DIY Solar Panel

The first page of this article can be found here: Solar Power for Home

Aside from using the suns enormous amounts of energy to heat your home or water tank (passive solar energy), the suns light can also be used to generate electricity for your home. This is a more in depth process, and it is tricky to understand how exactly the light from the sun can be used as electricity to power the air conditioner in your home.

The Basic Explanation: the lights energy is captured by photovoltaic panels, and is then converted to electricity by the said panels. As soon as the suns rays are turned to electricity, it can be used just as we normally use grid supplied electric.

  • Photovoltaic Panels: Photovoltaic technology is a field of research that focuses on the application of converting sun energy into electricity. These panels are made by placing alternating layers of positively and negatively charged silicon beneath a layer of glass. It is through the silicon that the sun light is actually converted into energy. Perhaps a more simple description is that the electrons in the panel are knocked around by the photons emitted by the sun, causing these electrons to be highly energized, thereby creating electricity.

A commonly asked question concerns the use of solar energy at night or during cloudy days. How is it possible to make electricity from sun light when there is none to be found? The simple answer: it is impossible! However, there are a couple ways around this barrier:

  1. Batteries: it is possible to connect a system of solar panels to a lead acid battery bank. These are huge batteries, similar to the ones found in cars, and they can store excess energy created by the panels. This energy can then be used on cloudy days or at night. By implementing a battery system, one can achieve true independence from power companies by living off the grid. For more info on this subject, please visit the “Off the Grid Living” page.
  2. Staying on the grid: by staying connected to a utility grid, one can generate their own electricity during the day, and then use regular electricity during the night, or when the solar energy does not meet demands. Although staying connected to a power grid means that you are not independent from power companies, it does have some advantages. If your solar panels generate more electricity than you can use, the power company pays you to use it, and distributes your excess energy to others on the grid.

Due to the increased popularity of solar power and renewable forms of energy in general, many home owners have began to implement this technology in they day to day lives. Building solar panels for your own home, while it may seem like a daunting task, is really not that difficult. In fact, most of the supplies can be found at your local hardware store! Within a couple of weekends, it is realistic for a dedicated person to have built a home solar panel and begin enjoying the satisfaction that comes with producing their own eco friendly electricity. Although this is still a new field, there are many forms of instructional material already available on the web. I have reviewed the best of these, and for DIY solar panels I recommend Earth4Energy Solar!

Who else wants to build their own solar panel and stop being enslaved to power companies? Click here to find out more!


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