DIY Solar Panels World » admin

“Who Else Wants to Build DIY Solar Panels?”

admin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:00:24 +0000

If you’re interested in making DIY solar panels, this may be the most important place you discovered. Here’s why…

For every curiosity you have in your mind, there will almost certainly be a resource available to satisfy it.

Whether you want to build a solar panel by connecting individual photovoltaic (PV) cells or buy it retail… whether you are a do-it-yourself, homemade guy or a swear-by-a-brand person, we have mini-resources prepared for you.

Otherwise just write to us to request for it…and we’ll get it up just for you.

In the future, we’ll broaden our scope to include bits and pieces of other types of renewable energy generator like wind turbines.

For starters, you can browse the following pages to get up to speed with the DIY solar power world. Tell me what you think:

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JinkoSolar Establish Its Local Presence In Zug, Switzerland

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:33 +0000

JinkoSolar Holdings announced their establishment of a new branch in Zug, Switzerland. This branch office in Zug commenced operations in early August of 2011.

For JinkoSolar, this represents a step forward in the expansion of the company’s global footprint and vision. JinkoSolar intends to expand its local operational capabilities throughout Europe in order to service its growing clientele better by being near them.

JinkoSolar has made a concerted effort to present itself as one of the most trustworthy partners across Europe and they are making significant headways toward this goal. The company has long emphasized their commitment towards their customers by allowing them access to a dependable, local support team.

By establishing a local presence in the Zug region, JinkoSolar underscores their support towards their customers in many ways.

(This news report was adapted from: JinkoSolar, published 24 Aug 2011)

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SolarWorld To Install PV Panels for Affordable Housing Projects

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:59:35 +0000

SolarWorld will install solar panels for the nation’s largest government-sponsored affordable housing project. This is a 2-megawatt project owned and operated by the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HACSB). Through this, more than 1,000 low-income families in the California County can enjoy the benefits of solar technology in their daily lives.

This solar installation is spread across 21 sites around the county with 250 separate structures, five municipal permitting jurisdictions and three utilities. A total of 7,200 SolarWorld PV panels will be installed. They can supply the entire energy requirement at the 863-unit affordable housing. This installation can help tenants cut down their power costs tremendously.

Solar power has the potential to deliver clean, affordable energy to the hands of anyone who use it. This government-sponsored project is a clear indication that we are moving forward toward this goal, albeit slowly.

In 2010, SolarWorld and Planet Solar worked on a 100-kilowatt system together. They supplied the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara with a solar power system that supplies clean energy to multi-family affordable housing.
Other than this, SolarWorld has also installed solar panels to low-income housing projects nationwide, from Tampa, Fla., to Sacramento, California.

(This news report was adapted from: Business Wire, published 18 Aug 2011)

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10 Reasons Why You Should Build Your Own Solar Panel

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:01:53 +0000

Build Your Own Solar Panel

If you’re a DIY guy yet need more reasons to cajole you to build your own solar panel, here are ten most important reasons why other DIY-ers like yourself are persuaded to build their own solar power generator. Here they are:

Reason #1: Building your own solar panel is very cost effective. It is a lot cheaper than buying comparable retail panels.

Reason #2: Building your own solar panel takes only less than a week and it is relatively easy to do if you follow a plan.

Reason #3: You’ll get the satisfaction of being able to create something useful with your own hands…and when you see your project powering up your gadgets and appliances, you’ll be filled with warm delight.

Reason #4: After the solar panel system is built, it keeps giving back to you and requires almost no maintenance at all.

Reason #5: It is an environmentally friendly thing to do and you are giving back to Mother Earth.

Reason #6: It gets the whole family together and it gives the kids a solid understanding about solar powered systems.

Reason #7: It usually takes you less than 2 years for your DIY solar panels to payback what they cost…as contrast to an average of 15 years payback period for commercial-grade solar panels.

Reason #8: Making your own solar panel forces you to get outdoors and get the less-exercised part of your body (and brain) moving.

Reason #9: It challenges you to get creative on what else you can use the solar panels for. (Mainly electronic gadgets comes to most people’s mind)

Reason #10: It’s always a talking point whenever there’re visitors. It makes you feel great as you see the “wow” on your friend’s face!

