But just how much does one cost?

As you may know already, the cost of the solar panel depends on so many things. Apart from the brand, the model, and the durability, the most important factor that determines the cost of a solar panel is the wattage of the panel. A complete solar panel is made up of several cells, which increase with required wattage. Therefore, the higher the wattage, the more the cost.

If you would like to buy a preassembled solar panel that you can use for specific purposes, then you simply need to go to an electric store or an online store and get one for yourself. Most of these panels are not designed to serve whole households. A 60 watt Kaneka solar panel will go for between $60 – $110 depending on where you buy them and how many of them you buy.

On the other hand, a 230 watt BP solar pane will go for around $535 while a 235 watt Sharp solar panel will go for $620.

If you want to install a solar panel in your house that will carter for most of your energy needs, then you will need to make a bigger investment. You will first need to know how many electricity units you consume every month. These units are measured in KWH.

Therefore, if you consume 600 KWH every month, your daily consumption stands at around 20 KWH per day. This means that you consume an average of 0.833 KW per hour everyday. Since the sun will only shine for 4 hrs – 6 hrs a day, it means that you have to get a panel which can generate 20 KWH within 4 hrs, (assuming that you are in a locality where it only shines for 4 hrs.) This translates to 5,000 watts of electricity. Throwing in an extra 15% to take into account power loses and so forth, you will need a solar panel that can generate at least 5,750 watts. The current price per watt of electricity is around $10 per watt. The total cost will come to around $50,000 or more.

Although this cost might go down if you do the installation by yourself, it is important to know that full installation of solar panels will require a huge initial investment on your part. However, the long term benefits of clean solar energy clearly outweigh the cost.

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Nowadays, things are quite different. There are many designers and architects who will help you design a house that is energy efficient. These plans will help you reduce or eliminate electricity bills in addition to helping you make a contribution towards fighting global warming.

Solar Panels

One of the things that you need to do is to plan your house such that you will have a place for placing your solar panels in a way that they will receive the greatest amounts of light. It can be quite difficult for you to set up a place for the solar panel if at all you have already built a house and had not planned for it.

Maximum Light

Another thing that you need to know and understand while you are designing your house, is to make sure that the house will receive the maximum amount of sunlight during the day. It is very unfortunate if at all you will need to switch on the lights of your house at noon. It is not only wasteful, but also stressful to the eyes.

To make sure that you make the maximum use of the natural light, it is important that you let the living room windows face north.

Proper Ventilation

Proper ventilation in your home will ensure that fans and air conditioners don’t need to run 24 hours in a day. Many homes will install oversized cooling systems which do nothing but increase the cost of electricity in the house making life to be unnecessarily expensive.

All in all, to have a truly energy efficient home is not a result of a one-day bout of creativity. It is not something that you start today and the finish tomorrow. It needs constant effort that comes after you have resolved that you will use as much natural energy as possible.

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What Is A Closed Loop Hot Water System?

The principles of construction and operation of a hot water system will determine whether it is closed loop or it is open loop. Apart from these two modes of classification, there are many others which we shall not look at in this article.

The main principle of a closed loop hot water system is that it provides anti freezing mechanism throughout the year. Assume a situation where water is heated in one tank and stored in another: what would happen when the water in the tank freezes during the night?

The solution to this challenge is to ensure that instead of heating water, you heat a non-toxic substance that cannot freeze at temperatures that can easily cause water to solidify. The non-toxic substance is heated by the sun, and then it flows to the tank and heats the water inside. It continues the flow, but the water remains static. And therefore no chances of damaging the pipe.

Since this method heats the water indirectly, this method is also referred to as indirect method.

Building One

To construct a closed loop hot water system, you need a collector, a double walled storage tank and non-toxic antifreeze. These items then need to be connected with pipes. One pipe should run from the collector to the space between the double walls of the storage tank. Another one should be placed so as to take back the antifreeze to the collector.

Another pipe should then run from the inside of the storage tank (where water is placed,) to the tap.

The cycle of heating the water will continue throughout the day, and the whole storage tank can stay for quite a long while. Although the use of locally assembled materials will work, it is advisable that use specially built commercial materials so that you are able to build a more efficient system.

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What You Need

1. ½ Inch 2 CPVC pipes that are four feet in length.
2. Black aluminum plates of size 4ft by 4ft. These aluminum plates must have small groves, 4 inches from each other.
3. A stand (optional)
4. A pump
5. Two flexible pipes

The construction

1. Take one of the CPVC pipes and make tiny holes that are four inches apart on the pipe.
2. Take the second pipe and make a longitudinal split on the pipe. This will leave you with two pipes with semicircular cross-sections.
3. Seal one end of pipe in 1.
4. Attach the first pipe on the black aluminum plate making sure that the holes on the first pipe are fully aligned with the grooves on the aluminum plate.
5. Attach one of the pipes on the bottom of the aluminum plate.
6. Connect one of the flexible pipes to the top CPVC pipe and another one to the bottom CPVC pipe
7. Connect the pump to the pool and pump water into the top pipe.
8. Put the plate on a stand and let it face the sunlight.

