While you are working on your solar panels or solar heaters, you can also explore other small projects that can make your house a better place to live in.

Here are some projects that take you less than a day to implement. And many of them are very helpful in lowering your energy bills as well.

Most of them do not cost more than $100+, so if you have a little time and a little cash, you can begin right away:

1. Install solar screens

Solar screens help to keep your house cool during summer. It prevents heat from coming into your house through the windows. As such, your air-conditioners will not need to work as hard.

Most solar screens are quite affordable. The best ones are those with a metallic, reflective surface. They reflect radiation away instead of absorbing it. They are also pretty durable.

2. Solar ventilators

Ventilators can be installed at your attic, powered by solar energy. During summer, you can activate these fans to pump the heat out of your interior. This alone can cool your house considerably.

All you need is a small fan, a small vent that comes with a cover and a small solar panel. You don’t even need rechargeable batteries. It stops working when it becomes dark, but you won’t need it at night.

Try it.

When the weather gets colder, remember to cover them properly so heat doesn’t escape through these vents.

3. Solar powered air circulation

When you heat up your house, warm air rises to the top. They are all trapped at the ceiling or attic. Heat is not distributed evenly. You can install a ceiling fan to push the heat down, or use solar power to pump warm air down to ground level.

The effect: Your home warms us faster and you’ll feel more comfortable.

For this project, you’ll need a small solar panel, a set of rechargeable batteries, a long pipe and a small exhaust fan.

4. Landscaping

Planting trees, scrubs and bushes around your house can give you many benefits. You will not only create a beautiful and rejuvenating environment… You can prevent bitter cold winds from blowing against your house in winter and shelter your house from strong sunshine during summer.

5. Install solar light tubes

Solar light tubes allow natural light to enter your house while keeping the heat and precipitation out. They cost a little more. But you can experience the benefits of full spectrum lighting in your room without expensive illumination technology.

Continue Reading:

1. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office
2. Challenges and Difficulties In Using Solar Panels And How To Overcome Them
3. Survey Your Household Energy Usage Before Installing Solar Panels

Most portable solar power systems depend on 12-volt batteries. In our project, we’ll want everything, including the solar panels to be packed into a box.

Here is a list of things you’ll need:

1. 4 pieces of 15-watt solar panels
2. Charge controller
3. 12-volt deep cycle sealed rechargeable batteries
4. A wooden box or a briefcase
5. 4-gauge cables

Briefcase Portable Solar Power System

The first thing to work on is the container. You can either use a wooden box, a cooler box or a luggage.

Personally I prefer using an old luggage because it is easy to carry around. It also has wheels for you to drag it across a distance without using too much physical strength.

You’ll need to figure out a way to attach the batteries to the base of the container. If you are using a wooden box or a cooler box, you can simply strap it to the base using pieces of plastic strap and screws.

If you are using a luggage, you may have to use some epoxy to fix the batteries to the casing since they are usually quite thin.

Other than batteries, you will have to secure the charge controller properly. After this is done, you can connect the cables to their respective terminals.

Then pull a rubber or plastic sheet over the batteries and charge controller to prevent metallic objects from touching the terminals.

Alternatively you can get rubber sleeves to cover the terminals.

For the solar panels, you have the option of using rollable flexible solar panels. They may generate less power than the usual panels, but they are light. This makes it easy to pack a few more panels into any box.

Other than power output, you have to make sure your solar panels can fit into your casing. You may also want to attach all the panels together using small hinges or tape so the cables won’t be stressed and damaged whenever you handle them (when taking them out of the box or putting them back).

When attached together, solar panels tend to knock into one another as you handle them. Therefore you may want to put small rubber spacers between them to reduce the impact.

Finally, you need to allocate a space inside the luggage for the PV panels. If possible, make use of rubber or high-density sponge as padding to hold the panels snugly inside the box.

Such materials can also protect the solar panels from damage if you accidentally drop the portable solar panel system.

