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:

• Insider Solar Power Generator Review: 3 Most Common Mistakes Hobbyists Make on Their First DIY Solar Panel Project
• 3 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Building Solar Panels
• 1o Reasons Why You Should Build Your Own Solar Panel
• How To Build A Personal DIY Solar Power System With Less Than $99
• Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities
• How To Build Solar Panel (Part 1 of 3)
•  How To Build Solar Panel (Part 2 of 3)
• How To Build Solar Panel (Part 3 of 3)
• Step-By-Step Guide To Build A 12V Solar Panel
• Solar Panel Battery — The Basics
  

Continue Reading:

1. Insider Solar Power Generator Review: 3 Most Common Mistakes Hobbyists Make on Their First DIY Solar Panel Project
2. 10 Reasons Why You Should Build Your Own Solar Panel
3. Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities

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.

Continue Reading:

1. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office
2. Survey Your Household Energy Usage Before Installing Solar Panels
3. Before You Install Solar Panels, Plug All Your Air Leakages

So how do you know if building a do-it-yourself solar panel is the right thing for you?

There are a few guidelines that can help you along. In this way, you won’t ever have to get into a project just to abandon it mid-stream.

You should build your own DIY solar panel if:

1. You are able to work with simple tools and have a weekend to spare

Thankfully, all it takes to build a reasonably sized solar panel are simple tools and a weekend. If you have browsed through the free book titled “How To Build A Solar Panel”, you’ll understand it doesn’t take much. (Download it now, if you haven’t…)

This assumes you have already gathered all your materials and have them cut to size. In fact, if you already had some DIY experience, you can even build a solar panel (not the complete set to power your entire home) in an afternoon.

However do note that integrating your inverter and the battery bank into your power system certainly requires planning and installation. And this takes up time as well.

2. You are not willing to invest much into a solar power generator

Cost is the main reason people build their own solar panels. This is understandable. You can easily burn at least $20,000 (depending on the size of your house) to install a solar energy generator. And things are not getting any cheaper…

With homemade solar panels, you’ll only have to part with a fraction of this cost. This means you’ll get your returns on investment sooner. And your home may be worth a lot more than it originally was without spending a ton of money. In some states, you can receive tax breaks just by using renewable energy like solar power.

In terms of dollars and cents, it certainly makes sense to build your own photovoltaic panels.

Of course, there is no point in starting a DIY project if you simply have no time or are totally uninterested in picking up even a screwdriver to put the solar panel frame together.

Needless to say, if you have spare cash (to the tune of $20,000) to burn, it can be quite fun to watch the contractors climb onto your roof to slap on a few pieces of solar panels while you sit at your garden with a can of beer in your hand.

Seriously, you have to take some time to decide for yourself if building homemade solar panels is for you. Otherwise you can start a DIY solar panel project and leave it uncompleted, shelving it for years in your garage.

Continue Reading:

1. Homemade Solar Panels
2. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
3. Solor Panel Inverters – Synchronous Solar Panel Inverters

Sealing Off A Crack

Before you install solar panels, you need to perform an energy audit.

This serves a two-fold purpose – to determine the size of your solar power generator and to identify sources of energy wastage that can be avoided.

As you are doing your household energy audit, it is useful to check for air leaks. They account for as much as 5 to 30 percent of your energy wastage (when it comes to heating).

If your windows and doors are closed and you feel an air draft, you have a good chance of cutting down wastage simply by plugging the leaks.

The best time to test for air leaks is when it’s cold outside and warm inside. You can feel cold air quite easily this way.

A pressure test can quickly surface any leakages around your house. All you have to do is close your doors and windows, turn off all heaters and turn on your exhaust fans to full blast.

In this way, the pressure inside your house is slightly lower than the outside. Thus more air will flow through those leakages to equalize the difference in pressure.

Go around the house and look for leaks. Pay more attention to windows, doors, electrical outlets, switches, hatches and joints. Once you find a leak, mark them out immediately.