I hope these heartfelt reasons resonate with you…enough to get you working on your own project soon.

However, also allow me be a little straightforward with you. Building your own solar panel is not a task that you can accomplish with great ease. There are hidden pitfalls if you’re building a solar panel for the first time. This may result in loss of time and money.

Therefore before you build your own solar panel for the first time, go seek someone experienced to guide you along. Otherwise you can get good instructions to show you the ropes.

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Building Integrated Photovoltaics – Using Solar Panels As Part Of The Building Material For Your House

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:00:15 +0000

Solar panels are now more commonly used in building construction than before. Arrays of PV panels can be used as walls or roofs as well as provide power for the building. Good as this product may be, the adoption of building integrated solar panels is still in its infancy.

Compared to building materials, solar panels are expensive. This makes the entire building project very costly.

Homebuilders are usually very reluctant to suggest this idea to client unless they ask. They are afraid clients will go elsewhere. Homeowners are pretty ignorant about building integrated photovoltaics as well.

This doesn’t improve solar panel adoption rates at all. Thus solar panels are not commonly integrated into building structures.

Even though the energy yield of PV panels is not as high as separately-installed PV panels, their aesthetics are superior. Each building integrated PV panel’s energy output depends on its orientation, location, daily weather and season.

During summer, your PV panels can yield as much as 5 times the amount of electricity produced in winter. For example, your solar panels may be able to generate 500 watt-hours of energy in summer. However it only produces 100 watt-hours of energy in winter. Therefore preparation must be made for such trends.

A solar professional will be able to do a site analysis and let you know the energy output of the solar panels on your building through the seasons.

If you need to increase your energy production but are unable to due to space constraint, you can consider using solar trackers. These devices find out where the sun is and tilts the PV panels towards it.

Some manufacturers claim that solar trackers can almost double the power output of a solar array. However this is achieved only with increased cost and complexity.

You, the consumer, must make sure that your solar tracker purchase makes sense financially. And since mechanical parts are involved, there may be regular maintenance required. You must also be prepared to roll up your sleeves or get someone to do this.

As with all types of solar panels systems, a form of energy storage is required. If you’re using building integrated solar panels to serve as an off-grid power resource, then deep-cycle rechargeable batteries are a must.

Otherwise the lifespan of your batteries (which are not cheap) can be compromised. If you have a grid-tied (or intertie) PV system, shallow-cycle batteries may be acceptable although using deep-cycle batteries is still preferable.

Photovoltaic is still a relatively new technology. When they were just commercialized, solar panels were so expensive only NASA (and other large corporations) could afford them. But scientists have made significant efforts to lower its cost and increase its efficiency.

In the near future, we may see high quality solar panels that are as cheap as $1 per watt. When this is realized, building integrated solar panels will be a common sight.

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Solar Pathfinder – What Does It Do For You?

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:01:12 +0000

With the help of a Solar Pathfinder, you can quickly identify the best location to install your solar panel. Experts agree that solar panels ought to experience unobstructed sunshine from 9am to 3pm (at least) so they can produce reasonable amounts of electricity. This can be achieved by making sure the spot you choose experience little or no shading during this crucial period.

A Solar Pathfinder

The Solar Pathfinder is a standard shade analysis tool. You can use it to find out exactly where the shadows will be at particular times of the day or year. The data is in graphical form, so you can make sense of it at one glance.

Another popular tool is the Solmetric Suneye. This instrument is rather user friendly, but is much more expensive than the Solar Pathfinder. This will set you back by at least $1,500…yet there is a cheaper option.

Why Do We Need To Use A Solar Pathfinder?

A proper instrument like a Solar Pathfinder can save you lots of time and guesswork. Moreover it is reasonably easy to use and is affordable.

If we do not have any instrument to predict shadow positions, we’ll have to sit up from dawn to dusk to observe how they move. This is a waste of time! Moreover, these positions shift (slightly) through different seasons because of how the earth rotates around the sun.

