DIY Solar Energy, 10 Tips
So you’ve decided to take advantage of solar energy. More importantly you’ve decided to take advantage of DIY solar energy to save yourself some money over the cost of building solar panels. First, let me say – congratulations. You’re about to take advantage of renewable energy, reduce or eliminate your power bill, and along the way you’ll be making our world a little greener place for the rest of us.
Now that you decided on DIY solar energy as the solution to your energy needs, I want to help you get the right start. For that reason I’ve assembled this 10 tips guide to help you do just that.
DIY Solar Energy – An Overview
Before we get to the tips, let’s first cover one thing. If you’re just beginning to research the topic of DIY solar energy one thing you should know is that you can take advantage of solar power for your home. The time and cost involved to build your own solar panels is minimal, and when you compare it to buying solar panels it can save you as much as 90% on your solar power installation.
Most importantly though it’s quite simple to build solar energy. Even if you’ve never considered building a solar panel, most people can accomplish the task in less than an hour (obviously after they get the parts they need. With that out of the way, let’s move on to 10 tips to DIY Solar energy.
DIY Solar Energy – 10 Tips Video Version
DIY Solar Energy – 10 Tips To Get It Right
These simple tips are intended to help you get the right start with your diy solar energy projects. None of these are difficult, but all of them will help to ensure that the solar power system you build lasts for years to come.
- Start with the right instruction – The first thing that is important to note here is that you should start with the right instruction. At the top of this blog there are links to video reviews of the top five guides to DIY solar power. These will help you get the right start. Your solar power system will be used to power your home, so spend the $40 on a good guide to get you started. Your system will be safer, and the task of building solar power will be much easier.
- Don’t buy broken solar cells – Some people suggest using broken solar cells to build their panels. This might be acceptable for a panel to power your camper, or the one you keep with your tent, but it isn’t suitable for home power. If you want to save money on solar cells (they aren’t really that expensive to begin with) you can buy pre-tabbed grade b cells. For most though, grade a solar cells aren’t really that pricey.
- Use a good backer material – Don’t cheap out on the backer board for your panel. This is the most difficult component to replace. At the very least use good grade plywood and make sure you seal it well. Even better would be a plastic or aluminum (make sure you insulated this from the cells) backing material. The life expectancy of a solar panel is 25 – 35 years. Choosing a backer that will last as long will help to ensure you make the most of your investment.
- Read the Instructions and Watch the Videos First – Going back to step 1, you purchased the best instructional material – use it! Before trying to build your first solar panel read the books and watch the videos that come with that material. This will help you source the parts for less, know the exact steps to take as you build solar panels for your home, and in general you’ll do a better job. DIY solar energy isn’t complicated, but knowing what to do ahead of time will help.
- Use an ISO Certified Inverter/Controller – If you are converting your whole home, with parts like your inverter and charge controller, yes you could build them yourself. However, you probably shouldn’t. These components are not expensive and at this point in your system we’re beginning to deal with larger voltages.
- Use ISO Certified Breakers and Switches – The same thing goes for switches and breakers that you use in your DC power system. Do not use radio shack switches, get ISO certified breakers if you need them for the way your system is designed. Again these components are cheap, and an ISO certified breaker is safe for the purpose, where as that radio shack switch may not be.
- Use Junction Boxes to Connect Your Panels – When you’re wiring your solar panels together, be sure to use weatherproof junction boxes. You don’t want open wiring connections on the roof.
- Have an Electrician Do The Final Wiring – Once you’ve wired up your solar panels, have an Electrician do the final wiring into your home. This is really important if you’re wiring into a home that is already tied to the grid. This will probably cost you less than $80, and considering that power coming from the grid is coming in at 240V, this is a dangerous job to do yourself.
- Keep Your System Charged (if using batteries) – If your diy solar energy system includes batteries for power storage, make sure you keep it charged. Keeping your batteries charged between 50% – 80% charge continually will greatly extend the life of the batteries themselves. In other words, if you do plan to store power (this isn’t really necessary if you’re tied to the grid anyway), be sure to buy enough batteries so that you can keep the system above 50% charge.
- Check it Periodically – Finally, once a year, check your panels. Just do a visual inspection. If you see a panel where the backer need to be repainted, do it. After 4 – 6 years if you see some yellowing on the clear cover for your panels, replace it. Keeping your solar panels in top condition will ensure you make the most of it for many years to come!
With 10 tips to DIY Solar Energy, you now have the information you need to get it done the right way. Of course the first step was to get the right instruction, use this link – Top 5 DIY Solar Energy Guides – or watch the video reviews from the top of this blog to get started.
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