Continue Reading:

1. How To Build A Solar Panel Charge Controller
2. Lighting Up Your Yard or Garden Using Solar Energy
3. Making A DIY Solar Powered Reading Lamp

By making use of the wet bulb temperature of water (which is always lower than the ambient temperature), we can cool the air by as much as 18 degree Celsius.

An evaporative cooler is different from an air conditioner. The evaporative air cooler works in the same way as a cool mist humidifier while the air conditioner makes use of vapor-compression cycles to cool the air.

Therefore evaporative coolers are most effective in climates where the air is hot and dry. There are many such regions in the world and in our country. In these places, it is more economical to use evaporative coolers than air conditioners.

(Evaporative coolers use only about 20% of the power consumed by air conditioners.)

In cities like Denver, Paso, Tucson, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Fresno, et cetera, evaporative air coolers are very popular.

In humid regions, evaporative air coolers are not as effective. However they can still provide comfort by increasing the air movement inside your room.

How It Works

Let’s take a closer look at how liquid evaporation can cause air temperature to drop. Evaporation requires latent heat. When water turns into vapor, it draws latent heat from the body of water it escapes from.

This process occurs continuously. Therefore water temperature (wet-bulb temperature) is always lower than the ambient (dry-bulb) temperature.

(Note: Latent heat is basically the energy required for water to turn into vapor.)

The rate of evaporation is dependant on the relative humidity in the air. If there is less water in the air, evaporation is faster. (The opposite is also true.) When water evaporates faster, more heat is taken away making the room even cooler.

There are many evaporative cooler designs. The most common ones are direct evaporative cooling, indirect evaporative cooling and two-stage evaporative cooling systems.

In a direct evaporative cooling system, warm dry air circulates within the system to increase the rate of water evaporation. In this process, the total energy in the air remains unchanged. What happens is warm dry air becomes cool moist air. In some regions, this is exactly what people want in summer.

For an indirect evaporative cooling system, a heat exchanger is used. The system generates cooled moist air, which absorbs heat from the environment through a heat exchanger. In this case, the humidity in the air remains the same.

The two-stage evaporative cooler makes use of both direct cooling and indirect cooling techniques. First, the ambient air is cooled as it passes through a heat exchanger (indirect cooling). Then the pre-cooled air passes through a water-soaked medium. This reduces its temperature even more. Through this cooling process, the resultant humidity will not be as high as when only direct evaporative cooling is used.

Building The Widget

Most DIY hobbyists prefer building direct evaporate coolers. This is because the other 2 types of air coolers are more complex. This means more time and materials are needed to make them.

To make a solar evaporative air cooler, you need the following parts and materials:

1. A large plastic box with cover
2. A low-powered submersible pump with plastic tubing
3. An air blower (12-volt DC)
4. Deep-cycle rechargeable 12-volt batteries
5. 12-volt solar panels
6. Basic charge controller
7. Wires
8. Porous sponge
9. Thermometer

A Simple Evaporative Cooler

First, you have to drill many holes at the side of the plastic box and cover it with sponge.

Make this area as large as possible so it is easy for air to enter the box through the damp sponge.

Then attach the submersible pump at the bottom of the container and connect its outlet to a tube that leads to the top of the sponge.

The submersible pump is responsible for keeping the sponge moist so evaporative cooling can happen.

You will also need to cut a hole at the cover of the box for the outlet of the air blower. Make sure it has a tight fit so it is easy to seal the gaps with silicon later.

For the wires, you can use a cable penetrator, which is expensive. Or you can make a small hole, pull through the wires and seal the gaps with lots of silicon.

After this is done, let the silicon dry completely before powering the evaporative cooler. This usually takes about 24 hours.

Meanwhile, let’s work on the solar power system…

Find a place where there is unblocked sunshine that you can install your 12-volt solar panel. Using solar mounts or aluminum brackets, make sure the PV panel is firmly attached before putting the cables into the trunking (if you are using these things).

Then look for a safe place for your battery and charge controller. The charge controller will charge the battery without damaging or over-charging it.

Finally, pull the cables and connect the respective modules together. Always test the output voltage before you connect the wires to your battery to avoid accidental damage.

