Posts Tagged ‘diy solar panel’

Building A Solar Panel

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Sunlight is the most abundant energy resource on Earth, but still remains almost completely unused, this energy is unlimited and has countless benefits.

In a recent estimate, the average national household energy bill was estimated to be $200 per month, that works out to almost $2500 a year. Wasted dollars that could be spent elsewhere if it was possilbe to eliminate or reduce these bills.

Converting solar energy to electricity using photovoltaic cells is one of the most useful scientific breakthroughs in the last hundred years.

By using the DIY solar panel approach you can make very big savings off retail prices. What if you could build your own solar panels for less than $200, it certainly sounds affordable but is it practical?

In a word, yes, solar panels are surprisingly easy to build, if you can do general DIY, then a solar panel project is pretty straight forward. You can build your own solar panels without the need for special tools or materials, in fact everything you need can be found in your local hardware store.

So what about the building time? Well for example, with simple materials, tools and some professional plans, it normally takes about a day to build a 100-watt panel.That panel can produce enough electricity to power a small workshop!

With a little more time spent on a bigger project you could build enough solar panels to meet all your energy needs, reduce your bills by 80 percent or even eliminate them.

When starting out on any DIY project it’s always advisable to get a professional guide with clear, easy to use plans.

Please note, it is important when selecting a guide, that you take you think about your particular lifestyle, energy needs and geographical location to determine which would be the most cost effective and efficient solution for your home.

You can jump straight to one of the best DIY solar panel guides available online.

There is simply a no better time for creating energy self sufficiency for your home, reduce you energy bills & start living your dreams in green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn About Building Your Own DIY Solar Power Generator

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

With the cost of electricity at an all-time high state, you may be wondering how you can save some money without having trouble to sacrifice all those appliances that you need to power. Fortunately, there are quite a few solutions that you can consider about, most notably DIY solar panels. These panels, in a nutshell, capture solar radiation in power cells and convert that radiation to electricity, which you can then use instead of the regular power that you get from your power company. It’s a fantastic way to save money on your power bills, while still being more environmentally friendly and using lesser of the Earth’s resources.

Once you’ve decided to make a DIY solar panel to generate electricity, you have to determine where you’re going to position it and what you’ll be using it for. Finding a nice, open area with lots of sunlight is ideal, of course, but of course, you won’t want it to be too far away from your house, therefore you can make sure that power gets to your appliance. While you can’t run absolutely everything you own on a single panel, you can allocate a few of your major electric devices through that power source. Before you know it, you’ll be running using free energy.

If you wish to learn how to build a solar panel, the easiest way to get started is to do a quick search on the Internet for construction guides. A quick search will result with dozens of potential guides and instruction manuals that you can use. They’ll have construction materials, a list of detailed steps, and recommendations for potential uses for your new solar panel. While this process may take a lot longer and set you back a little bit in finances, the money you’ll eventually save over months of not using as much electricity power will make it well worth the effort.

Photovoltaic Cells - 60 Years Old & Still Full Of Energy

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Solar cells have been around for almost 60 years. During that time they have evolved from large, expensive, technical curiosities into tiny cells that are affordable & efficient.

Photovoltaic cells originated from the Bell Laboratories in the 1950s as a spin off from transistor technology. The now famous discovery that when the suns rays hit a wafer of silicon it generates a surprisingly large numbers of free electrons. A panel of several silicon strips were made, placed in sunlight, the captured free electrons were turned into electrical current & the first solar battery was born.

Their first real test was in the 1960s with the emergence of space flight & their use as an efficient but very expensive power source for satellites. The development of this exciting technology is accelerating every year. Present day solar cells have evolved from bulky, inefficient panels into very small layers of film that are now twice as conductive & designed to function with less sunlight.

Solar panels since the 1960s have dropped in cost from an astonishing $40,000 per watt to now around just $6 per watt & below £3 per watt in large numbers with state rebates. Worldwide production and use of solar cells has been expanding every year by an average of 48 percent since 2002 & has become the world’s fastest growing renewable energy technology.

Harvesting this energy is more important than ever, it is both a practical & economical solution for supplying energy to homes, factories, farms, as well as an increasing number of personal electronics.

Another popular & important fact is that solar energy is that it can save you lots of money & building your own solar panel is now relatively simple DIY project & cheap to do.