How It Works

As the pump gets water from the pool, it directs it to the top pipe. This water then trickles down the grooves, being heated by the sun-facing aluminum plate. The water then gets to the bottom pipe and then redirects the water back to the pool. This cycle then continues until the whole pool gets heated.

This DIY water cooler is somehow basic and might need a number of improvements so as to increase its efficiency. However, this basic plan will go a long way to save you money that you would have otherwise spent on a commercial heater.

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How much would it cost to install a wind generator system?  About $10,000 and $4,000 of that will be the cost of just the wind generator itself.  Well that’s where a couple names Les and Jane come in.  They used to install these wind power systems and that’s how much they would have to charge.  The parts for the wind generators and turbines would come in a box and Les and Jane would have to assemble the entire system.  It was then that they figured out that the components were actually very simple and they could build these things themselves.  Long story short… today they live 100% off grid!

Les and Jane now wanted to get the word out about how other people can build their own wind generators as well.  They have made a detailed instruction book that ANYONE can follow and make sense of.   You will learn step-by-step how to get the parts and make your own wind generator for under $100!  That’s MUCH cheaper than the $4,000 it would cost to buy a new wind generator and the extra $6,000 to pay for installation and all the extras.

But what this ebook and program offers that others don’t is Les will give you free customer support.  Any time that you run into problems or need some advice about building your wind generator, you can just shoot him an email and he will help you out in any way he can.  This is a HUGE bonus because many people write these books and then leave you out to dry.   Les will answer any questions on your project.  It’s nice to be able to access someone who has actually BEEN there and DONE that with wind generator building.

Want some refunds from the IRS?  This book also tells you how to get the most out of the government and the IRS with tax breaks and refunds just for “going green” and using alternative energy.

It’s not impossible to go 100% off grid and never pay another penny for electricity.  Tens of thousands already do this and the trend is growing as energy costs will only go up.  Just wait for gas to go up AGAIN this summer.

The regular cost of this wind program is $97.  But if you buy through the link below you can get a 50% discount for readers of this blog for a total price of $49.97! Check it out before the price goes back up to $97 again.  With just one built wind generator this thing will pay for itself.

Click Here for Les and Jane’s Wind Plans for Discounted Rate!

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Home information packs is a legislation that makes it obligatory for home sellers to provide certain information when putting their property on the property market. This helps to minimize the property sales which fall through. Since the introduction of solar power home introduction packs or HIPs in August 2007, they have caused a rouse in the market and there have been clashes in opinions between those people who hate or love the idea of HIPs and its contents. However, the introduction of HIPs has had major implications on energy efficiency and environmental viability of many homes.

The energy power certificate (EPC) is a very significant part of solar energy hip pack. This certificate is compiled information following a home inspection by professional energy inspectors and the energy certificate gives a full report of your home’s energy efficiency. A-rating is the most efficient energy while H-rating is the least energy efficiency. The certificate also comes with some personalized recommendations for you as a home owner to improve the energy efficiency in your home. Most common recommendations include; installing roof or wall installation, draught, excluding windows and doors of a home and replacing old or single gazed windows with double glazed ones.

Before your home goes to the property market, you need to put together your solar energy home information pack. Then your estate solicitor or agent will link you to a HIP service provider of their choice or you can look around then choose your own qualified HIP service. This HIP provider has a very important role of organizing your energy evaluation inspection. On the other hand, home sellers who are braver can put the pack together themselves. If you are one of them, then you will have to organize with an energy inspector to do your EPC evaluation, but you will submit the results to the local authority yourself.

The additional cost of solar energy HIP packs can be as a result of the big number of the HIP packs available in the industry, which is the main reason for the current weakening of property market. Today, the packs are here to stay and sellers and buyers should use solar energy hip packs to their own advantage especially in terms of making homes greener and for energy efficiency. If you are a home seller, EPC always offers practical advice on the best way to improve the rating of energy at your home. Bad energy rating can probably affect your selling price, so it is more advisable to put in place the recommendations given by your energy inspector before selling your property. This will increase your sale potential.

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If you are looking for an environmental friendly source of energy power, then solar power is the best option as it is fairly priced and with good maintenance, it can also last a lifetime. Solar generators depend on sunlight to provide electricity and they are able to do this with the solar panels which are attached to them. The solar panel captures sunlight and then transforms it into electricity which can be used for domestic and commercial purposes depending on size of the solar power generator. Solar power generators can then be able to support different home applications such as the central heating system, air conditioning, cooking and lighting among others.

Apart from being eco-friendly, portable solar generators come in a variety of sizes, shapes and vary in price, thus you have a variety to choose from according to your budget. A portable solar power generator is easy to use as long as it has been installed by a professional and the maintenance costs are reasonable. Since it is portable, you can use it anywhere, though you will have to follow the manual that accompanies to avoid any technical mishaps. Depending on the capacity of the solar generator, it might be able to support large scale industrial activities such as production and your business could also cut on energy costs.