Using Your Solar Evaporative Cooler

During the day, the solar panel provides energy to charge the battery and power the air blower at the same time. At night when the battery is fully charged, the air blower depends on it for electricity.

Some air blowers emit a lot of noise. When the evaporative cooler has little water in it, noise from the blower may be even more evident. In this case, you may want to put a dampener at the outlet or make sure you buy a quiet air blower.

Do note that the dampener may restrict airflow and this reduces the efficiency of your air cooler.

Using a solar evaporative cooler, you can create a nice environment for yourself without consuming too much electricity from the mains. The battery can last for many years without the need for replacement. Thus you can have many years of free air cooling without expensive utility bills.

Continue Reading:

1. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office
2. Lighting Up Your Yard or Garden Using Solar Energy
3. Making A DIY Solar Powered Reading Lamp

There are different things you have to prepare, as listed here:

1. An electric lawn mower
2. A 24-volt solar panel
3. Charge controller

There are many different types of lawn mower in the market. One example is the Earthwise 17″ 24-Volt Cordless Electric Lawn Mower. This is just my preference. You can get one from any other manufacturer. It’ll work fine as long as you find a suitable solar panel.

First, you have to consider where you want to mount your solar panel. There are different places you can use – on the handle or above the batteries.

I would recommend not placing the solar panel right on the chassis as this doesn’t allow enough room for air to cool the solar panels. Also, heat from the DC motor might cause the solar panel to be less effective. (As temperature increases, the efficiency of solar cells decrease.)

Most likely, you will need to make a bracket to mount your solar panel. A simple aluminum frame can help to support the weight of the PV panel pretty well.

After the solar panel is mounted, you have to mount your charge controller as well. Once this is done, wire the solar panel to the charge controller. This component will then be wired to the lawn mower battery.

Although it is possible for the solar panel to supply sufficient power to the DC motor directly, I prefer to use a rechargeable battery as an energy storage bank. There are at least 2 advantages with this design:

1. You can use smaller (thus cheaper) solar panels

Lawn mowers are seldom used. This presents an opportunity for batteries to be trickle charged. It involves very little current and thus only a small solar panel is needed. Also, with smaller solar panels, your lawn mower is lighter and less cumbersome.

2. You can choose to mount the solar panels separate from the lawn mower

Actually this is what I prefer. I can use the solar panel as a solar battery charger. Since I don’t have to use the lawn mower frequently, I can use the charger for my RC toys by stepping down the voltage. Nevertheless it is up to you how you want it to be…

If your solar panels throw up issues because of vibrations from the lawn mower, this will be a good configuration. However I doubt this is a problem at all because electric lawn mowers produce less vibration than gas powered ones.

Note: To trickle charge your solar powered lawn mower, remember to leave it out in the open and not in the garage. There is too little sunlight there for any solar panels to be effective. (Or you can simply leave your garage door open…)

Continue Reading:

1. Making A DIY Solar Powered Reading Lamp
2. How To Power An Electric Fence Charger Using Solar Energy
3. How to Use Solar Power to Charge Your Golf Cart Batteries

Here is a list of materials you need for this project:

1. A one-foot long PVC pipe with 6-inch diameter

2. Activated carbon and other filter medium

3. A 12-volt duct fan

4. A 12-volt solar panel

There are many designs for an air filter. You can make a simple 2-stage air filter that consist of only activated carbon and synthetic wool. Or you can build a 4-stage filter that has a pre-filter, a HEPA filter, activated carbon and a negative ion generator.

What you build eventually will depend on what you need. So it’s good to take a little time to ask yourself why you need an air filter in the first place…

Let’s talk about making a 3-stage air filter. We’ll need to find a pre-filter, a HEPA filter and some activated charcoal to get the air reasonably clean.

A pre-filter takes away large airborne particles from the air. This includes dust, pet hair and mold.

The second stage consists of a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter medium that can filter away 99.97% of all airborne contaminants that are 0.3 microns. This means it can remove dust mites, pollen, fungus and many types of bacteria.

The final stage makes use of activated carbon to remove odor. Carbon can help to clear off foul smell, chemical substances and tobacco smoke from the air.

