As the days go by and the future gets brighter, so does the use of residential solar panels. Not only that, many businesses are turning to solar energy for a source of power, along with vehicles and golf carts. So if you are someone that is looking to go green and get their home off of the grid, then you are on the right path.

The initial investment may be a little pricey, but if you get a solar energy system for your entire home, they can last up to 30 years, and the best part about it is there is very little maintenance that needs to be done on them.

Just imagine not having to pay a monthly electric bill anymore. Or even better yet, some homes are so jacked up with solar power, that they actually have the power companies pay them! Not really sure how this works, but I have hear instances of this happening.

Should you be interesting in going off of the grid – there are many local companies out there that will be more than happy to give you some quotes on what would fit best for your home, based on your budget and best interests. Some of the major manufacturers of solar products in the United States are BP Solar, Sanyo Energy, Sunpower Corporation, Mitsubishi along with many, many others.

Should you question a manufacturers or companies trust and reliability, there are always sites such as BBB.org which gives grades to all major companies that are out there.

Making Your Own Solar Panels

Should you be the type of person that is good with electricity, carpentry, and basically good with power tools, then you may want to save even more money and build your own solar panels. Beware though, this is not an easy task, and should you choose to take this route, you must get plans from a reliable source and follow those plans exactly.

For instance, if you position your solar panels just a couple degrees off the needed angle to get the most sunlight, can really lose you out on a lot of solar energy that you could be acquiring.

All it really takes is some dedication, some start up money, the ability to follow instructions, and time, and you could have your home harnessing the power of the sun pretty quickly. You will have to first  purchase photovoltaic cells before beginning the construction of the solar panel, or if you really want to go all out, you can make those yourself also.

Then you will need a solar power converter, that will transform the suns energy which is DC, to AC, which is commonly used in homes.

Making your own solar panels can be a big and fun project, especially if you are looking to power most of your home with the energy from the sun, and especially if you have a big home! But just think about all of the money you are going to save in the long run, not only that, there are many good tax rebates you can apply for by making your home green and energy efficient.

So you want to make your own solar panels, save money on your electricity bill and also do your part in helping the Earth. There are literally hundreds of diy solar panel and wind turbine guides that are out there. I have heard the hype about many of these diy solar panel guides, and picked the best one out of the bunch that worked the best for me, and that one was the Earth4Energy manual, which was featured in major magazines such as Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, so you know that they are legit.

Not only do they give you guides, and solar panel construction plans, they actually give you a video series that SHOWS you exactly what you need to do to be able to make your own solar panels. The videos are by the far the most beneficial part of the whole deal to me as I am not one to take written instructions without pictures too well and become successful with it.

I managed to build a couple of solar panels for my vacation home for just a couple hundred dollars in parts, I just had to order some solar panels through eBay and I was ready to begin constructing and installing the solar panels on the roof, and I plan on building many more.

Another reason why I liked the Earth4Energy manual is that they give you lots of bonuses, such as wiring diagrams, tax rebate sheets, solar calculators so that you can determine how many solar panels and battery banks you will need to completely go off the grid.

The customer support for them is outstanding too, although you have to contact them through email, they are always very prompt in answering your questions.

They also have a guide that will teach you how to build your own wind turbines, and just recently added a 15 minute video that will show you step by step on how to properly construct a wind turbine.

They keep the price extremely low for the amount of information that is given to you, for only $49.97 I think that is a great deal for over 2 hours of solar panel video instruction, bonus guides, wiring grids, a solar panel calculator, wind turbine plans and instructional video, along with a bunch of other great information that is going to help you cut energy costs by 50% or more.

Everyone is becoming very environmentally conscious these days. This is a very good thing. We need to do more to help our planet stay healthy and pollution free, or in other words help the planet stay green. One thing that you can do to not only help the environment but also save you some money is to use solar energy instead of power from the electric company. This means that your power source is completely carbon neutral; it also means that you don’t have to pay an electric bill every month.

However, if you buy new solar panels directly from the manufacturer, you will find that they might cost upward of ten thousand dollars. When you factor in the cost of installation, you could be looking a price tag of thirty thousand dollars or more. That is why you should take the time to learn how to make your own solar panels.

The first thing that you need to do is get some solar cells. These are very expensive if you get them new. However, there are a lot of factory seconds and rejects that have small chips on the edges. Because their surface area is compromised, they won’t produce as many volts. However, these chips are generally very small; you’ll still be able to get them to work for you.

Also, you will literally be paying pennies on the dollar for them on an online auction site like Ebay. When you start to look around for kits on how to make your own solar panels, make sure to buy ones that are tabbed. They will save you a lot of time later.

