
The finished panel - on its fateful full-sun test in the DG unit.... note the less-than perfect condition of the remaining cells. I had repaired some of the weaker/smaller spare cells with even more broken bits wired to that cell in parallel. Messy and inelegant, but the improvement to the weak cell was magnified 36 times so it was worth it. (If all the other cells could give 2.5 amps and the weak one could only give 2.2 amps, the whole array gives 2.2 amps, so augmenting the weak cell with a 0.3 amp fragment brings the array back up). Table-lamp and digital multimeter were invaluable for this. So there it was nicely squirting 2.5 amps or so into the battery.

And here is the side of the DG unit afterwards... The nicely sealed unit is converted by autumn sunshine heat into three separate layers - glass/plywood/glass. :-(
I wanted to cry. My master plan was a failure. Weatherproof it was not.

But here is a VERY good use for a solar panel.... Why? As well as being free energy, you remember that 18volt/12volt discussion? The higher voltage does wonders for a scalextric car.... be careful not to burn them out though !