Before you seal off those leaks, you have to turn off the exhaust fans.

You can use transparent silicon caulk to plug all your air leakages. The best way to handle this is to use a caulking gun that has a pressure relief gasket. This allows good control of silicon flow as you plug those leaks.

Another way to plug air leaks is to use an aerosol can of expandable insulation. This is difficult to use, initially, as it is hard to control its flow. But it works very well. So if it’s your first time using this, get some practice on used magazines.

There may be several places that leak air. Windows and doors are easy to handle. But if you have to climb up to your roof, remember to take precaution so you won’t risk falling.

After you’re done plugging up the leaks, repeat the pressure test. Then mark out those areas you have to work on again and get cracking.

You can also check for leaks outdoor. Most often, they appear in cracks, around faucets, pipes, electrical wiring and electrical outlets. Unfortunately there is no way you can feel for air leaks outside your house.

The only way to handle this is to do a visual inspection. If you suspect a leak, give that area a touch of silicon caulk.

After you are done plugging all your air leaks, your heating system can be more efficient. Thus your indoor temperature can be maintained using less energy.

Continue Reading:

1. About
2. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
3. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office

Home Solar Power Systems

This article will paint a thirty thousand foot view of this plan and then discuss how we can implement it. Then I’ll let you in on further resources that will help you with solar energy calculations, construction and installation.

Building a home solar power system involves a few major steps:

(1) Determining the household energy requirement. This influences the number of solar cells needed to produce the required electrical energy.

Most households will not want to take their homes completely off-grid. After calculations, the majority of families seem to prefer their solar panels to bear roughly 75% of their total energy consumption.

Why do they not want their house to be totally off-grid and be 100% powered by green, renewable energy? Because there will be periods when the light intensity is insufficient. It’s during these times when we’ll need to tap into the grid again.

(2) Constructing the solar panel. The photovoltaic cells are responsible for converting solar energy into electrical energy. It is also a major cost driver. Therefore the solar panel is the most important piece of the puzzle.

If you’re on a budget, you’re able to construct a solar panel by joining broken solar cells together. If you have money to burn, buying ready-made, commercial solar panels can also be an option. These come with long warranty periods (like 25 years and beyond) and are framed in high quality aluminum.

(3) The inverter. This component converts direct current (DC) generated by the solar panels into alternating current (AC) that’s usable by your household appliances. After that, this is channeled to the power distribution box via a synchronizer so that electricity from the grid and electricity from the solar panels can be combined before each appliance in your home uses them.

(4) Installation. Obviously, we need to choose a location where there is as little shade as possible throughout the day. This is usually the roof. With proper guidance from more experienced hobbyists or a guidebook, you can fix the solar panels to your roof (or anywhere else) exactly like the professionals do.

To put all these together, you’ll need a proven plan that tells you exactly what to do — from the broad structure down to the last bolt and nut.

Continue Reading:

1. How To Build A Personal DIY Solar Power System With Less Than $99
2. Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels – Electricity Conversion From Sunlight
3. Homemade Solar Panels

How To Build Solar Panel

In this final part of the “How To Build Solar Panel” series, we’ll impart the finishing touches that make your solar panel project a winner. You’ll discover how to push your solar panel system up one notch so you’ll have a world-class DIY solar panel.

Here, I’m assuming that resources like money, time and skills are not lacking. What we’re trying to push for is a solar panel that will make you proud.

The Solar Panel Frame

The best material to use for the solar panel frame is aluminum. This is a material that will not rust easily and it’s able to carry away additional heat that may be trapped inside the solar panel. This is particularly important since heat can diminish the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells.

Diodes

The diodes you should be using are the Schottky types. These diodes have a much lower forward voltage drop so less power is wasted. And when the temperature gets higher the forward voltage drops further.