But why do we care so much about the extent of shading? You may not realize this, but the effect of shading is devastating to solar energy production. Even if your solar panel is slightly covered under a shadow, the power output can drop drastically.

Consider this…if you shade only one solar cell out of the entire solar panel, your energy production is likely to drop by a third. If you shade a row of photovoltaic cells, your electricity output reduces by about 90%. This means your solar panels have virtually stopped working!

Therefore when installing your solar panels, shading is your first and most important concern.

But is it worthwhile to use a solar pathfinder? Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we could determine shadow positions without the use of a scientific instrument… In fact, the additional electricity you’ll be able to generate quickly covers the cost of the Solar Pathfinder. This is especially true for larger systems.

After all, you’ve invested money and effort on your solar cells, batteries and inverters… Are you going to sacrifice a potentially significant part of its energy output just to save a few bucks? I hope not!

In case you are thinking of installing solar panels without a Solar Pathfinder, drop the idea as soon as possible. Because guesswork will eventually cost you dearly! You may be concerned about the cost…or you may be worried about the complexity of the instrument. The fact is this instrument only costs $249 and you’ll probably take only 15 minutes to learn how to use it.

Whatever it is, if you’re without a Solar Pathfinder, I’m confident of this — you cannot even begin your installation… Without this instrument, you’ll be lost!

To use a Solar Pathfinder, you simply have to bring it to the spot you feel is most suitable for installation. Then you’ll need to level the instrument and point it to the right direction with the help of an in-built compass. The plastic dome will show you a paranomic view of the entire area together with the regions affected by shading over different times of the day or year.

To record your readings, you can use a wax pencil (or grease pen) to outline the shadow or simply use your digital camera to take a snap shot. (I prefer the second approach – it’s instantaneous!)

The effects of shading are exceedingly damaging to solar energy production. Therefore you need to eliminate the guesswork — which can end up costing you a lot — and adopt a scientific approach to install your solar panels. Among all known techniques, the easiest and cheapest way is to use a Solar Pathfinder.

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Solar Panels Electricity – 3 Tips To Note Before Installing Solar Panels At Home

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:00:16 +0000

Using solar panels electricity to supplement the power needs at home can help you lower your energy bills. As PV panels are becoming more and more affordable, many families are taking steps to install solar power generators on their roofs.

However this can be quite a daunting journey. You have to know many details and speak to many people in order to sieve out the best option for you.

Below are a few tips that can help you cut through the fog and gain some clarity:

1. Determine your budget

It is no surprise that solar panels are rather costly. A complete system for the average household may cost at least $20,000. However this should not deter you from installing PV panels. You can always start with a partial system that costs $12,000, and then put up more panels when you have the budget.

Different brands carry different price tags. Therefore it is important for you to know how much money you can spare for your solar setup. With this information, you (or a solar professional) can work out a plan that benefits you most in the long run.

2. Check if it is worth it

There are different numbers you must find out in order to know if using solar panels electricity is worth it in the first place. The most important of these is the solar intensity at your area.

If the sunshine is not strong enough, your payback period will be extraordinarily long. This means you may only get back the full return of your investment after more than 20 years instead of just 12 or 15 years. Or you may never get it back at all. Careful calculation is necessary to avoid errors in judgment.

The payback period is also determined by your solar panel’s efficiency. Needless to say, the more efficient your hardware is, the faster your payback period. However high efficiency solar panels (that are also of high quality) can be quite expensive. Thus you must have a basic understanding of various solar product and they can benefit you before signing on the dotted line.

3. Work out a plan

With many factors that determine whether installing solar panels at home is a worthwhile pursuit, it is wise to have a plan.

The first step of any good plan is to do a site survey. There are many instruments that can help you with this. A typical tool that many people use is the Solar Pathfinder.

After the site survey is done, you have to find out your energy consumption through different seasons in order to size your solar power system. Then you’ll need to devise a strategy to effectively utilize solar energy in every part of your house.

If all these seems confusing to you, your best bet is to call up a solar professional. Instead of spending time to find out about these details, a professional can educate you, devise an implementation strategy for you and help you coordinate different tasks with various contractors.

Before long, you can be using solar panels electricity for your everyday needs.

