Solar power as alternative source of energy can greatly reduce the electricity bills and provide great savings over times. But in course of times the dirt and residue accumulates over the solar cells and thus the cells don’t work as efficiently as they used to.

Thus for optimal performance these dirt and grime should be removed periodically and the panel should be properly cleaned. So, every household having a solar system in place must know the appropriate methods to clean his power panels.

The solar cells are quite delicate so the panels need to be cleaned with care. The cells transform solar energy to electricity when they are clear; so cleaning them increases the efficiency but if any scratch occurs in the process, it not only wastes the time involved in cleaning process but also proves costly to replace the damaged cells.

Anybody interested in reducing the maintenance cost by cleaning the solar panel himself, he should follow the proper procedure for the do-it-yourself (DIY) to avoid any unpleasant situation where any such cleaning not only get wasted but also proves a burden on the wallet in replacing damaged solar cells.

The first step of do-it-yourself to clean your solar panel begins with regular inspection of the solar cells. By regularly inspecting them, you will able to find out when they get dirty enough and the accumulated dirt starts affecting the efficiency of the cells.

In some areas like desert, where lots of dusty storms took place, more regular inspection and cleaning are required. While inspecting solar panels you should ensure that solar cells do not have any cracks and all the connections are tight and there is no sparking in any connections.

Cleaning the solar cells is just like cleaning the window as the cells are protected by outer glass layers. You simply need warm water, mild detergent, soft sponge and soft drying cloth. Ready-made cleaning liquids can also be used which are readily available at the stores.

The simply best and cost effective method to clean solar panels are spraying warm mild detergent water on the surface and carefully sponge off the dirt and grime. And then again spray simply warm water and clean with soft drying cloth.

Once all the grime has been removed one should ensure that there is no soap left on the glass surface as any soap leftovers might result in forming of streaks affecting the performance of solar cells. In using ready-made solar panel cleaners, you should be careful in reading the instructions before cleaning with them.

However, if you feel uncomfortable in doing yourself you can always hire a professional to do the job for you in a bit more professional way without any worry of applying wrong product on your solar panels. There are a lot of professional companies that specialize in cleaning household products.

And finally whether you hire any professional or do it yourself, you should spare some time to make sure that the solar panels are thoroughly cleaned and there is nothing hampering the solar cells from converting solar energy to electricity for you.

New solar panels are a bit costly so if you are on a tight budget, you can buy some used solar panels. The price difference between the new solar panel and the used one may be considerably high.

And if you have luck on your side, you can get a working solar panel for just a fraction of what a newer panel would have cost you. Now the question is how much these solar panels will cost normally.

Well that depends upon whether you install these panels yourself or hire a professional to do the job for you and in that case it’s going to cost you more. It also depends upon the capacity you want to install at your residence. For example you can calculate the cost by planning capacity generation or decide how much investment you going to make i.e. $6 to $9 a watt and add the required installation charges which can be considerable.

So it will be good idea to purchase your Photovoltaic (PV) panels from a wholesale store to get it at low prices. Also, keep in mind that the technology is constantly improving and the governments are also encouraging environmentally clean technologies by providing subsidy.

At a wholesale shop you might get attractive offers of newly launched models of solar cells or get special discount if any particular company wants to clear its stock before launching new model. Wholesale store have a lot of verities of products manufactured by different companies that compete and have different price lists. So you can get a solar panel more situated to your budget.

PV panels can also be purchased from any online store and it doesn’t require you to be very expert even when buying used panels, but it is always helpful if you know the basic guidelines. While taking any decision it should always be kept in mind that the technology involved in solar cell manufacturing is constantly improving and comparatively newer solar cells are used these days.

You can find that a few older solar cells are still being used. The first thing you will notice about these older solar panels is that they are rather much larger than the newer ones when compared under same wattage category. So they are going to acquire more space and if you have got enough space, these older used solar panels can be very cost effective options to go green.

So after getting these used solar panels, the first thing you should do is to remove the Photovoltaic cells from the base on which they are mounted to. After dismounting them you should inspect them for loose connector, cracked and damaged solar cells due to moisture or otherwise. These are the very common ailments of solar cells which can be easily repaired by re-soldering and tightening the loosed connections.

Because of these common causes, some house owners think that the entire solar panel is faulty and just replace them. Due to high cost of traditional electricity, many people are now beginning to think to use this technology to save money as well as benefiting the economy.

People are beginning to mount their residence with residential solar cells created particularly for residential use. Many stores have opened up selling brand new as well as used solar panels. Due to tough economy or otherwise some people might prefer used or cheap PV panels.

Homemade Energy Program

If you are thinking of ways to cut down your home solar power system cost even further, why not make your own solar panels. Check out Ben Ford solar guide for step by step instruction on how to get started.

Do you want to know how to build your own Do It Yourself (DIY) home solar water heater and save up to 33% of your monthly electricity bill? If you do, be sure to check out Tom Hayden Simple Heaters home solar water heater building guide.

One of the biggest usages of electricity at home is our home water heater unit. If you are living in a cold climate area, the water heater is very essential to heat the water for our shower, washing dishes and cleaning.

Since an electric water heater uses a heating coil powered by electric current, the power it consumes every time the unit is switched on is quite substantial.

Is there a cheaper solution? Well, you can build a home solar water heater yourself to save money.

DIY Home Solar Water Heater

Tom Hayden Simple Heaters was specially written to help anyone to make their own homemade solar water heating unit. The idea is to help you to set up your own solar water heater with a budget of less than $70!

Tom Hayden is a solar energy enthusiast and he has been studying, building and using solar energy for over 30 years. His guide was written based on his years of experience using simple, easy and affordable components to construct a solar water heater.

What good is a DIY home solar water heater unit if it is too complicated to build or cost too much to construct? Hayden’s guide was made simple to comprehend and without any technical jargon so that any average Joe could understand it.

If you can read and understand his instructions in the guide, you can pretty much build the system on your own.

Hayden also kept his guide selling relatively cheap so anyone could afford it. The Simple Heaters guide is selling for only $29.99. Every purchase of his guide comes with 4 additional bonus e-books on renewable and green energy.

Hayden’s manual also comes with a 60 days money back guarantee. If you are not happy with your purchase, you can ask for a full refund within 60 days from your purchase date. For more information, click on the link below.

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