Solar Panel Cover

If budget allows and there is no hail at your area, the best cover that your solar panel can have is made of non-reflective glass. Solar panels covered with non-reflective glass can enjoy significantly higher efficiency because greater proportions of sunlight reach the solar cells.

Battery

If you intend to power outdoor equipment like sprinklers and gate openers, your battery will need to be sheltered from the rain and dew. Unfortunately it may be impractical to house these indoors as we’ll then need very long wires that may also be a safety hazard if it’s left lying around.

You can put the battery (or batteries) into a waterproofed electronics housing and seal up the opening (for the wires). In this way rain or dew will not cause short circuit to the battery.

By implementing all of the above tips to your solar panel project, you can surely make for yourself a world-class DIY solar panel project.

Continue Reading:

1. About
2. How To Build Solar Panel (Part 1 of 3)
3. How To Build Solar Panel (Part 2 of 3)

But are their claims credible? And if it is really possible to build your own solar panels at home, what are the skills, tools and materials needed?

This article goes further to find out whether it is really true that you can build your own home solar panel system for only a few hundred dollars.

Making Your Own Solar Panels

There are many solar panel manufacturers in the market. Some examples are Sharp, Suntech, First Solar, JA Solar, Yingli Solar, Trina Solar, Motech, Qcell, Canadian Solar, Gintech, BE Solar, et cetera. The components that they use to make commercial solar panels are can be found in the consumer market.

The main parts they use to make solar panels are solar cells, a solar panel frame, diodes, solar tabbing wires, a piece of glass (as cover) and a substrate. You can purchase these components easily on the Internet.

Therefore if you have DIY skills to put these components together, you can make your own homemade solar panel. After all, those people who work at the assembly lines producing PV panels do not possess special talent. Neither do they have extraordinary skills. All of them are trained to perform repetitive tasks that are as simple as household chores.

However, if you want to build your own solar panels at home, you’ll have to design your own circuit. Otherwise you’ll need to follow a proven blueprint. If not your solar panels may not provide your with your desired voltage and current output.

Thankfully, construction plans and electrical wiring charts are available on the Internet or bookstores. Once you choose the correct design for your house, you can simply follow its design to make your own solar power generator.

Ok…so what does it take to build a homemade PV panel?

Surprisingly, to build something as advanced as a solar panel, all you need are the following skills:

a. Soldering

You have to do a lot of soldering and do it well. Dry and cracked joints introduce unnecessary electrical resistance, which affects the performance of your PV panel.

b. Using adhesive and sealants

You have to know how to adhere the solar cells onto the substrate. On top of this, you’ll want to encapsulate you solar panel properly. Thus you have to learn how to use sealants as well. Thankfully, most people get proficient in applying silicone elastomer after only 5 minutes of practice.

c. Sawing and filing

If you are building everything from scratch, you’ll have to know how to cut aluminum angles and file its burrs away. Otherwise you can always buy ready-made aluminum manufactured specially for building DIY solar panels. The substrate and glass cover can also be cut to size before they are delivered to you.

So far so good…it seems if you are interested in making DIY solar panels, only basic skills are needed.

What about the cost?

After adding up the total solar component costs, I’d conclude that you are indeed able to make a solar panel without spending more than one hundred dollars.

For this amount, you will be able to make a wooden-framed solar panel that produces at most 60 watts of power at 18 volts. This is sufficient to charge a 12-volt battery.

However most people wouldn’t only want to charge 12-volt batteries. They want to power their entire house with solar electricity! Thus if you intend to install a (sizable) 5-kilowatt system, you’ll need about 84 pieces of homemade solar panels.

At this scale, you’ll need to spend at least $8,400 to complete your home solar power project. And you’ll have to take time to make all 84 panels over a period of time.

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait till you build all the solar panels in order to enjoy the fruits of your labor. You can build your first few PV panels, and then add more when you have the time and money.

So far, this cost only involves PV panels. You’ll also be required to buy inverters and deep-cycle rechargeable batteries. Inverters are not as costly as batteries, but good ones can set you back by a few thousand dollars.

