a man who has good ideals and puts them to work...thanks

thats frikkin cool man. I got a suggestion for your awesome home set-up, get a thermostat connected to an electrical relay tied to a water sprinkler system, and have it just turn on and automatically water the panels when they get to a certain temperature. great vid, you definitely know what you're doing, big ups man, nice

Hello Mark, vidio is great for us. thank you.

Thanks for your kind words.

Thanks for the info and quick reply!

great video thanks for taking the time to show us!

man those look great! i hope i can make some near that good! thanks for the video, go solar!

@Treped Hello. I like the dow 6010 because it is a little thinner and leaves less air bubbles. The vibrating table helps remove traped air. It only vibrates a little so the cells do not move. The large air bubbles may need a little help to remove. I some times press down on the cell to chace the large air buble out. If the cell is warped up a lot I hold it down with a little silcone.

Thanks for your relply. We're at rainy season so there is not much heat.. Lots of humidity though. After several weaks i'll finish sealing any parts remaining with DAP.

hey I really enjpoyed watching this video, very clean and clear explanation. I am shopping for a house in California and as soon as I get one I will be contacting you for the frames. we have no snow or any kind of crazy weather as you know.

Great video - Thanks for your time to share this

Using the 1/4 inch glass you sent me but our climat is really bad in the winter here and thats when it starts seperating the cells from the glass. Used windex to clean the glass and got most of the bubbles out each time. Frustrated due the cost. I thought it might have been me not mixing it enough because when I removed the rest of the scrap cells I had to chisel some off while others just popped off. Was thinking of reinforcing with fiber before encapsilating on the positive side of course.

Nice job, well explained. Thank You

@moffett8 I would not lay aluminum on the back,I think it would cause trouble over time. The encapsulant expels the heat very well. Mark

I love your videos. I have 1 question. Do you normally not put a back on there, just rely on the set Sylgar? I know you mentioned that on the ones you sell you put a backing, but is the set up Sylgar good enough for protection? I'm in California and we just had a change of earthquake/wind tolerance laws and supposedly starting this year I can't use aluminum frames, do you think a complete fill with Sylgar reinforces the aluminum enough so that it doesn't bend under heavy wind?

Great series! What do you use to vibrate your table? Thanks!

Love your project!

Hi Mark, great videos! I have a few questions. I'm in the process of deciding how to build my panel. I was considering building a frame, encapsulating the cells with the frame using Sylgard, and then putting a slightly less robust glass layer on top. Have you encapsulated to a frame instead of to glass? Does this have issues with temperature increases and moisture content between the glass and the cells that lead to inefficiencies that you avoid through the on-the-glass method?

Mark, great video! The way to get the bubbles and stuff out of your encapsulate, take a hair dryer and blow it over the encapsulate and it will remove all bubbles and smooth out the encapsulate. try it you'll see.

@markp0177 Cool thanks...I am going to try & make my own panel. I want to see if its something i can do on my own..... But i may make a few changes from yous desgin in with my desgin....I will send you a video when i am done!

Wonderful, I wish to do it myself & thank for the information specially problems on warranty. Regards.

Thank you so much for posting this, it is great to see good people sharing this valuable knowledge for the benefit of the world. I had one question, approx how much labor time does it take you to complete a 72 cell panel?

very interesting.thanks from my heart.

@sodbuster1x I will try to shoot one soon. I just used a old 1/4 hp motor and welded a off set weight to the shaft. It is realy simple. Mark

cool video I like this when I was in high school we used clear fiberglass resion to incapsulate the pannels in worked pretty good it was for a solar car project rc car it worked pretty good but if I decide to build my own solar system I will have to go this route sounds a lot chapper than finding one already built again gre4at video.

@markp0177 so, if i understand correctly, you only use the power from your panels, if you plug something into your inverter socket?

Excellent video, you've really got me thinking... Do you provide for larger panels, more than "55 to 60 watts"?

Awesome vid! So the sylguard makes the backside rain proof? Does that mean that my wires and diodes at the back can be drenched in sylguard as well?

@markp0177 On your personal array, what size are the four big panels you have on there, how many cells do they hold? Do you sell that size glass and frame? Thanks!

Nice work! Have you tried to modify them by utilizing the build up heat to warm up water?

Mark... thank you! How did you make your vibrating table?

Mark is there any video of yours explaining how does someone put and insulate the tempered glass on the frame?