When your solar cells arrive, you should build a box for them. A simple, shallow plywood frame will do. Drill some small ventilation holes in the plywood and add a layer or pegboard for added ventilation. Before you start any installation, coat both the frame and the pegboard with weatherproof paint. This will prevent the wood from warping over the years. Now it is time to install the solar cells themselves.

This will involve soldering and a little wiring. If you have never soldered before, find some scrap metal and practice adhering two pieces together. Once you have that down, you need to take the tabs that are attached to the solar cells and solder them together to form your panel.

Each panel that you make should have all of the same sized solar cells. That is because the amount of power that you will produce is no more that the amount that the smallest cell will produce multiplied by the number of cells.

When they are soldered, you need to run wiring along each cell, starting from the middle and moving outward. Then all the wiring should run to one plug that you can use to power batteries or the appliances in your home.

This is only an overview of how to make your own solar panels. If you want more specific information, especially about the wiring, you should consult an local expert or take the time to read a basic electrician’s manual.

If you are interested in greening up your lifestyle, it helps to do a little research first. Not only will it make you more informed when you make future purchases, but the technology that is going into green projects is both state of the art and fascinating. For instance, if you would like to save money on your monthly electrical bills as well as do your part to reduce the carbon output of the planet, you might want to consider a carbon neutral power source such as solar panels. Depending on your climate, you might be able to use solar panels to power all your electrical needs. However, you should first learn about how solar cells and then go out and explore your different buying options. Learn how solar cells work below…

A solar cell uses basic chemistry to produce electricity from the sun’s rays. It isn’t so much capturing the energy of the sun and turning it into usable electricity; the process is a little more complicated than that. It starts with a silicon molecule.

You’ve probably heard silicon mentioned when referring to computer chips. It’s the same substance. Silicon is a stable molecule that can form a long last bond with other silicon molecules. That is because it has room for eight electrons in its outer ring but only keeps four around all the time. Therefore, when two silicon molecules are joined, they are both neutrally charged and very happy.

To make a solar cell work, you need to have a positively and a negatively charged silicon molecule. Generally, there is an entire panel of negatively charged molecules put on top of a panel of positively charged molecules. The negative cells are made by combining silicon with phosphorus, an element that has five electrons.

The extra electron creates a negative charge. The positive cells are made by combining silicon with boron, an element with three electrons. The missing electron makes for a positive charge.

Now comes the sun. The sun produces photons, which for our purposes, are like little molecular hammers. When photons in a certain spectrum hit the negative solar cells, the extra electron is shot through to the positive panel.

When too many electrons have built up in the positive panel they are pulled through some attached wiring to produce electricity for your house. The more photons that hit the panels the more electricity you are going to produce at any given moment. The photos also ‘recharge’ the negative panel by returning the electrons it lost so that the process can go on indefinitely.

Solar cells can continue to create power as long as the sun is shining. However, they do not produce a lot of power compared to the surface area that they take up. Advances are being made every day, especially in the area of nanotechnology. Building solar panels out of tiny silicon towers would drastically increase the surface area without taking up more roof space. Now that you know how solar cells work, you should decide if it time to use some and take your home off the grid, save money, and know that you are doing your part to help our planet by keeping your home a green one.

Thank you for stopping by, you are here because you more than likely are interested in solar energy. Just the fact that you are interested in powering your home or business, whether it be partial or fully with solar power you are making a great choice. When you are using solar power, you are not using up the fuel supplies that we have here on earth.

So what are the benefits of using solar energy? There is no waste, virtually no emissions, and on top of that, it will save you money over the long run, big time. For those of you that think global warming is not going to happen, well it is if we do not do our part to keep our Earth green. With the use of solar power and wind power, we are heading in the right direction of not killing ourselves and driving our planet to its doom before it should naturally die out.

Now you probably have lots of questions such as how solar energy works, along with how to install solar panels, we will be covering all of that here. I want to spread the knowledge as much as I can about going green and I will continue to push the use of solar energy until the day that I die.

Now to be able to power your entire house off solar energy you are going to need a lot of solar panels, and you may also need the assistance of some small wind mills. Believe it or not the cost of solar panels are going down every year, and they are getting a lot more efficient.

This meaning that the solar cells are getting smaller and are able to store more energy which can be used as electricity. There are many useful guides that are out on the internet that will teach you how to make solar panels and wind mills so that you will be able to power your home. I hate to say this but you are going to have to spend some money.

You can read all of the guides and articles on the internet that you want but the only way you are successfully going to make your own solar panels is by watching step by step videos along with some well written out plans and instructions.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some people that can build from just reading, I am sure many carpenters are able to make their own solar panels without a problem, but the average non handyman type person will not be able to without instruction. Then there is always the option of just purchasing solar panels, if you have any doubt about building something, especially solar panels, then this may be the best way to go.