If you build a grid-tied (or intertie) solar energy system, you won’t need rechargeable batteries. For off-grid systems, you’ll require many rechargeable batteries to provide you with electricity during the night when there is no sunlight.

All in all, you’ll have to spend more than $10,000++ if you want to build a 5-kilowatt solar energy system. Thus all that talk about being able to build solar panels that can power your house for only a few hundred dollars is B.S.

With this budget, you can only build a very small solar power system that can run your workstation. But the good news (as I mentioned) is you can start small, and then add more solar panels when you have more resources.

Note: Buying budget solar cells with low efficiency only takes up more roof space. It’ll be better for you to spend a little more to buy good solar cells so each panel can provide you with much more power.

After all, can your roof really hold all 84 PV panels? …

I understand the costs involved. And I really want to build my own solar panels. How do I begin?

The best way to start is by getting some education. Even if you are building your homemade solar panels according to a blueprint, you have to understand why you are doing what you are doing.

It doesn’t make sense to follow any instructions blindly. When it comes to photovoltaic projects, incomplete understanding doesn’t help at all.

You may end up with solar panels that don’t perform to expectation. In the end, you’ll only be wasting your time, effort and money. In the worst case, you may end up damaging your solar cells.

There are many books available on the Internet, bookstores and in the library that can help you.

As you read through these materials, understand the general principles behind solar electricity generation. Then get familiar with each part of the home solar power system. If you can, learn how to do solar calculations.

With this, you’ll be able to make sense of what you are doing as you follow a blueprint. And you’ll be proud of yourself for making your own homemade solar panels that actually provides electricity for your household.

Continue Reading:

1. About
2. Homemade Solar Panels
3. Homemade Solar Panels – Should You Even Roll Up Your Sleeves To Build One?

This is the third and final part of the “Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels” series. Have you done some calculations for your future solar power system yet? If you have been doing those mini exercises, you’ll most likely find a suitable solar panel for your home by now.

The next step requires us to find an appropriate-sized battery bank, inverter and charge controller. Let’s look at each of these:

1. The Inverter

The inverter you choose has to be sized according to the demands of the alternating current (AC) side of the circuit. Therefore you will choose a specification according to the loads in your house (with a little buffer in case you increase your loads over time). Pretty straightforward.

2. The Charge Controller

You’ll at least need a basic charge controller to begin with. Until you get fussy about how advanced you want this component to be, more affordable models will do just fine. You’ll need to get a specification that fits the output current (Amps) of your solar panel arrays. If you intend to scale up your solar power generator, you’ll do better with a larger charge controller with room to accommodate more solar panels than with two smaller-sized ones.

3. The Battery Bank

The size of your battery bank depends on how you want to use your solar panels. You can size your battery banks such that it can get you through thick clouds that pass by, or you can size them so you can get through three solid days of solar eclipse and a power outage at the same time. It really depends on you. But take note that over-sizing isn’t always realistic. You have to take into consideration the space they occupy and the how much they’ll cost you.

If your home is grid-tied, provided there aren’t frequent power outages, the size of your battery bank isn’t critical. Just size it to take care of cloudy days will do. You can still maintain your lifestyle by drawing power from the grid.

When you design your battery bank, you’ll have less power loss (through wires) if the voltage is higher. If you are able to design a 48-volt system, you can conserve more power than when you use a 24-volt or 12-volt system.

Continue Reading:

1. DIY Solar Panels — Charge Controller Basics
2. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 1
3. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 2

The solar panels will be ground mounted and is the largest commercial solar array currently under development in the United States of America. By the end of this year, all the solar panels will be completely installed and will start producing power.

As agreed, Enfinity America Corporation will handle the financing of the project and co-manage the system and operations with BNB.

Campbell will purchase all the power generated by the Napoleon, Ohio system. This can satisfy about 15 percent of the plant’s annual electricity needs. With this, about a quarter million tons of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions can be eliminated. This will indeed create a positive impact to the environment.

