Kinks

The last little step in preparing the cell is to make a little rounded kink in each of the tabs. I put a tooth pick under the tab and use the iron to mould the tab around it.

As I mentioned on the soldering step, the cell expands when hot. Out in the sun each cell will expand and contract through the day, so it is important to make these little kinks to allow the tab to flex between the cells, otherwise it would be put under stress and probably eventually snap off.