Home Made DIY Solar Panels
Residential solar power has now become a reality. With the current economic crisis set to worsen the idea of homemade solar power is not only an environmentally friendly measure but also a cost saving one.
However, you may ask, do Homemade Solar Panels really do the Job?
Anyone can now build his own solar panel. DIY solar power is quite common nowadays. However, many people are still extremely sceptical as to the viability and effectiveness of depending on a homemade solar panel.
Well I can put your mind at ease. DIY Solar panels are extremely easy to build and quite effective in supplying your household with a large amount of electricity. I should know cause I've just completed a 36 PV panel which is supplying me with a steady 18 to 24 volts of electricity. (Note: In Gozo we have a lot of sunshine, even in the Winter months).
At first you're not going to be totally free from Electricity Bills, but you can easily power around 50 - 80% of your home appliances with solar energy and this will mean significant financial savings for you.
The main cost saving advantage you will get is due to the fact that a DIY solar panel can be put together in a week-end for under US$200 (two hundred dollars).
Remember that the cost saving benefit is not the only good point of choosing to use DIY solar power for your home use. Solar energy is also extremely environmentally friendly and will help combat pollution through less use of fossil fuels.
The only thing you need to do is get a good instruction guide and follow the surprisingly simple process. Through this you will see how easy and inexpensive it is to put into practice. Just to give you a hint, to store the electricity produced by your panel, dead car batteries are used. The instruction book teaches you how easy it is to recondition them and make them usable again.
Basic Components that you would need to use. Besides buying a pack of photovoltaic cells to build your first solar panel, you would also need the components mentioned hereunder. They are not all necessarily from the very first but gradually as you build more panels and become self-sufficient with a properly managed Power Plant. (It is all in the Instruction Book. See my Environment Page.)
Solar Inverter
A solar inverter or PV inverter is a critical component in a solar energy system. It performs the conversion of the variable DC output into AC, the current that we use at home for our appliances. The Inverter allows the use of DC current as well.
PV disconnect
The DC disconnect is used to safely interrupt the flow of electricity from the PV array. It´s an essential component when system maintenance or troubleshooting is required.
Battery Bank
Your PV panels will produce electricity whenever the sun shines on them. You'll definitly need a battery bank from the first. this consists of several batteries wired together to store energy for the night and for cloudy days. For off-grid systems like Caravans and camping sites, battery banks are a must, obviously.
Lead-acid batteries (car batteries) are the most commonly used in solar-electric systems. For economy rasons I am using re-conditioned batteries which were previously dead (Instructions show you how to do this).
Charge Controller (Regulator)
A charge controller protects our battery bank from overcharging. When the bank is fully charged, the controller interrupts the flow of electricity from the PV panels. Overcharging can permanently damage the Batteries, hence they should be treated with care.
System Meter
(battery monitor, amp-hour meter)
System meters measure and display several different aspects of your solar-electric system's performance and status, tracking how full your battery bank is; how much electricity your solar panels are producing or have produced; and how much electricity is in use. This is quite useful as you can see.
Fuse Box (AC Breaker)
The AC breaker panel is the point at which all the electrical wiring meets with the provider of the electricity, whether it's the Electric Company or a solar-electric system. It contains a number of labeled circuit breakers that route electricity to the various rooms throughout a house. These breakers/fuses allow electricity to be disconnected for servicing.
So if you are ready to undertake the Project of constructing your own Solar Plant go to my Environment Page (above) for the best DIY Instruction Guide that I have found.
However, you may ask, do Homemade Solar Panels really do the Job?
Anyone can now build his own solar panel. DIY solar power is quite common nowadays. However, many people are still extremely sceptical as to the viability and effectiveness of depending on a homemade solar panel.
Well I can put your mind at ease. DIY Solar panels are extremely easy to build and quite effective in supplying your household with a large amount of electricity. I should know cause I've just completed a 36 PV panel which is supplying me with a steady 18 to 24 volts of electricity. (Note: In Gozo we have a lot of sunshine, even in the Winter months).
At first you're not going to be totally free from Electricity Bills, but you can easily power around 50 - 80% of your home appliances with solar energy and this will mean significant financial savings for you.
The main cost saving advantage you will get is due to the fact that a DIY solar panel can be put together in a week-end for under US$200 (two hundred dollars).
Remember that the cost saving benefit is not the only good point of choosing to use DIY solar power for your home use. Solar energy is also extremely environmentally friendly and will help combat pollution through less use of fossil fuels.
The only thing you need to do is get a good instruction guide and follow the surprisingly simple process. Through this you will see how easy and inexpensive it is to put into practice. Just to give you a hint, to store the electricity produced by your panel, dead car batteries are used. The instruction book teaches you how easy it is to recondition them and make them usable again.
Basic Components that you would need to use. Besides buying a pack of photovoltaic cells to build your first solar panel, you would also need the components mentioned hereunder. They are not all necessarily from the very first but gradually as you build more panels and become self-sufficient with a properly managed Power Plant. (It is all in the Instruction Book. See my Environment Page.)
Solar Inverter
A solar inverter or PV inverter is a critical component in a solar energy system. It performs the conversion of the variable DC output into AC, the current that we use at home for our appliances. The Inverter allows the use of DC current as well.
PV disconnect
The DC disconnect is used to safely interrupt the flow of electricity from the PV array. It´s an essential component when system maintenance or troubleshooting is required.
Battery Bank
Your PV panels will produce electricity whenever the sun shines on them. You'll definitly need a battery bank from the first. this consists of several batteries wired together to store energy for the night and for cloudy days. For off-grid systems like Caravans and camping sites, battery banks are a must, obviously.
Lead-acid batteries (car batteries) are the most commonly used in solar-electric systems. For economy rasons I am using re-conditioned batteries which were previously dead (Instructions show you how to do this).
Charge Controller (Regulator)
A charge controller protects our battery bank from overcharging. When the bank is fully charged, the controller interrupts the flow of electricity from the PV panels. Overcharging can permanently damage the Batteries, hence they should be treated with care.
System Meter
(battery monitor, amp-hour meter)
System meters measure and display several different aspects of your solar-electric system's performance and status, tracking how full your battery bank is; how much electricity your solar panels are producing or have produced; and how much electricity is in use. This is quite useful as you can see.
Fuse Box (AC Breaker)
The AC breaker panel is the point at which all the electrical wiring meets with the provider of the electricity, whether it's the Electric Company or a solar-electric system. It contains a number of labeled circuit breakers that route electricity to the various rooms throughout a house. These breakers/fuses allow electricity to be disconnected for servicing.
So if you are ready to undertake the Project of constructing your own Solar Plant go to my Environment Page (above) for the best DIY Instruction Guide that I have found.
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