SunPower (San Jose, Calif.) was called upon to deliver the technology, procurement, and construction work for the Napoleon solar energy plant. The SunPower® [Oasis®] Tracker system will be installed.

This project is likely to create more than 200 jobs in Ohio this summer. During the first year of operation, this solar power plant can generate more than 14.7 million kilowatt hours.

“This opportunity to collaborate with Enfinity marks a great milestone in the development of BNB’s potential DG projects and ensures a successful completion and financing of the Campbell project”, said Matthew Baird, a principal and founder of BNB Renewable Energy Holdings, “The construction of this facility marks a turning point towards larger on-site renewable generation in the USA; We look forward to developing additional projects for environmentally conscious companies like Campbell.”

Rafael Dobrzynski, Enfinity’s Americas CEO, commented “Partnering with BNB means that a range of synergies and complementary skill sets have been used to bring this project to fruition. Our involvement with the Napoleon Solar project validates Enfinity’s strategy of focusing on large-scale DG installations; moreover, our deep experience with this type of solar project and ability to rapidly deploy capital means we can accelerate the pace of development and implementation. DG projects have continued to be an important part of our USA project pipeline.”
The partnership between BNB and Enfinity was established by Bostonia Partners (Boston), a financial advisor to BNB that specializes in renewable energy finance.

(This news report was adapted from: Enfinity, published 22 Aug 2011)

Continue Reading:

1. Home Solar Power — Different Ways of Harnessing Energy From The Sun To Reduce Energy Bills
2. Is Solar Energy Really Renewable and Sustainable?
3. Global Solar Energy Starts New Solar Module Operation At Berlin-Adlershof

Currently there are solar panels that boast 30 percent efficiency. These are specially doped triple junction cells that began its development as dual junction cells. However these phenomenons are largely confined within the laboratory and engineers are still unable to produce such solar panels in large quantities without charging consumers an arm and a leg for it. More work remains to be done before common retailers stock up solar panels endowed with this technology.

In practical there is nothing much we as consumers can do about technology. Yet the little we do to ensure our solar panels achieve its maximum potential really goes a long way — especially since solar panels are designed to last us for a few decades.

The most important thing we can ensure is to install our solar panels in the right orientation and tilt angle. The optimal position helps photovoltaic panels receive the most sunshine throughout the day and across different seasons of the year. This helps reduce the payback period. If you are living in the northern hemisphere (like most of us do), then you’ll need to orientate your solar panels toward true south (as opposed to magnetic south). You’ll also need to tilt them according to the latitude of your installation site. The correct installation position will allow your solar panels to be exposed to direct, unobstructed sunshine from 9am to 3pm everyday.

Many homeowners underestimate the adverse effect that shading has on their solar panels. Even if only one solar cell is shaded, its entire solar generator’s power output can be dramatically reduced. The individual solar cell that is now shaded acts as a resister that drains the electricity generated by its neighbors. As resistance increases, power reduces.

Another seemingly minor event that reduces solar panel efficiency is the accumulation of dust on the glass surface. This dissipates sunlight that would otherwise reach photovoltaic cells for power generation. Since dust and dirt will inevitably collect, the only solution is to wash the glass surface regularly. If you’re living in a relatively dust-free environment, this should be an infrequent activity.

Temperature also affects solar panel efficiency. The higher the temperature, the further its efficiency drops. Unfortunately more heat is collected as solar panels experience more sunshine. Thus efficiency tends to taper as sunlight intensity increases. Therefore we have to ensure that our solar panels are installed sufficiently far away from roof shingles. The gap in between the roof and solar panels also allow air movement to bring away additional heat that may otherwise be trapped there.

Continue Reading:

1. Solar Panel Installation
2. Installing Solar Water Heaters
3. How To Clean Solar Panels — That Once-In-A-While Maintenance