To make this filter, you need to have a cover with holes at one end of the pipe. First, you have to put one or two layers of cloth to cover up the holes so activated carbon won’t fall through them. Then place an inch of activated carbon into the pipe.

After this is done, cut the HEPA filter so it fits the inside of the pipe snugly. Then push the material into the pipe.

You also have to cut the pre-filter material to size and push them into the pipe, making sure there are no gaps between the material and the inside of the PVC wall. After that, fit the duct fan at the end of the pipe and fasten it.

Many duct fans create some noise. Although it does not usually cause disturbance, some people want their air filter to be absolutely quiet. If this is your requirement, you can put the duct fan between the pre-filter and the HEPA filter medium.

The filter medium will help to dampen most of the vibrations and restore the quiet environment you want.

Finally, connect the 12-volt solar panel to the input of the duct fan’s DC motor. Whenever the sun shines, your solar powered air filter will make use of the sun’s energy to clean the air for you.

Continue Reading:

1. How To Make A Solar Powered Water Fountain
2. Making A DIY Solar Powered Reading Lamp
3. How To Make A Simple Homemade Solar Pool Water Heater – Part One: Design and Construction

Electric golf carts use 24 volt, 36 volt or 48 volt systems. Most of them have 6 batteries. Thus if the batteries are rated at 6 volts, yours is a 36-volt system. Similarly, if the batteries are rated at 8 volts, you have a 48-volt system.

Every golf cart can make use of solar power to charge its batteries. There are solar panels in the market that can supply between 190 to 380 Watts per solar panel with an output of up to 88 volts. Therefore solar panel technology nowadays is more than sufficient to power golf carts.

When batteries are constantly recharged while out in the sun, their lifespan can be extended by up to 30%. This can also increase a golf cart’s driving distance by up to 12 miles every day. This helps you reduce the maintenance cost of your golf cart. On top of this, when you use solar energy, you reduce your electricity bills.

Solar panels are eco-friendly and have zero carbon emissions while operating. Moreover they are easy to install and are even easier to maintain. All branded solar panels come with at least 10 years of warranty so you will not need to worry about defects.

And if you are not willing to pay the solar panel cost upfront, some manufacturers even have a customized leasing program for you to take advantage of.

Most contractors will be happy to convert your golf cart for you at a small price, included in the package. You can also do this yourself if you want.

All you have to do is to first understand how your golf cart batteries are charged.

Some golf carts have their own in-built battery charger. You only need to supply it with 110 VAC to charge the batteries. Others require an external battery charger.

If your golf cart takes in 110 VAC, you can either use a DC-to-AC converter or get a charge controller and wire it directly to the batteries.

After understanding how your golf cart batteries are charged, you can proceed to mount the solar panels on the golf cart’s roof. Do note that solar panels are heavy and you may need to change (or reinforce) the supports to the roof.

Once the solar panel(s) are secured, take a little drive. If your roof sways from side to side, you may need more support.

Most likely, you will need to fit a charge controller to your golf cart. Find a compact model that can fit into an empty space inside your golf cart. This location must be shielded from water and rain so your batteries do not get short-circuited.

After securing the charge controller, the final step is to connect the charging cables to their respective terminals and secure them properly.

Within a few hours, you’ll be using solar power to charge your golf cart batteries.

Continue Reading:

1. DIY Solar Panels — Charge Controller Basics
2. How To Build A Solar Panel Charge Controller
3. Making A DIY Solar Powered Reading Lamp

A device known as an energizer generates a (brief) high voltage impulse that’s repeated every second or two. Whenever an animal comes into contact with the fence, electricity passes through a muscle in the animal.

Although this does not harm the animal in any way, it produces an uncomfortable muscle contraction. The animal remembers this sensation and learns to avoid the fence.

To use solar energy to power the energizer, we’ll need to a few things:

Electric Fence Charger

1. A fence charger together with its accessories.
2. A 10-watt solar panel
3. A 12-volt rechargeable battery
4. A 12-volt Charge controller

There are different types of energizer you can buy. Most of them require 110 Volt AC as input. Therefore you may also need to use a DC to AC inverter. (Your existing energizer will most likely be using 110 VAC.)

