This is part 2 of a two part article on DIY Solar Panels. For part one, see DIY Solar, here.
Start out with a general plan and some basic understanding about how solar energy systems work, their different components, the ratings of those components and what they all mean.
Determine your total energy consumption. This can be easily estimated by adding up the KWHs (kilowatt hours) from your last 12 electric bills and then average them by dividing the total by 12. Don't worry if you don't have all 12. Most people don't.
Just use your current bill and think about how much you pay during other periods of the year. You'll be able to get close enough doing it this way.
Next, decide how much of your total consumption you want to replace with solar energy. You can replace 30%, 60%, 80% or even all of it. It just all depends on how big you want to go with the project.
Now the great thing is you can start out small by building a single panel or two, and then add to it over time with additional panels.
Solar panels are the backbone of any solar energy system. When you buy expensive solar from an energy contractor, the panels usually make up about half the cost of the entire system.
As you can probably tell, it is important to get this step right. All solar panels have a wattage rating and efficiency rating. The wattage tells you how much power the panel can produce and the efficiency rating tells you how much energy the individual cells can produce per square inch.
Efficiency rating is important because it is related to the size of the panel. In general, the more efficient your panel is the smaller it needs to be and ultimately, the more power generating potential you can fit into the same mounting space.
Start out with a general plan and some basic understanding about how solar energy systems work, their different components, the ratings of those components and what they all mean.
Determine your total energy consumption. This can be easily estimated by adding up the KWHs (kilowatt hours) from your last 12 electric bills and then average them by dividing the total by 12. Don't worry if you don't have all 12. Most people don't.
Just use your current bill and think about how much you pay during other periods of the year. You'll be able to get close enough doing it this way.
Next, decide how much of your total consumption you want to replace with solar energy. You can replace 30%, 60%, 80% or even all of it. It just all depends on how big you want to go with the project.
Now the great thing is you can start out small by building a single panel or two, and then add to it over time with additional panels.
Solar panels are the backbone of any solar energy system. When you buy expensive solar from an energy contractor, the panels usually make up about half the cost of the entire system.
As you can probably tell, it is important to get this step right. All solar panels have a wattage rating and efficiency rating. The wattage tells you how much power the panel can produce and the efficiency rating tells you how much energy the individual cells can produce per square inch.
Efficiency rating is important because it is related to the size of the panel. In general, the more efficient your panel is the smaller it needs to be and ultimately, the more power generating potential you can fit into the same mounting space.
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DIY Solar Panels
As mentioned earlier, the best place to start is with a good instruction guide that will help you easily sort out all the questions you might have about actually building and installing your panels. It makes the entire project a lot more simple and error free.
The Earth4Energy guide has a lot of video content, great illustrations, and they are very helpful in answering questions that come up during the project. They always answer emails promptly and are very thorough with their responses. Even if you don't get this one, do yourself a favor and get your hands on some sort of reputable instruction guide. You'll be glad you did.
The Earth4Energy guide has a lot of video content, great illustrations, and they are very helpful in answering questions that come up during the project. They always answer emails promptly and are very thorough with their responses. Even if you don't get this one, do yourself a favor and get your hands on some sort of reputable instruction guide. You'll be glad you did.
These aren't critical in diy solar panels but it's helpful to understand the numbers. Why? because they can help you plan on how much roof space you might need and how to layout the system to power different portions of your overall power needs - all the way up to 100%.
If you only plan to put up a couple panels, or just for example run your water heater, then you don't have to be quite so precise about how you arrange them. If your longer term plan is to convert a substantial part of your total consumption needs, then you'll want to conserve roof space for the future.
Which reminds me. Your panels must be mounted facing the right direction (usually south) and at the proper angle, and away from shade. Your goal here is to squeeze every second of direct sunlight you can out of each day. Believe me, this is important.
If you only plan to put up a couple panels, or just for example run your water heater, then you don't have to be quite so precise about how you arrange them. If your longer term plan is to convert a substantial part of your total consumption needs, then you'll want to conserve roof space for the future.
Which reminds me. Your panels must be mounted facing the right direction (usually south) and at the proper angle, and away from shade. Your goal here is to squeeze every second of direct sunlight you can out of each day. Believe me, this is important.