It enables you to take advantage of government refunds & even net metering (a great system where you can sell unused electricity back to the power company) & dramatically reduce your energy bills.

The New York Times way back in 1954 ran the headline that the invention of solar cells would `Lead to the realization of one of mankind’s most cherished dreams’. It was a bold statement to live up to but today solar panels are finally a practical solution to utilizing the sun’s energy, providing a clean, alternative resource that is environmentally friendly & does not contribute to global warming.

If you are interested in building or installing solar panels in your home then there is a wealth of information, advice & guides available online.

There is no need to even comprehend the physics behind solar energy to understand it’s appeal & after 60 years, it’s appeal & advantages are greater than ever.

Solar Power Your Home With DIY Solar Kits

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

DIY solar kits are a cheap solution to buying expensive commercial solar panels and having them installed. Having your own solar power appeals to people because it makes them energy self sufficient and is better for the environment. However when people realise that it can cost thousands of dollars and that it would likely take at least 10 years to recoup that investment they will often lose interest in switching to solar power. But there is good news as you don’t need to spend anywhere near this amount of money to solar power your home. You can buy DIY solar kits that contain all the materials and instructions you need to build and install solar panels in your home.

The first of two possible DIY solutions is to purchase a solar panel kit that has all of the components and instructions that you need. The cheapest option however is to actually build your own solar panels from scratch rather than buying them ready made as part of a kit. All of the materials are available from local hardware stores and you can expect to be able to build solar panels for less than a couple of hundred dollars each.

Making your own DIY solar panels is the perfect solution. You can expect to make huge savings from solar electricity whatever country or region you are living in. Although if you live in a sunny climate you are likely to generate a higher percentage of your electricity needs than a household in a colder geographic area. In order to operate at night and during overcast weather a solar power system will charge batteries up to save the energy for when it is needed. In some countries the power companies will actual buy your surplus solar generated electricity.Imagine how great it would be to receive money from your utility company instead of them demanding it from you!

One of the good things about DIY solar kits is that you can start off small with just a couple of solar panels with the aim of powering one or two appliances. Adding additional solar panels over time will lead to more savings and you will be able to power additional appliances.

Making your own solar panels doesn’t require you to be great at DIY. The kit will come with clear and easy to follow instructions. You won’t have to buy any expensive tools. For those who enjoy DIY this could prove to be an interesting and highly enjoyable project.

For more information on DIY Solar Kits please visit www.greencheapenergy.com. Please also read our Earth4Energy review to learn more about making your own solar panels.

Free Energy - Homemade Solar Hot Water Kits

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

DIY hot water systems are not new, people in the United States have been using homemade water heating kits for over 100 years. Thirty percent of all hot water needs of the residents of pasadena in 1897 was produced by using homemade solar water heaters! If our ancestors could harness the power of the sun over a hundred years ago, then we should be now!

However the discovery of massive supplies of gas and oil in the United States meant that creating energy from the sun was sidelined in favor of fossil fuel heating methods. The trend in the use of homemade solar hot water kits has increased as the world looks to lower carbon emissions.

Latest statistics show that there are over 500,000 such water heating devices used in California. Many of these are used in houses and swimming pools. Using a DIY Solar Panels for swimming pools and showers is a great way to lower pollution caused by fossil fuels and also to lower your electricity bill. A bonus is that your carbon footprint is less.

Homemade solar panels used to heat hot water will typically contain pipework, a insulation box and covering panel. The sun’s heat is transferred through the glass which magnifies its intensity and makes the water in the pipes hot. Just imagine the sun as the power source for your hot water tank. However unlike when you flip the electricity switch, the sun heats up your hot water for free!

Most of the equipment that you will require can be bought at your local DIY shop. I use Radioshack for example. I can now build my own panels and cells for under $200. But remember energy from the sun is free so you will recoup these costs over time. More importantly you will not be paying thousands of dollars to a professional when you can build your own for a fraction of the price! The cost of the components is far outweighed by what you will be saving long term in electricity and heating costs around your home.

So what are you waiting for? You could be using these simple DIY solar panel systems to heat your home or swimming pool. Making a do it yourself solar hot water panel is actually easier than you would think. There are stacks of guides and plans available on the internet.