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Silicon Solar Cell image
 
(based on 23 ratings)
Brand:RadioShack
Located in:Power & Batteries, Parts & tools power, Solar power
For use on power models and science projects, this fuel cell runs on sunlight using silicon as its semiconductor.
Product Reviews Summary
Avg. Customer Rating:
 
2.5 stars
(based on 23 reviews)
44% of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Customers most agreed on the following attributes:

Pros:
Easy to use(3), Good performance(3)
Cons:
Lacks power(5), Not durable(3)
Describe Yourself:
Quality oriented(9)
Primary use:
Business(3), Personal(11)
 
wut a waste of money!! it broke!!!
By rubyVerified Reviewer from the most ramdom state 2 live in on 11/15/2008
Cons:
Cheap cause it broke, Didnt work, Expensive
Best Uses:
Wasting money, Wasting time
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

i was building a solar car and it split in half. i bought 3 and they all got chipped or snapped in half. it was such a waste of money. i could have spent that [$]and added only 10 more dollars and gotten me a nice solar car kit offline. my project's due in less than a week. i am soooo stressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
waste of time
By mark from barstow on 10/1/2008
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

this product has not power patentuals.
i will not recomend this product to any one

 
Awesome
By JonVerified Reviewer from Cincinnati, OH a.k.a.: the best city on 8/24/2008
Pros:
Great to put in series, Works well
Best Uses:
Experimentation
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

Great product! I had gotten a few two weeks ago just to fool around with. I hooked three up in a series to make 1.5V. I hooked this up to a 1.5V calculator. Works even in indirect sun!!!

Images shared by: Jon

Just the solar array

Image Thumbnail

Tags: Made with Product

 
awesome
By Jon from Cincinnati, OH a.k.a: the best city on 8/24/2008
Pros:
Easy to hook up, Great to put in a series, Pretty efficient
Cons:
NONE
Best Uses:
Expirimenting
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

I personally love this. I had gotten a few to fool around with about two weeks ago. I hooked three up in a series circuit to a 1.5V calculator. Even in indirect sunlight, it works perfectly. I plan on hooking up 6 to run a mini 3V radio I have.

 
solar car
By DericVerified Reviewer from Seattle, WA on 8/2/2008
Pros:
Works
Cons:
Product may vary
Primary use:
Personal

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

I work at RadioShack... I connected three of these in series to run a 1.5 volt motor for a little car and it worked fine. I agree that they are hard to solder and the directions are very incorrect but they got the job done.

 
Completly missleading, 0.3 amps?
By Reflex EE from PR on 7/30/2008
Best Uses:
It's good for wasting
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Business
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

thought they where 0.3 amps, there really 0.03 amps, need a 100 of these just to get 3 amps vs 10 if they where really 0.3 amps. False Advertising!!!! DO NOT BUY!!!!

 
Good thing its so CHEAP!!!!!!!
By somebodyVerified Reviewer from the moon on 5/3/2008
Pros:
Wrkd ok for my expiriment
Cons:
BROKE after 2nd Use, Lacks Power, Short Life
Best Uses:
Science Project
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

It worked fine and all but after 2nd time using it it cracked in half from me pressing down on it with some wires.

 
Don't follow instructions!
By shawn the shawnVerified Reviewer from Troy, NY on 5/2/2008
Pros:
Does what they say it wil
Cons:
Little pricey
Best Uses:
Demo projects
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Business
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

The instructions are wrong. Solder one lead to the front, one to the back. In full sun or a strong flashlight, you'll get 0.55 VDC just as they state. Soldering is a little tough with these, after 4 or 5 it got easier... but for a school project that's a lot of money to burn through to get it right! But I think they are good for fun projects.

 
Know What You Are Buying
By rjm from Burlington, Indiana on 4/13/2008
Pros:
Reliable Performance
Cons:
Overpriced Old Technology
Best Uses:
High-End Equipment
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

First recognize what you are buying, a piece of silicon. If you where to see silicon wafers used in many electronic devices (op-amps, transistors, etc.), before it gets singulated into chips, you would see that large pieces of silicon are very fragile (as I have experienced). This device dates back to the beginning of solar cell technology. It performs pretty much as stated. Ah, never read the instructions, knew how to wire it up to begin with. I have been involved in the electronics industry for many years. I recommend that this is a device for those whom collect historical electronic devices, as I do. I bought 2 or 3 to have around for show and tell. It is an excellent device for science projects, if you know what you are doing. It is very simple, easy to understand, and is best for demonstration purposes.