The main purpose of the solar panel is to charge the 12-volt battery. Even though solar power disruption has no adverse effect on its performance, it is good to make sure your PV panel supplies as much power to the battery as possible.

So before you begin, you’ll have to find a location to site your solar panel such that it will not experience shading.

After installing the solar panel on a suitable site, you’ll need to connect the output terminals to the charge controller. Then wire the charge controller to the battery.

Please note that the battery and charge controller has to be kept in a sturdy waterproof casing to prevent moisture and precipitation from damaging the system.

Finally, you’ll have to connect the DC-to-AC converter between the electric fence charger and the battery. This device converts the 12-volt direct current into 110 volts alternating current so your fence charger can work.

Note:

• You can design your solar electric fence charger (or energizer) such that it gives an output of 8kV open circuit voltage. This will be sufficient to energize an electric fence that surrounds an area of about 10 acres.

• For a solar electric fence, you must design it to have low-impedance so there is less drain on the battery. This also means you won’t need to buy solar panels that are larger than necessary.

• You can bury the waterproof box into the ground, leaving only its top portion above ground. This can prevent people from accidentally tripping over the system.

Continue Reading:

1. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
2. How To Build A Solar Panel Charge Controller
3. Lighting Up Your Yard or Garden Using Solar Energy

Make Your Home & Office Clean & Green Using Solar Energy

There are many different ways of using solar energy. You can use it for heating, cooling and for generating electricity.

Each approach has different costs and complexity.

Here are 7 ideas how you can make use of clean, green solar power:

1. Generate electricity.

This is the first thing on everyone’s mind when we talk about solar panel. After all, we are all hoping to rely less on fossil fuel in the future. Using electricity generated from solar panels, you can power your household appliances and workstations in the office.

You can also store the solar generated electricity in rechargeable batteries to power up garden lights, floodlights, gate openers, garage lights, et cetera.

2. Passive space heating.

Instead of using electricity to heat up your house, the sun can do the work. You can trap heat in your home and office by using blinds, sunrooms and awnings. As simple as this sounds, it works very well to lower your electricity consumption.

3. Heat up air and water.

Your water supply can be heated up using solar collectors. Solar water heater do not require many moving parts other than the water pump itself.

Depending on your solar heater design and sunlight intensity, water temperature can be increased by as much as 10 to 15 degree Celsius. You can also increase your indoor temperature by letting a stream of air pass through solar heated water. This can be done using a simple heat exchanger.

4. Warm up food.

Do you pack lunch to work? If you do, there is no need to wait for your turn to use the microwave oven anymore. You can simply use solar energy to heat up your food at your own convenience.

5. Heat up your swimming pool

You can circulate swimming pool water through a solar collector. This helps you get lots of heat into your pool so you can enjoy a rejuvenating dip after you come back from work.

Another way to heat up your pool is to cover it with a solar blanket, which also prevents heat loss through evaporation.

6. Enhance your landscaping

You can use super-bright LED lamps as landscape lighting. This can save you the trouble of hiding cables under the soil. You may be surprised at how well these LED lamps bring out the color of your plants at night.

7. Water your plants

Solar panels can provide electricity to sprinklers that water your plants. You can build a self-sustaining garden by collecting rainwater underground and using them to water the plants at regular intervals during the day.

How else can you use solar energy in your daily life? Hopefully these ideas above can help you find your own ways of using solar power in creative ways.

Continue Reading:

1. Home Solar Power — Different Ways of Harnessing Energy From The Sun To Reduce Energy Bills
2. Survey Your Household Energy Usage Before Installing Solar Panels
3. Creating An Energy Efficient House – A Primer On Why You Should Do It and How

Solar Trickle Chargers are small, low-current solar panels used for maintaining storage batteries for your vehicle or boat. Why will you need to maintain them?