Hi Mark. Love the quality of your panel frames. Listen I talked with you before about using the epoxies and even sent you pictures of some that blistered up using the Ultra Seal and the Ultra Clear epoxies. Both of those blistered off the glass so I took your advice and used the 6010 and after a few freezes up here it did the same thing. Am about to give up using epoxies and switch to a Silicone/turpentine mixture. It stays supple and won't shatter the cells in cold freezes. Any thought? Brian

Great video Mark, very well done. I have 2 questions. When connecting the wires from the block terminal to the bus bar , you have the component between them with a wire at each end. How do you connect this to the wire and bus bar. 2nd I seen some 6" x 6" solar cells that are 4 watts each. I would save time with tabbing and a little higher output. Would you recommend this, versus using 3" x 6" cells? Thanks again for informative video. Will have to try this out on my work shed.

Thank you sir, very helpful videos!

Mark, what is the vibrator assembly? I am almost ready to apply the encapsulate and would like more information on the vibrator unit. Thanks

@TheOzembuch Hello Yes two set of 36 in parallel. You will connect to the diode with a #12 wire and the neg bus with a #12 wire and then connect the two pos #12 together and the two #12 neg together. Mark

@markp0177 I'm having an issue with lots of small air bubbles staying on the cells, also some fairly large ones. Is this anything to be concerned about? I didn't use a vibrating table, but I didn't think it would have so many bubbles. Thanks in advance!

Thanks Mark , I'm in the UK , do you ship frames to the UK or would you advise I buy the angle here and do it myself , also were do you buy the encapsulation resin ? Many thanks , best how to on RU-vid ...

First, nice job. Isn't the resin going to get "yellow" along time? Also, how can the resin get between the glass and the cells without a table vibrate for 3 hours? I don't have one. I don't think I'll find that brand in my country (sylgard184). Any advise for that? Thanks, Alex.

Hey Mark , great video ! Do you think that I can build a solar panel 6" wide by 20 ft. long ? and how many of those I will need to cover an average consume of a 1 600 kWh a month in my house ; and do you think that I could add an electrical heater for my pool ( 20 000 gallons of water ) ?

Thanks for sharing Mark, The glass you use is very shiny and will reflect a lot of light away from your cells though.

Thanks for your videos. They are going to be a great help When I put mine together this yare. Or in the next 2 week. Just woundering, how many batteries do you have on this system? And, what is the wattage on the inverter you have on them? The only inverter I have right now is 750 Watt. I have had it for years. I was looking at some of the 8000 watts for about $700.00

What are the lengths of the aluminum angles? Thanks your videos are great!

Hey Mark, do you sell the solar panels already fully assembled as seen on the video...

tgreat videos, I am glad some one finally showed the proper way to make a solar panel that will last more than a couple years. Where do you get your sylgard at? are there any other products out there that would work?

@TheOzembuch Hello .It sounds like you did it right. Did you use a diode for each 36 cells? You should have double the amps and 18 volts. What are you useing for your load when you test? A battery or a resistor? If battery the battery my be full and not take 8 amps. Also try a different meter. Mark

This is a very well thought out process ... very cool. Would there be any point to pouring the encapsulant onto the glass and then lowering the cells in some ordered way down onto the ecapsulant letting it sink down into it. This looks about as good as any commercial system. thanks for the video. where is this, and how much for your 1kW system, what would you recommend to power an average house?

Thank you Mr.Markp0177 I search it from shop in Thailand. Price is 10000 THB(around 333 USD) per set It very expensive for me

@eloid777 The viberator is a old fan motor with a weight on one side. Mark

Just wondering if you could use automotive clearcoat and spray it on.its a good uv protectant.?you might have to spray it on pretty wet but i think it could work.?

@markp0177 Been watching you videos and learning a lot. I just have 2 questions. 1 - It looks like the buswire connections are exposed. Any problems with corrosion so far? 2 - What is you opinion on Lexan polycarbonate vs glass? Thanks for your help

hey mark. why do you pick the syligard when the mlsolar where you get the cells has there own that cost less?

Hello again and sorry for too many questions :) I'm a beginner in this process and i want to learn as much as i can. What about blocking diodes do i have to use them if i make use of a charger regulator?

Thanks for the instruction

Hi Mark Your videos are the best I seen. A question could you not stick the cells down with Sylgard and then coat the whole panel later?

Outstanding! I like your style of instruction. I am going to build panels like yours and I have a few Q's. (1) will you explain or maybe a short video on making a vibrator/shaker table? (2) What size diodes are required? (3) Can you tell me a good source for the Dow 6010 encapsulant/sealant? Many thanks for all your assistance and info.

Hi Mark! Great video. I have two questions, you use stainless steel screws with aluminum. They are dissimilar metals. They will corrode when in contact with each other unless treated (paint, paste etc). How do you combat this? Are sure it is heat that activates the encapsulate, most set by carbon dioxide?

I use the silicone dab's to hold the cells in place while I pour the encapsulate. The encapsulate glues the cells to the glass and keeps out oxygen and water.

Hey man, just wondering if that encapsulating is what you use to 'glue' the cells into the panel? Or if you silicone them to keep them from falling out?