Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Buying titanium dioxide
• Part 2 of 3: Make a solar cell
• Part 3 of 3: Generating electricity
• Necessities

Solar energy is one of the most popular alternative fuels at the moment. You need a lot of knowledge and patience to build a complete solar panel, but with just the basics you can already make your own small solar cell. This is also a fun way to learn how solar panels work. You only need titanium dioxide to build a solar panel and turn light into electricity.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Buying titanium dioxide

1. Collect donut powder. Buy a bag of powdered white donuts. This powder contains a chemical called titanium dioxide (TiO₂). Titanium dioxide is used to make solar panels.
2. Dissolve the sugar. Unfortunately, the titanium dioxide of this powder is not pure. It is mixed with sugars and fats. To get the sugar out, do the following. Mix the powder with warm water and pour it into a filter (a coffee filter works well). The sugars in the powder will dissolve when the water is filtered. All that's left is a mix of titanium dioxide and fats.
   • Use about one glass of water for every five donuts
3. Remove the fat. Water does not dissolve the fats, so it will remain after filtering, along with the titanium dioxide. Fortunately, this is easy to fix. Pour the powder onto an ovenproof dish and put it in the oven at 260 degrees for three hours. The fat will evaporate and only the titanium dioxide will remain.

Part 2 of 3: Make a solar cell

1. Use conductive glass. Most conductive glass plates are coated with a thin layer of indium tin oxide. Thanks to this layer, the surface of the glass conducts electricity. You can buy this glass online or at a solar panel specialist.
   • This glass is usually sold in the size 2.54 x 2.54 cm.
2. Make a titanium dioxide mix. Add ethanol to the titanium dioxide in a glass beaker and stir until well mixed. Use the purest ethanol you can find. Lab-grade ethanol is best, but vodka works well, too.
   • Use one milliliter of ethanol per donut and stir it in a glass or beaker.
3. Cover / coat the glass. Cover all sides of the glass with tape. This ensures that the thickness of the conductive layer is correct. Using a pipette, gently spread a thin layer of titanium dioxide on the glass.Make sure not to leave too much on the glass, just leave a thin layer. Repeat this ten times.
   • One drop should be enough to cover the entire surface. So you need a total of ten drops of titanium dioxide.
4. Boil your solar cell. Place the glass on a heat resistant plate. Place the plate on an electric hob (or place the cell directly on the hob). Boil the cell for about 20 minutes.
   • Pay attention! The surface will first turn brown, then white again. When it turns white again, the ethanol has evaporated and the panel has been heated sufficiently.
5. Pour some tea on the panel. A tea contains the organic components anthocyanins. These components are good at capturing visible light. So make some tea and dip the panels in it, at least for a few hours. A dark tea, such as hibiscus, works best. This causes the anthocyanins to adhere to the glass. Now the panel can receive visible light.
   • Before the tea was used, the glass only captured UV light.

Part 3 of 3: Generating electricity

1. Color another piece of conductive glass with graphite. This piece of glass becomes an opposite. You can use a normal graphite pencil. Make sure that the graphite powder covers the entire glass.
2. Leave space between the pieces of glass. You can cut a piece of paper and put it in between. You put the paper on the clean sides of the glass (not on the tea or graphite sides). You can also create space by putting a piece of tape around the edges of the glasses. This ensures minimal spacing.
3. Add an electrolyte solution. An iodine solution is ideal. This is available at most pharmacies. Mix this with a 3: 1 ratio with alcohol. Pour one or two drops of this mix between the glasses.
4. Gently push the two glasses together before the iodine evaporates. Use clothespins to hold the glasses in place. Your solar cell can now generate electricity.
   • You can test this by placing your solar cell in sunlight and testing it with a multimeter.

Necessities

• Powdered donuts
• Ethanol
• Cooker
• Conductive glass
• Graphite pencil
• Sodium solution
• Tape