There has been a lot of people wanting to know how to build solar panels recently. As we’ve all seen in the past couple of years, the price of energy is skyrocketing, especially with oil prices reaching record levels almost every week. This economic pressure has begun to show itself as interest in building solar panels has also increased. To tell you the truth, learning how to build solar panels is not difficult at all.
There are two types of solar panels that are commonly used in residential areas, the solar hot water heating panel and the photovoltaic, electricity producing panel.
The purpose of this article is to discuss the photovoltaic type of panel. Solar hot water panels can greatly reduce the amount of energy your household needs by taking care of your water heating needs. Although they are outside the scope of this piece, it goes without saying that if your household uses less electricity, the smaller (and cheaper) your photovoltaic array will need to be.
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The easiest way to experience how to
build solar panels is to buy a kit which will have all of the materials you need and tools to assemble the panel(s). The usual set-up for photovoltaic includes solar cells, tabs to connect them, solder and flux to adhere the tabs and a soldering iron to melt the solder and hold it all together.
First, choose a site for the panel with a good exposure to as much of the sun’s arc in the sky as you can without any interference from branches or wires and away from or above trees and buildings in your yard. If you can’t use your rooftop, consider placing the panels on a mount, either a pole or a frame that will lift the panels about six feet or so off the ground. At this height, they will be less likely to be damaged by children, pets or other accidents like a small rock thrown from a lawn mower.
Build the solar panel by connecting a number of solar cells to one another (the amount varies by the size of your panel) in series by using the solder, flux and tabs. The amount of electricity you wish to generate will dictate the size and number of panels you need to put together.
There are many reasons to consider building solar panels and not just because its cheaper than buying them pre-made. There are loads of ‘feel-good reasons’ as well:
- You can involve the whole family.
- Take pride of knowing you are part of the solution to global warming.
- Know that you can build solar panels for others.
- Reduce your electricity bill every month.
- Reduce your carbon footprint.
- You reduce the need for building new fossil fuel burning power plants.
- And, because you can build a larger array by doing the panel building yourself, you can create more energy than you use and get paid by your utility company (in some states).
Place the panel(s) in position and hook the whole thing up to your battery system, if your using one. Your batteries will collect any excess energy that you are not using for future, whether it is later in the day or even weeks from now.
Why is a battery system optional? There are many programs available where you tie directly into the grid and sell any excess power back to the utility as it is generated. This varies by locality. The positive aspect to this type of system is eliminating the need, expense and hassle of a bank of batteries but the negative is that you have no store of energy should the power go out.
Check with your local energy provider and state energy department because you should be able to sell all your excess energy back to the utility company. Some states have excellent rebates and programs set up just for this. This varies by locality.
With a large enough array (which you don’t have to do all at once) and smart, energy efficient choices around the house, you could be running your solar panels at a profit every day.
A friend of mine on Long Island, NY, discovered that the new solar panels on his roof will recoup their costs in less than 18 months, not the three to seven years it was projected. When you think how cloudy the northeast U.S. is, that’s a great deal.
For more details on how to build solar panels, check into this book on building solar panels and wind turbines, Renewable Energy Solutions.
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Building solar panels is a relatively simple matter because solar cells are modular. They are also quite small. Solar cells that are used in residential solar panels is about twice the size of a bar coaster or about four times the size of a playing card. You can fit your hands around one quite easily.
You begin building solar panels by connecting these cells in series and then connecting panels to one another. Then all that is left is to connect the solar panel array to batteries and an inverter to power your house.
Solar cells or photovoltaic cells, as we’ll call them here, convert solar energy into electric energy. Now, you knew that but in order to understand the way building solar panels works, you need to know how the electricity is made.
Photons of light strike the semiconductor material on the cell’s surface, usually silicon, and in so doing knock an electron loose. There are two types of silicon used to make a cell. They are both mixed with other elements which change their polarity. One type is negatively charged because it is mixed with phosphorous and the other is positively charged because it is mixed with boron. By putting together layers of silicon with different electrical charges, the incoming photons have an easier time of loosening up an electron and sending it looking for place to go.
The cells are engineered so that the electrons can only go in one direction and that direction is ‘out.’ So, each cell is designed to add their exiting electrons to the flow of electrons and with enough cells and enough solar energy, you have an electrical current you can work with.
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See, building solar panels is not difficult but it is precise. The channels that absorb the electrons in each cell are lined up with every other channel in their particular group by means of a connecting tab, solder and flux. Once the cells are connected, a surface layer of glass, plastic or laminate (or a some combination) is layed over the top to protect them, all the moisture is removed (to avoid condensation which would interfere with the panel’s efficiency) and the panels are placed into position and connected.
From there, it is a simple matter of hooking up the solar array to your house’s electrical condition. In my mind, it goes without saying that you should hire a professional to do this. If you insist on doing it yourself, I believe you still need a certified electrician to examine it to insure your work is up to code. In the event of an adverse electrical event (fire), you would want your house to be up to code and in keeping with the provisions of your homeowner’s insurance policy. will answer an questions you might have on how to put together your own solar panels for home use.
This book on Renewable Energy Solutions will answer an questions you might have on how to put together your own solar panels for home use.
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Increasingly, the cost of electricity from the grid is rising higher than any other cost you might incur (except for maybe, gasoline). Increased demand from modern appliances – air conditioning, heating, computing, and soon, cars will continue to put upward pressure on electricity into the future.
Although the initial costs of installing a solar panel can be quite high, the payoff is quick. Not only can you put a big dent in your utility bills but you will have an emergency back up source if the power ever goes out in your neighborhood.
There is, as far as I can see, only one caveat – know what you’re doing. Installing a solar panel power system is simple, but it is also simple to screw up.
As I mentioned before, the cost of installing a solar set-up can be pretty steep on the front end but there are many government incentives to homeowners. Check with your locality, you might be surprised and the amount of money available.
Solar panels can cost anywhere from thirty dollars to over a thousand dollars each. They can deliver from 1 to over 200 watts per day. The front end cost of a solar power system may not be the most economical use of your money but the long term benefit – even the medium term benefit can be substantial.
Not the least of which is the daily reduction in your monthly utility bill. There is even the possibility that you can make money selling electricity back to the grid.
If your goal is to eliminate that monthly bill, start out by auditing your electricity consumption. You could got room to room checking the wattage of each appliance and estimating the number of hours you use each unit or average out a few months worth of electricity bills.
It does help to go room by room and find what are your major energy sucking appliances and see how you can reduce the usage of those appliances or get rid of them altogether. Going without is the most ‘green’ you can go but replacing with a newer, more efficient machine will also reduce your total need.
With a sense of how much electricity you need, you can now figure out how many solar panels and of what wattage you’ll need and the total cost of your system. From this you can calculate how long it will take to recoup your costs and begin realizing your solar panel savings.
Bringing electricity to a remote location is almost always more expensive than creating your own. It is a major expense for the power utility to haul power lines from a distance of even half a mile. So, if you are out in the country, it will definitely be worth your while to put up solar panels.
Even if you are on the grid, the ever increasing cost of energy as compared to the one time cost of a solar panel energy system can make all the difference. Reduce your consumption and increase your solar capacity and you could be running at a profit every month selling excess electricity.
There is also, currently, a tax credit available to anyone in the U.S. for installing a residential solar panel system. You may have a hard time wiping the smug grin off your face when you realize, your saving the environment, you have no electric bill, you’re making money selling electricity and the government helped you do it!
Solar power is probably the best thing going for individuals looking to generate their own power. Click the link if you need more information on how to set up your solar panel system.
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