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.

Continue Reading:

1. “Who Else Wants to Build DIY Solar Panels?”
2. About
3. How To Build A Personal DIY Solar Power System With Less Than $99

Enphase Microinverters are cleverly designed such that each solar panel brings its energy production to a consolidation point in parallel. This avoids common performance issues commonly experienced by ordinary solar systems.

This design reduces the occurrence of single-point failures. It also enhances the ability to monitor and control individual solar panels. As such, system performance and reliability improves.

The Enphase Microinverter makes use of advanced digital technology to condition and control the power from each PV panel. This leads to great improvement in the overall power output. It also adds a dimension of intelligence to your PV system.

Each microinverter is networked to the Envoy Communications Gateway. This component transmits performance data and presents the consolidated information to the Internet with the help of proprietary software.

This allows your solar panels to work together as an intelligent network. It also enables you to know what is going on within the system on a whole new level. Even if you are not at home, you can connect to the Internet to know the status of your PV system if you want to.

Coping with environmental factors

Solar power output is constantly influenced by external factors such as weather, shade, dust and debris. With traditional PV panels, the lowest performing panel determines the effectiveness of your solar power system. As soon as shading occurs on just one panel, your entire solar power production attenuates considerably.

This does not happen with the Enphase Microinverter system. If any particular solar panel is shaded by leaves, the parallel energy delivery system enables full power from other panels to reach its destination. The affected PV panel drops in performance without influencing other modules.

There is yet another problem that traditional inverter systems experience. During low-light conditions such as the morning or evenings (or during thick cloud or fog cover), solar power systems effectively shut down. They require a minimum amount of power to operate efficiently. If this threshold is not reached, there is no electrical output even though your solar panels are illuminated.

Enphase microinverters circumvent this limitation with its “Burst Mode” solution. During low-light condition, each microinverter stores up trickles of energy output from the PV panel. Energy is accumulated to the point where it exceeds the minimum operating threshold before it is released to the power grid or the charge controllers.

With this, your solar panels continue to produce electricity even during low-light conditions. As a result, the efficiency of your solar energy system improves.

Quality control and reliability

Each Enphase Microinverter is manufactured based on the principles and philosophy of the Six Sigma Quality Process. Every new design and improvement is also subject to both in-house and third-party evaluations.

Each product goes through rigorous testing in the factory before they are deployed. Because of its design, each inverter’s performance can continue to be tracked even after deployment.

Industry-standard evaluations ensure us that Enphase Microinverters have a service life beyond 25 years (with over 99.7% reliability).

The 215-Series Microinverter is protected with a 25-year limited warranty while the previous generations of Enphase microinverters (like the M175, M190, M200, M210 and D380) are covered by a 15-year limited warranty. On top of that, Enphase also has a 100% Uptime Guarantee and a Rapid Replacement program that consumers can take advantage of.

Maintenance

With typical solar installations, inverter failure can result in the shutdown of the entire system. With Enphase microinverters, only the affected solar module shuts off. The impact to the solar power generator is minimal in comparison. As such, failed inverters do not necessarily require emergency repairs. Instead, they can even be replaced during the next regular maintenance.

Enphase Microinverters can be replaced with basic hand tools. Thus you do not need specialized personnel or equipment. This helps you save maintenance cost in the long run.

Continue Reading:

1. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
2. Important Facts And Properties of A Solar (PV) Panel You Must Know About (Part 1 of 3)
3. Homemade Solar Panels — Common Mistakes to Take Note Of When Building And Installing Photovoltaic (PV) Panels