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How To Make Your Own Solar Panels For A Car

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:59:37 +0000

You can easily make your own solar panels and create many applications for a car. Here, we’ll how you how to do this.

Since the primary voltage used in an automobile is 12 volts, the solar panel you build will most likely be of this rating.

There are a few items you need to purchase in order to make this project:

1. Solar cells
2. Silicon caulk
3. Aluminum frame
4. Perspex cover
5. 2-gauge wires
6. Soldering iron
7. A piece of substrate

You can either use broken cells or new/used ones. What I recommend (if you have the budget) is to use new PV cells. This is because you’ll get the most power. Since an automobile doesn’t have a lot of surface area, you need more power per square feet for your PV panel.

First, you have to position the solar cells on the substrate to make sure you’ve got your spacing correct. Next, check that the PV cells are orientated according to the correct polarity.

Once this is done, you can flip the cells and start soldering them. Use 2-gauge wires or tabbing wires so the electrical resistance is as low as possible. After this, put the cells under the sun and test to see if you’re getting the correct voltage and current output.

Then put the PV cells back on the substrate again. Row by row, put a blob of silicon caulk at the back of the solar cell. Then paste the solar cell gently on the substrate. Do not cover the entire cell with silicon caulk. Otherwise you will leave the material with little space for expansion and contraction. When sufficient stress builds up in the material (glass), it may crack.

You’ll usually have to wait at least 24 hours for the silicon caulk to dry completely. Otherwise it will leave deposits at the Perspex surface. This will hinder sunlight from entering the solar panel.

Immediately after pasting your solar cells, you may want to take some time to waterproof the solar panel frame. This prevents moisture and rain from entering your PV panel. Thus you’re protecting metallic connections and components from corrosion.

Finally, you can also build a small charge controller into the solar panel frame if space allows. However this depends on what you want to use your solar panel for.

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5 Immutable Laws To Keep Your House Energy Efficient (Part 2)

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:00:15 +0000

Here’s Part 2 of the “5 immutable laws to keep your house energy efficient” series.

The points here are mainly about natural heating and prevention of heat loss:

1. Use exhaust fans only when necessary

When you use exhaust fans, air is forced outside the house. Therefore, as the air pressure within the house is lowered, cold air from outside will start flowing in through gaps.

Exhaust Fan

As a result, you heater has to make up for the temperature difference by supplying heat.

But how often do we really need the exhaust fan, anyway? (Although most of us turn it on habitually…) Yet if you must, there is at least one way to minimize air flowing into your living spaces.

You can close the door of the room where your ventilator is, then leave a gap at a nearby window before you turn on the ventilator. After you have ventilated the place, you can close the window and turn off the exhaust fan.

This way, air circulation is contained within the room.

In most cases, you can simply isolate the smell by closing the door and ventilate the place by leaving a gap at the window for 30 minutes.

2. Choose windows wisely

Investing in new windows beautify your home. Getting good ones help you a lot when it comes to heating costs.

Choose Windows Wisely

You may find these facts useful when choosing windows…

Windows are often the source of greatest heat loss in homes. Thermal loss through windows is described by U-factor (as compared to R-value).

This is because each window is made of an assembly – the windowpane and its frame. The U-factor takes these into consideration.
Ratings for U-factor are usually between 0.20 and 1.20.

Lower U-factor values indicate higher resistance to heat flow. This means the window assembly insulates better.

Double-pane windows are very popular. (Some people go for triple-pane ones, which are expensive.) These types of windows are designed to trap a volume of air between the panes. (Air is a good insulator of heat, by the way…)

With such design, sunlight can pass through but heat remains trapped in the house.

3. Cover your swimming pool and hot tubs

Outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs lose a lot of heat by evaporation as wind blows over it. You can cover your pool with a pool cover to prevent this from happening. Or you can plant bushes to block off the wind and to beautify the place.

Cover Your Swimming Pool To Minimize Heat Loss

If you want to cover your pool, you can consider getting solar pool covers. These products prevent evaporation. They also help to convert solar radiation into heat and pass them into the water.