All batteries lose charge over a period of time because of self-discharge. By using a trickle-charger, you can replace those lost power. This helps to extend the lifespan of your batteries and ensures you have a smooth start every time you turn the ignition. There is no fear your vehicle or boat won’t move after storing away for a long time.

Since we only need a small current to maintain the batteries, solar panels will be the ideal candidate. As long as there is sunshine, you can be sure your batteries can be maintained in top condition.

But not all solar panels can be used for this purpose. You have to make sure the trickle is large enough for your battery size.

First, you’ll need to find out how big your batteries are. This information is usually written at the side of the battery. If no information is available, try looking up the model on the Internet. Most of the time you’ll find what you want.

If your battery is rated at 100Ah and you estimate that it’ll lose 30% of its power every month, you can work out the power loss per day. (This is about 1% every day.)

Next, find out the sun hours you receive at your location. With this figure, you can divide the energy loss per day by the sun hours per day to determine how much current your solar energy panels need to generate.

If you’re lost, solar trickle chargers will usually have specifications that show you what battery size its suitable for. Have fun!

Continue Reading:

1. Solar Energy Panels – What You Need To Know Before Purchasing
2. Solar Energy Panels For Big “Toys”
3. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 2

12V Solar Panel

It is easy to build a 12V solar panel if you know how. This step-by-step guide is designed to teach you if you want to build one but are clueless on how to start.

This article also illustrates the sequence to building a 12V solar panel so you’ll have the least trouble.

After reading the 5 steps, I’m confident no matter how confused you are, you’ll be able to move along to begin designing your first photovoltaic panel:

Step 1 – Source for solar cells.

There are a total of 3 ways you can get a solar (photovoltaic) cell — you can buy them, you can salvage used or broken solar cells or you can even make them.

If you intend to use your solar panels for long, I recommend you buy them. Although they’re more expensive, they yield more power and can last longer. Thus you won’t need to make another solar panel a few years down the road.

If you intend to make a solar panel just for fun, you can join pieces of used or broken solar cells to make up a complete solar panel. They won’t be the most professional looking photovoltaic panels around, but who cares, they’re just for fun!

And if you feel more adventurous, you can even make your own solar panel by heating up copper plates to form cuprous oxide, which is a form of semiconductor by itself. These homemade solar cells are inefficient at best and only produce microwatts of power per cell. But if you’re just having some fun are feeling adventurous, why not?

Step 2 – Soldering the solar cells

To form a 12V supply, we have to solder the photovoltaic cells in series so they add up to 12V collectively. While many solar cells are rated at 0.5V each, you’ll have to check its specification before buying and using them. Some may not rated at 0.5V.

With 24 solar cells connected in series, we can easily make an array of solar cells that produce 12V supply.

However voltage is only part of the equation. We also have to consider the current output of the solar cells. With the correct voltage and sufficient current, we’ll have enough power to drive the application of your choice.

Step 3 – Pasting solar cells onto a substrate

After soldering the solar cells, you can prepare to paste them onto a substrate. Many hobbyists prefer to use silicone caulk to do this. However you’ll need to employ the correct technique to paste the solar cells using silicone caulk. Otherwise the cells may crack just after a short period of use.

Step 4 – Put the array of solar cells with a protective box

After the substrate is done, you’ll have to make a box to contain the substrate. This can be made of wood, plastic or metal. Each has its unique advantages and disadvantages.

The protective box is done last. This is because you can then be flexible to alter your solar panel design if you need to add more solar cells to the setup. This will free you from some worrying.

After the box is completed, you can hold down the substrate in the protective box using blobs of silicone caulk.

Step 5 — Cover the solar panel box

Finally, you’ll have to cover the box with a transparent plastic or glass. This will keep precipitation and dew from destroying your solar cells and metallic joints. Many hobbyists choose plexiglass because it’s not as fragile as glass. The choice is entirely up to you.

After completing these 5 steps, your solar panel is ready to produce electricity for you.

Continue Reading:

1. How To Build Solar Panel (Part 1 of 3)
2. How To Build Solar Panel (Part 2 of 3)
3. Used Solar Panels – How To Use Them To Build Cheap DIY Solar Panels