Wasteland Energy

Until today I've only used ready made stuff. Now I want to make my first solar panel which can be easily clamped to the window by design.

Today I unwrapped a new package of monokristaline solar cells (30 pieces).

Right now I am not sure how to build it. Maybe a plastic or aluminium back will be used. Maybe the cells will be covered with a UV translucent acrylic glass or it will be moulded using resin.

One thing is sure: I will include the square shaped aluminium profile withe the panel. This should be the first step into a "product". The new panel should be easily mountable by just turning two nuts.

This will be my last panel using silicon cells. For the next iterations I will use flexible CIGS cells. It's time to say goodbye to silicon technology. The future is flexible!

Hacking is all about learning how things work and then create own things using this knowledge. It's high tech in-house production. Hackers are able to build small factories, solve huge problems (i.e. optimizing prostheses) or build satellites or rocket propulsion systems.

Hackers have undertaken the monopoly of knowledge and production. Now it's time to take the next step. Hackers! Please make your own matter and energy!

Years ago oil companies made billions by just selling oil, which was available for free. Sheiks and big oil field owners became the richest people of the world by just selling "mud". They simply turned dirt into money.

Now we are at the dawn of the solar age . Sun is for free. As a hacker you should use the free solar energy to produce. Please empower your 3D printer using sun at daytime. You must not store the energy. Just setup a timer and start the printing job if sunlight is available. Use the solar panel to detect light. If there is current, your print jobs starts automatically. Make your projects as cheap as possible. Don't use energy from the power outlet. Most devices have a 5V, 9V, 12V or 19V connector. All these devices can be powered using sunlight directly!

Try it. You don't need to invest much money. Solar panels are becoming cheaper and cheaper. Support CIGS panels. Buy CIGS cells, create your own solar energy module for your 3D printer. Load your laptop battery with your windowsill. Please use the sun to create the electricity for your devices. As soon as you start you will see this is addictive and feels great. Not only because you save the environment. Once you think "solar" you have a swarm of small devices which you can operate everywhere. You will become independent of the power company.

Why is this project important? Economy is always based on free goods like oil or coal. It's just there. Years ago companies just started to collect oil which was available on the surface of our planet and sold it. They built their business on free available goods, given by mother nature. Whatever product you touch, the very first ingredients of that product have been free and given by nature. Businesses "just" added energy and design. It is important to understand that everything started with free goods.

If you think about hacking you need some parts to build your project (i.e. plastics or gears) and energy to transform it. You can use (free) scrap parts. The maker scene is already capable of creating high tech devices more or less for free. Only energy costs money and is expensive to our environment. We still use coal, nuclear material or oil for producing electrical energy. That's kind of silly because the daily sun is there, day by day.

"Wasteland Energy" wants you to open your eyes to identify not used areas where you could put solar panels. Future batches of solar panels will be cheaper and more efficient than today. Knowing that every windows ledge can create electricity is an important step into design and new paradigms according to hacking. At my home there is a huge box which I use to collect wall plug transformers. Some of them are broken, some of them I don't use anymore. Nearly every electronic device is packed containing one of these wall plug transformers. I hate these transformers. Why should I always transform 230V down to 12V if I could have a 12V socket in my home? It's time for a separate energy bus at home. Using a solar panel instead of a windowsill (wich looks ugly in most cases) makes it look better and creates electricity for you. The battery is my 12V source. I don't use these ugly transformers anymore. There is one powerful 12V source in my flat which provides enough energy for all my small devices. While I am at work the sun is delivering the power at day time for free. You can attach solar panels everywhere without drilling holes or changing the structure of the building.

Think different. Think 12V, 24V, 48V, 60V

Think solar.