I found an article on how to build your own solar cells using ordinary beach sand and an organic chemical with the tongue twister name,3'7 Dimethylpentadecon-2-ol propionate in an April 1977 issue of Popular Electronics. Trouble is, I can't locate the chemical. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

-- Keith (halfc@fidnet.com), July 25, 2001

Answers

Look at the May issue; I think you're going to find an apology from the magazine because this was an april fools joke, and lots of people spent a lot of time trying to do this.

I remember this incident, except I thought it was Popular Mechanics. But it's been 24 years, it looks like.

Some of the Radio techs at Siskiyou National Forest spent a lot of time, and long distance phone calls, trying to track down the chemical, and had everyone in an uproar about it!

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), July 26, 2001.

You can make your own solar cells using copper sheet and some not so hard to find common chemicals: don't hold me to these its been a few years. I do remember that they did NOT produce that much juice. But the materials are fairly cheap to get.
Silver nitrate, and mutatic acid - pool acid.
http://www.lindsaybks.com/ they had a short, but detailed, book on how to do it.
a source for copper sheet would be radio shack or allelectronics.com Use pcb material= printed circuit board. Use the thicker stuff, and you can use an xacto knife to remove the copper between each 'cell'. You might want to try the double sided stuff to play with 'through holes' instead of using a wire on the surface. Just be sure to leave extra insulation around each through hole - i.e. remove the top layer of copper around the though hole.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), July 26, 2001.

Direct link to the book Solar Cells!

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), July 26, 2001.

And btw told I didn't remember the chemicals.

and PCB copper clad will not handle a whole lot of heat, so try some before you buy a whole bunch.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), July 26, 2001.

PCB material is typically fiberglass with copper 'cladded' to one or both sides. It will not handle a whole bunch of heat, but it is sure cheaper than the alternatives. Radio shcak is no the place to buy this stuff in bulk, but a good local source to get 'some' to play with.

FYI fiberglass will dull out your drill bits fast.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), July 27, 2001.