 
What a piece of junk
By Stever from Northeast Ohio on 2/19/2008
Cons:
Lacks Power, No wires bad instruction
Best Uses:
Show what not to buy
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

I'm an electrician at a Nuclear power plant. My son was in need of a demonstration for a science project at school. Last minute of course. I was going to put three in series to power a 1.5V light bulb. After the painful task of soldering 28 awg wire to the "Front" as the instructions state at the points listed, I'm out [$]and it's 2 AM with no science project. I'm ashamed that these say "custom made in the USA"

 
Good for science fair
By mr. clean from somewhere, TX on 1/29/2008
Pros:
Good for science fair
Cons:
Lacks Power
Best Uses:
Projects
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

I got this for my science project it held up good except it took me a while to solder the wire to it. I would only recommend this to someone if they were doing a school project because of its lack of power.

 
dont buy
By mike from moreno valley on 1/26/2008
Pros:
too fragel
Cons:
Lacks Power
Best Uses:
None
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

i bought 3 and they are hard to solder and break way to easy.

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
inefficient and poorly made
By T. MaxVerified Reviewer from Minneapolis, MN on 1/6/2008
Pros:
Lesson learned
Cons:
Fragile, Inefficient, Not suitable for hobby
Best Uses:
None that I can think of
Describe Yourself:
Quality Oriented
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

There are no leads or solder points you have to connect your #25 wire to the face. I bought two and couldn't get current from either of them.

I ended up pulling old cells off a previous project.

Complete waste of money and time.

 
Unreliable
By unsatisfied guy from El Paso TX on 1/2/2008
Cons:
Lacks Power, WAY TOO DELECATE
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

It broke as soon as i touched it!

 
Very fragile to work with
By Unhappy customer from Edgewood, KY on 11/1/2007
Pros:
None
Cons:
Unreliable
Describe Yourself:
Practical
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

Tried using this solar cell for a science fair project and it would break in half trying to pick it up out of the case. We bought 2 and broke 2 instantly - waste of money.

 
Not worth it...
By Matt from Roanoke, VA on 9/29/2007
Cons:
Difficult To Configure, Fragile, Unreliable
Best Uses:
None
Describe Yourself:
Electronic Hobbyist, Tech Savvy
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

I got this because I have some very nice flexable panels that [...] used to carry and I need more power now...boy am I dissapointed!First, the directions are wrong. It says to solder both wires to front -- in reality it's to the front and back at the edge.After I finally figured out where the contacts were, I put a meter on it...it produces 0.6v@30mA outdoors in full sun BUT in a window it only produced 0.3v@14mA; not worth anything...

 
Siloicon Solar Cell soldering points
By RichardVerified Reviewer from Simi Valley, CA on 8/8/2007
Pros:
Consistent Performance, Inexpensive
Cons:
Difficult To Configure, Fragile
Describe Yourself:
Professional
Primary use:
Business
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

[...] I found this solar cell produced some voltage with indoor fluorescent light, so it works. Watch out though, because it's delicate.It needs the leads prewired for most customers.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
My only complaint is that ...
By Daniel N from Illinois on 5/14/2007

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

My only complaint is that the instructions are inaccurate. If you soder the cathode on the front and anode on the back however, the cell does what it is supposed to. Some people may not have known that and assumed it was no good. I generally get 200-250 mA at .50 volts per cell. If you wire them in an array you can get your money's worth. I bought them in bulk so I also had a discount.

[1 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

 
not too strong.
By rich G from newmarket,nh on 1/24/2007

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

not too strong.

 
First off, the soldering ...
By Julian G from Lafayette, CO on 11/2/2006
Pros:
Good performance

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

First off, the soldering instructions on the package are wrong. They state to solder both leads to the front of the panel. If you try this you'll get very low V, if anything. Instead solder one lead to the front and the other to the back and the panels will perform as intended. Second, the panels are very fragile: bending the lead once attachd can snap the panel in half. Otherwise the panels work well, but they are a bit pricey.

[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

 
For more output power, ...
By Dean 0 from Kansas City, MO on 6/9/2006
Pros:
Easy to use, Good performance, Good Value, Reliable

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

For more output power, place the cells in a "series" (increased voltage) and "parallel" (increased current) configuration. A recent design coupled an "array" of these solar cells with a 1.6MHz DC-DC switching converter IC to make an 80% efficient 6.0V DC solar power supply; current output was rated at 6.0V and 550mA.

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
for what you get, it's ...
By m m from Spotsylvania, VA on 5/13/2006
Pros:
Easy to use

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

for what you get, it's REALLY overpriced. I was planning on building 12v power supply for stuff but these are only about .45-.5 volts in my window. it's a good idea but way too expensive. they used to sell other ones like a 3v 50ma one I got one time. wish they still did.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
powerful cell... big ...
By Eric J from Vincennes, Indiana on 3/3/2006
Pros:
Easy to use, Good performance, Good Value, Reliable

Comments about RadioShack Silicon Solar Cell:

powerful cell... big price...

Customer Reviews about the Silicon Solar Cell at Radio Shack
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