It you are eager to generate your personal Solar Power Home you could nicely have considered Do it yourself solar panels. Well, whilst I applaud your desire to have a photo voltaic vitality residence, enable me alert you that you will not save cash by producing your possess photo voltaic panels. Allows look at why.
Value of a Do-it-yourself Solar Panel
Lets ignore the cost of your time. Right here is a record of the resources essential:
– Very clear plexiglass or low iron solar glass 2ft x 4ft x 1/4in $34 or much more
– 3/4in 2ft x 4ft plywood panel $23
– Photo voltaic cell kit (eBay) $119, comprising:
– fifty Photo voltaic cells every 3in x 6in, one.75w, pre-tabbed
– 10ft tabbing wire and 10ft bus wire,
– Flux pen and solder
– Peg board two panels 2ft x 2ft $5
– Obvious silicone caulk/sealant $three
– Junction box $5
– Paint, stainless screws, wood for frame $ten
– Diodes $three
Whole expense $202. Just take off $twenty for the 10 extra solar cells that are not essential, provides a overall of $182 for the resources to make a sixty watt photo voltaic panel. This works out at $3 per watt.
Value of Manufacturing facility Manufactured Panels
If you do a casual search on the World wide web, most photo voltaic panels perform out at $5 – $seven.50 for every watt. But backyard revolution scam ferreted about and found a 120watt panel for $358 retail, equal to $two.98 for each watt. There are also a variety of wholesalers ready to promote direct to the public, and minimum purchase portions can be as reduced as two panels. We discovered a 225watt photo voltaic panel wholesale for $549 (min order 2 panels), equal to $two.44 per watt.
Warnings & Hazards of Do-it-yourself Photo voltaic Panels
Also, if you are contemplating about creating your personal photo voltaic panels to lower the price of your solar vitality house, you should be mindful of the subsequent:
– In the US, you will NOT be authorized to hook up your home produced photo voltaic panels to the grid. If you want your photo voltaic vitality house to be connected to the grid, you need to use solar panels with UL certification. Several international locations have equivalent rules.
– Commercially made photo voltaic panels come with 25 year overall performance ensures. Diy solar panels have no assures and will possibly very last just a few years at very best.
– With any house made solar panel there is a risk of fireplace from very poor quality soldering. If your Do it yourself photo voltaic panel ignited and resulted in hearth damage to your house, your insurance policies firm may well be a minor unwilling to shell out out for a hearth caused by a photo voltaic panel that did not have UL certification.
– And the ultimate nail in the coffin of a home made solar vitality residence: in the US, home produced photo voltaic panels will NOT qualify for the substantial rebates and tax credits that are offered.
If you want photo voltaic panels for your solar strength home and want a technique that is safe, reliable, qualifies for rebates and will genuinely minimize your electrical energy charges, neglect Do-it-yourself. Do-it-yourself can be a great introduction to understanding what it indicates to have a photo voltaic strength home, but it is not a practical substitute to manufacturing facility produced photo voltaic panels.
Make a Solar Panel as a Science or Do-it-yourself Undertaking
However, if you want to make your very own photo voltaic panel as a science project, this can be enjoyable, satisfying and quite gratifying. On completion you will also have a photo voltaic panel you can display off to your friends and anything you could use to offer gentle for a garden, lose or outbuilding.
If you want to make a photo voltaic panel as a science venture, contemplate purchasing a single of the “how as well make solar panels” guides. Some of these are really great and do an exceptional job of showing you (they have some very great video clips) what to do, how to do it and when to do. Yes, a manual will add $40 – $fifty to the value, but that could be funds extremely nicely expended, just will not tumble for all the advertising hype!
Summary
If you want a solar strength house and to reduce your electrical energy payments, forget the Diy route. But, although you will not likely conserve funds or reduce your electric power invoice, making a solar panel as element of a science undertaking ought to be very satisfying and academic. If you do not want to spend the $forty – $fifty for one of the Diy photo voltaic panel guides, there is a lot of details on the Web. I would like every single good results with your Photo voltaic Vitality Home.