You can also heat up swimming pools and hot tubs using a solar water heater. They are affordable and yield a high return on investment. More importantly, they help lower your energy consumption and helps protect the environment.

Heat is lost rapidly through conduction too. Thus you have to insulate your pool and hot tub properly. To do this, you can simply line the outside of your hot tub with a thick layer of expandable foam insulation.

4. Buy window covers

Window covers can play an important role in heat retention or cooling. Here are some ideas that may work for you.

A Type of Window Cover

Blinds can help you insulate against cold weather. It can also absorb sunlight very well. There are also blinds that reflect sunlight so your home can remain cool during summer.

An impressive array of materials are now used in blinds. They have different thermal and light properties you can make use of.

If you want to change your blinds, other than its visual appeal, think of these factors as well.

Awnings are great for keeping your house cool in the summer. It prevents direct sunlight from entering your living areas. There are different awnings available in the market. Some of them can be retracted (or adjusted) so as to allow sunlight into the house during winter.

Solar shade screens are also very useful for reducing heat transfer through windows. They reduce solar heat gains and blocks harmful UV rays. These materials costs a little more, but they last longer. So they’re actually quite worth it.

5. Re-schedule your thermostat

You can turn off your heater about half an hour before you go off for work. This seems insignificant, but really accounts for 10 full hours of heating every month.

At night, you can turn off the heater in your room an hour after you fall asleep, then turn it back on as dawn breaks. While sleeping, you have your thermal blanket to keep you warm and heating rarely makes that much of a difference.

You can save at least 4 to 5 hours of heating by re-scheduling your thermostat while you remain comfortable.

View Part 1 of this series here

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How Do You Know If Solar Panels Are Suitable For Your Property?

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:59:36 +0000

Have you ever wondered if solar panels are suitable for your property? If you have, here’s the answer: Any location where there is sufficient sunshine is ideal for installing PV panels.

In general, climate has a direct influence on sunlight intensity. Different conditions (as listed below) may restrict or permit the use of solar panels on your property:

1. Sunlight.

The southwest part of the U.S. gets the most sun while the northern states (and Canada) gets the least.

Obviously if your area doesn’t have enough sunshine, it won’t be cost-effective to install solar panels. But how much is enough?

Studies show that the amount of sunlight we experience across the United States is more or less within 20% of the sunshine level in Florida. This makes it possible for most households to have solar panels on their roofs.

Occassionally, there may be shade issues at specific locations, but this can be solved in one way or another.

Generally, the more sun your home experience, the better (and faster) return you’ll have on your investment. You can get data about the sunshine your area experiences from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). They recorded sunlight data on 239 locations all across the United States:

http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/pubs/redbook/

2. Cloud

If you are living in a cloudy region, it is still possible to use solar panels. This is because solar energy is present although it’s diffused. Surprisingly, there is an advantage to this. The orientation of your solar panels becomes less important since light is coming from different directions.

3. Snowfall

Snow covers your PV panels and weighs them down. Some parts of your property may accumulate more snow than others. This may be because some spots are warmer than others. You will want to locate your solar panels where there is least snow accumulation.

4. Fog

Pollutants, fog and smog in the air affect sunlight intensity. If this is an obvious concern, you (or your contractor) should measure the sunlight intensity at your area to determine if you can get enough solar energy on a long-term basis.

5. Temperature

PV panels are affected by temperature. The lower the temperature, the better its performance. You can generally get more power output from a cold, cloudy day than a hot sunny day.

6. Air Density

Air density affects the amount of sunshine you receive. However its effect is marginal compared to the other factors. If you live on the mountains where air is thinner, you receive more sunshine. The air temperature may also be lower. Thus your PV panels will likely be more effective than when it’s installed at sea level.

7. Wind

Strong winds can damage your solar panel installation by tearing it from its mounts. But this, by itself, should not deter you from using solar panels.

To handle strong wind, you can either (i) use stronger mounts for your solar panels, (ii) use vegetation to block the wind, or (iii) use wind turbines to dissipate its force and to generate more electricity.

Some wind is actually good for solar panels. It helps to cool them down by bringing heat away. This helps to enhance its efficiency.

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