By A Renewable Energy Enthusiast

Step By Step Instructional Video

Here’s a video that I just made to show how to find cheap solar cells in Ebay.

If you are planning to make your own DIY solar panel, one of the key component is the PV cells.

The solar cells can be quite expensive. You can cut down your project cost if you can locate inexpensive cells. One way of doing so is to do your shopping in Ebay.

Here’s a tip, try doing your search in Ebay at least once a week. You don’t know when someone with surplus solar cells would want to off load.

It is smart to be always on the lookout for such offers.

Related web pages:
1) Earth4Energy Scam – Is The Earth4Energy E-book A Fraud?

2) DIY Battery Bank for Home Solar Power System

Searching For Cheap Solar Modules

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post explaining how to find cheap solar cells for DIY solar panel on ebay. This time around I was thinking, what if someone does not want to spend the time to check and solder all the PV cells together. That will take a lot of time. Are we able to find a whole complete solar module? It doesn’t hurt to try to look for them on ebay.

So, I headed to ebay main web site and type in “solar panel module” on the search bar locate on the top left and then hit the “Search” button. Immediately, I was presented with 87 search results matching my query.

Browsing On eBay

Most of the home solar modules were pretty expensive. Some of the modules were costing almost $1000! If we are implementing a DIY home solar power system, that will definitely break out project budget.

I noticed there are a few offers that were selling at the range of $200 to $400. So I decided to look at them closely. Here’s what I found.

Inexpensive Surplus PV Modules

Most of the residential solar modules are offered by small companies selling solar related stuff. I also found an offer from a seller that bought new solar modules for a project but it got cancelled. He was stuck with 40 PV panels and wanted to get rid of them.

The price he’s offering is pretty high though. In this case, I would wait for a couple of weeks and check back to see if anyone took up his offer. If not, most probably he would have reduced the price. It’s time to make a bid.

Shipped In The USA Only

After going through some of the offers, I notice one thing a lot of the listings have in common. They only ship to the USA only. This is understandable because shipping overseas will incur additional charges. Not to mention import taxes.

If you are looking for inexpensive home solar module, I guess people staying in the US have an added advantage.

Cheap Solar Module From Mainland China

As I was scrolling through more of the listing, I noticed a solar module that was the cheapest among the others. That got me very curious and I decided to explore further.

I didn’t see anything unusual, until I looked at the item location. The solar module is from Mainland China. That’s the reason why it is so cheap.

The seller does mentioned they are willing to ship the PV module to anywhere around the world. You may have to add a couple of hundred dollars on top of the selling price for shipping and handling charges.

Should you take up this offer? In a case like this, I am not sure. Goods from China are usually cheaper compared to product from the US, Germany or Japan. In term of quality wise, they may be substandard.

If you were to buy the cheap solar module from China, be prepared to spend more time maintaining your residential solar energy system.

The Wrap Up

So what is my conclusion? As it turns out, you can find cheap solar modules on ebay for a residential solar power project. People living in America have an added advantage because the modules are mainly delivered within the USA only.

The really cheap solar modules are from China. In cases like this, you have to make your own decision whether to invest in the PV modules or not.

Home Solar And Wind Power Videos

Do you want to know how you can use solar modules or wind generator to reduce your home energy consumption? If you do, check out the 30 solar and wind power for home videos e-book we’ve compiled. It’s free to download.

==> Click here to download the free e-book now!

Related web pages:
1) Green DIY Energy Reviews – Is Green DIY Energy Another Scam?

2) Magniwork Comparison – Is Magniwork Generator System A Scam?

3) Magniwork Scam – Is The Magniwork Manual Bogus?

If you were to build your own home solar power system, you have to understand, there are multiple components involved to make it work. The key components are the solar cells, array DC disconnect, inverter, AC breaker panel, power meter, battery etc. Each component plays a very important role.

Deep Cycle Battery For Home Solar System

In this blog post, I wanted to write about the battery. The battery for a DIY solar power system will be used to store the electricity generated by the solar panels. The electrical appliances at home usually are not connected directly to the solar system.

This is because the power output from the solar cell fluctuates due to inconsistent amount of sun light hitting the cells. This will cause the electric current to fluctuate also.

For example, if you were to connect a 50 watt light bulb to the solar array, the light produced by the bulb will flicker due to the power fluctuation. To make the system work, the electricity generated from the solar cells is directly to a battery bank for storage.

How many battery units do you need? This will depend on your household power requirement.

If you are planning to connect multiple electrical equipment to the system, you may need anywhere from 15 to 20 units of battery. As you can see, there would be a problem to this which is the “cost”.

Buying brand new battery from the hardware shop can be quite expensive. Remember, you still need money to buy the other components.

Searching For Inexpensive Batteries

Are there any places where we can get cheap batteries on the web? Yes there is…and we are off to ebay!

Ebay is one of my favorite places to look for cheap parts. I did a blog post on how to find cheap solar cells on ebay a few weeks ago. Now we look for inexpensive batteries.

The search process is still the same. First, go to ebay web site. Remember to choose a local ebay site to save on shipping and transportation charges.

Before we begin the search, you have to know the right type of battery to look for. For a DIY solar system, the suitable battery is the deep cycle type. Now we go shopping!

On ebay main site, type in the phrase “deep cycle battery” in the search box on the top left. Next, hit the “Search” button.

You will then be presented with all the listings with deep cycle battery. The next process is the tricky part. We have to go through all the results.

Here’s a tip that I learned from Michael Harvey’s Earth 4 Energy e-book. Look for used or reconditioned deep cycle batteries. These kind of offers are the cheapest. You may have to search a few times before you find the perfect deal.

Here’s another tip, make sure the selling price is inclusive of shipping and handling. If not, you will end up paying all the charges yourself.

To increase your chances of finding the best deal, it is recommended for you to do a search on ebay a few times a week.

New users are logging on to ebay every day to trade goods and services. Some people may just have surplus batteries to off load. You want to be the first one to find them.

For more tips and tricks on finding cheap parts for a homemade solar power system, be sure to check out the Earth 4 Energy manual. If you are wondering whether Earth 4 Energy is a scam, read our review write up on the e-book.

Home Solar And Wind Power Videos

Do you want to know how you can use solar modules or wind generator to reduce your home energy consumption? If you do, check out the 30 solar and wind power for home videos e-book we’ve compiled. It’s free to download.

==> Click here to download the free e-book now!

Related web pages:
1) Magniwork Review – Is Magniwork Generator System A Scam?

2) Green DIY Energy Review – Is Green DIY Energy Another Scam?

3) Renewable Energy Industries Association – Declare your energy independence!