The capacity and effectiveness of a portable solar power generator will depend on the watts the generator can produce. For extensive applications such as general lighting, you might have to purchase a large solar generator since large ones produce sufficient watt, though these might be ideal for businesses. Generally, there are different sized and high quality portable solar generators which can accommodate all your energy needs as well as perform different desired tasks. Furthermore, portable solar generators provide you with cheap power, convenient, low maintenance and green energy with no by-products to pollute the environment.

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So what is new with Green DIY Energy?

Well now you have the option of ordering a CD along with your ebook so you have something in hand.  It will be mailed to your home and the CD is filled with instructions on how to make your solar panel as well as over 2 hours of training videos for showing you the technical aspects of making this system yourself.

What is the quality like?

This is by far the highest quality video you will find for building a solar power system.  It is very professional and there is nothing cheap or corny about how they explain the entire process.  You will feel like you are wacthing “This Old House” but instead of learning how to rip out an old wall, you will be learning how to make your very own solar panel for very little costs.

Get a sample of the videos here.

Not only do the videos teach you how to build a panel but also how to hook up the solar system to your house.   This is very crucial, because unless you know how to use the energy you are creating it is essentially useless.

Check out this video review of Green DIY Energy

Get Your Green DIY Guide Here

The price is $49 right now but the cost will be going up soon.  Reserve your copy of the Green DIY Energy Guide here and start watching these high quality instructional videos today.  You will be building solar panels for material cost under $100.  Now that is saving some green!

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Making Cheap, Inexpensive DIY Solar Panels at Home
Mike Davis is an astronomer. To practice his hobby away from the light-pollution of cities, he bought some land in a remote part of Arizona. But there was a problem: No electricity…. But he’s a resourceful fellow. He built some home-made solar panels using inexpensive blemished and damaged solar cells from eBay! That might be even cooler, though less romantic, than the couple who got their solar panels via their wedding registry.

Read on for more photos and some technical details to give you an idea of how he did it.

I bought a couple of bricks of 3 X 6 mono-crystalline solar cells. It takes a total of 36 of these type solar cells wired in series to make a panel. Each cell produces about 1/2 Volt. 36 in series would give about 18 volts which would be good for charging 12 volt batteries. (Yes, you really need that high a Voltage to effectively charge 12 Volt batteries) This type of solar cell is as thin as paper and as brittle and fragile as glass.

A solar panel is really just a shallow box. So I started out by building myself a shallow box. I made the box shallow so the sides wouldn’t shade the solar cells when the sun comes at an angle from the sides.

Next I cut two pieces of masonite peg-board to fit inside the wells. These pieces of peg-board will be the substrates that each sub-panel will be built on. [...] To protect the solar cells from the weather, the panel will have a plexiglass front.

I laid out the cells on that grid pattern upside-down so I could solder them together. All 18 cells on each half panel need to be soldered together in series, then both half panels need to be connected in series to get the desired voltage. [...]I used a low-Wattage soldering iron and fine rosen-core solder. I also used a rosen pen on the solder points on the back of the cells before soldering. Use a real light touch with the soldering iron. The cells are thin and delicate. If you push too hard, you will break the cells.

Here’s what it looks like from the front.

Here I am testing first half panel outside in the sun. In weak sun through clouds the half panel is producing 9.31 Volts. YES It works! Now all I had to do is build another one just like it.

I drilled a hole in the back of the panel near the top for the wires to exit. [...] Each solar panel in a solar power system needs a blocking diode in series with it to prevent the panel from discharging your batteries at night or during cloudy weather. [...] I added a polarized two-pin jones plug to the end of the panel wires.

Here is the finished product, producing 18.8 volts and 3.05 Amps in the sun.

How much did it cost?

Not bad, though of course there’s a lot of labor needed to actually build the thing, and you need the skills in the first place. Not a project for everybody, but those with the courage will certainly have a lot of fun.

This is just a quick overview of the project. If you want more, please visit Mark’s website linked below. There’s a lot more details and more photos about how he built his inexpensive solar panels.

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What tools will you need in the DIY home solar project?e

You will want to make a visit to your local hardware store to pick up a few essentials, like a piece of plywood ( to use as your solar panel backing), some solder, a soldering gun if you don’t already have one, and some basic tools.  If you don’t already have some extra car batteries lying around you will want to get some of these as well so they can store the energy that your homemade solar project is going to create.  Also some electrical wire would be good to have on hand as well.

When it comes to solar cells you will probably want to buy them used on ebay.  You can get them much cheaper if they are used and you can make them work just as well with your soldering gun.  In fact, even buying broken solar cells can be beneficial as they can easily be fixed following the instructions below and you will have a solar panel that is running like a top in no time.

So how easy are these projects?  Well you don’t have to know anything about how solar power works  or even about electricity to get setup with one of these systems.  But what you do need is a good set of instructions or it can be very confusing.  It’s amazing how having just the right guide can make all the difference.

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