I noticed that my 80W solar panel produces a sustainable arc when shorted out. I wondered if could weld metal together using nothing more than 2 solar panels wired in series.
By Julian
Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado
You could make a simple plasma cutter with about 25 panels Plasma cutters just use HVDC too with a hf igniter circuit
Maybe if ya didnt have fucking turrets! FFS
Please try this again try using some flux core wire and straighten it out. This is a really cool idea and I think you can make it work with the right material!
A few points to get satisfactory welds. One is you need about 36 volts open circuit volts. Two you need to generate a blanket of inert gas. This inert atmosphere is made by burning a flux in welding rods or supplied with a pressurized gas cylinder with inert gas such as argon. Three your electrode that you strike the arc with needs to be properly matched to the amount of current you draw. Copper is a very bad choice because it is too conductive and it takes heat away from weld joint. A steel welding rod has enough electrical resistance to get hot enough to melt and burn the flux to create a blanket of protective gas. Hope this is enough to get you in the right direction.
Big project
flux may help create a shielding gas
I'm no welding expert but maybe try a tig torch with valve hooked up to the solar panels and a bottle of argon. As others say don't weld galvanized metals.
I think this is a great idea overall, I hope to hear about further developments.
(By the way, you can weld galvanized stuff, it's just a bad idea because it produces toxic fumes.)
You could possibly do carbon arc welding with this setup, do a search for carbon arc welding to see the kind of equipment you would need to fab.
Would shorting the panels cause damage to them (in order to create an arc)?
By the way how did this project perform with all the advice given?
use a graphite rod instead, open up an old D cell battery, and maybe your amps are dropping too much
you cant weld to galvanised stuff
Also when you try again rough up the contact areas you want to take the weld and then try keep the run going as you weld ,it's really only like super heated soldering ,imagine the use it would have in third world sun rich country's .I'd build on this idea ,really.