One of the popular home renewable energy guides on the internet is the Green DIY Energy program. If you didn’t know, you can find the program at www.greendiyenergy.com.

Due to its popularity, many people are wondering whether Green DIY Energy is a scam. It is a fair assumption and I decided to write something about it.

What Green DIY Energy Promises

When you land on the main web site, there’s a big bold title that says “The Secrets of Building Your Own Solar Energy…for less than $200”.

I guess the key question here is, can you make a DIY solar panel for less than $200?

If a normal person can’t do so, it is fair to say Green DIY Energy is a scam.

So I’m using that as my control criteria to judge if the program is a fraud.

Making an Inexpensive Solar Panel

There are a total of 4 e-books that comes with Green DIY Energy. 2 of the manual cover DIY solar panel while the other 2 e-books talk about DIY home wind generator.

When I read the manual on solar panel construction, the actual recommended cost is only $98, not $200 as mention!

I was thinking, why are they raising the bar for themselves? Wouldn’t it be an even bigger challenge to work with such a small budget?

Here’s the catch, the Green DIY Energy solar panel plans focus on only 1 solar panel, not the whole home solar power system. A complete system would definitely cost a lot more.

Some people misunderstood this and thought they can build a complete residential solar energy system with only a couple hundred dollars.

A complete solar system has multiple components. You will need the DC disconnect, charge controller, circuit breaker, battery bank, power inverter etc. Even if you can get the parts cheaply, you would need a budget of at least $1000.

The Main Test

Okay, back to the topic, can we make a solar panel for only $98?

Based on the project costing as shown in the Green DIY Energy e-book (diagram below), the biggest cost is on the Photovoltaic (PV) cells which is $67.50.

Hence, 69% of the budget is on the solar cells alone. If we can validate the cost of the solar cells as recommended, then we can prove Green DIY Energy’s claim.

The solar panel design is capable of generating approximately 18 volt and about 75 watts of electricity. The panel would be sufficient to charge a conventional 12 volt deep cycle battery.

As it turns out, you will need 36 pieces of 3” x 6” PV cells for the solar panel. The origin of the solar cells is from Ebay. So let’s have a look in Ebay.

Cheap Solar Cells at Ebay

I did a search on Ebay to see if I could find some inexpensive solar cells. It took me about 10 minutes of searching.

The closest offer that I could find is a 36 pieces of 3” x 5” solar cells selling for $56.50.

The Conclusion

So far, the DIY solar panel project costing as recommended in Green DIY Energy is pretty accurate.

In the e-book, they spent $67.50 on solar cells. When I search in Ebay, the actual price offered for 36 pieces of PV cells is $56.50.

So is Green DIY Energy a scam?

From my research, the recommendation is quite valid. So, it is not a scam.

They promised that you can build a homemade solar panel for less than $200. My guess is, if you were to follow their instructions to the letter, you can get it done for less than $150.

==> Click here to visit Green DIY Energy now!

Related web pages:
1) Green DIY Energy Video Review – Build Your Own Solar Panel

2) Is It Possible To Power Your Home With Wind For Less Than $140?

3) Deep cycle battery – A deep-cycle lead-acid battery is designed to deliver a consistent voltage as the battery discharges. In contrast, starter batteries (e.g. most automotive batteries) are designed to deliver sporadic current spikes.

In the second instructional video of Green DIY Energy “Build your own solar panel for less than $100″, there are 3 sections. In the first section, the host, Bryan Clark talks about the multi-meter. In the second section, he covers the Photovoltaic testing block and finally in the third section, you will learn how to construct a solar panel frame.

The Ins And Outs of Multi-meter

One of the most important tools you’ll need to have when building a home solar panel is the multi-meter. The function of the multi-meter is to measure the voltage and current generated by the solar cells.

If you have never used a multi-meter before, this video will give you’re a quick walk through of all the features on the device. It is important where and how you connect the testing rod. It is also imperative where you set the dial on the multi-meter. If you are not careful, you will get an incorrect reading from the device.

Making a PV Cell Testing Block

Why do you need a PV cell testing block? More importantly, what is it?

A solar cell has a front side and a back site. There are electrodes on the front and contact points at the back. Before we use the solar cell, we want to know if it is in working order.

If you are buying cheap solar cells from auction site such as Ebay, you want to check each and every cell to make sure it is working. To do that, you have to check the current it is producing with the multi-meter.

To get the correct readings from the solar cell, the testing rod of the multi-meter has to touch both the front electrodes and back contact point at the same time. As you can see, this is quite a difficult task.

To make the testing easier and faster, Byran is showing us a device specially made to help you with the testing of the solar cells. It is call the “PV cell testing block”.

Building The Solar Panel Frame

In this section of the video, Bryan walks us through the process of making the solar panel frame. In this section, you’ll learn to calculate the amount of power that will be generated by a series of PV cells. The calculation will involve a basic formula.

The idea is to make a solar panel that will generate 18 volts. To do that, you have to connect 36 solar cells in series. The question is, how do you arrange them in the solar panel to have to most efficient rating?

From the video, you will see 2 popular arrangements of the PV cells. You can either use the 4 cells across x 9 cells down or 3 cells across x 12 cells down arrangement. Each arrangement has its own advantages and disadvantages.

For more information on the homemade solar power system guide, check out the comprehensive Green DIY Energy review on this web site.

==> Click here to visit Green DIY Energy now!

High Definition Instructional Videos

One thing that I really like about the Green DIY Energy program is the instructional videos. In the member’s area, there are a total of 6 videos. The videos are High Definition and professionally done which make them very sharp and clear.

There are many DIY home solar or wind power videos that you can find on Youtube. The problem is, the quality is really bad. Most of the time, you can’t even see or hear what the person in the video is trying to say. Luckily, you don’t have this issue with Green DIY Energy.

Building Your Own Solar Panel For Less Than $100

The video series in Green DIY Energy is “Build your own solar panel for less than $100″.

The first video in the series is on the process of building your own solar panel. The difference here is to make it with a budget of less than $100. Is it possible to work with such a small budget? Yes it is, if you follow their recommendation.

To make your own solar modules, the first step is tool preparation. In the first video, it shows you what are the tools and material you will need to build the solar panel.

The video was shot in Boulder, Colorado and the host is Bryan Clark. Bryan started off by outlining all the different material and methods you will be using to build a solar panel that can produce 75 watt of power.

Introducing The Tools You’ll Need

What are the tools you’ll need to build a solar panel? In the video, Bryan introduced 19 different kinds of tools and safety equipment to get you started.

You’ll see him talking about the tools and what you will use it for. Some suggested tools are hand drills, caulking gun, soldering gun, multi-meter, leveler etc.

Material For Building A DIY Solar Panel

After Bryan is done introducing the hand tools, he goes on to explain the material you will be using for a Do It Yourself (DIY) solar panel. In this section he goes through items such as the Photovoltaic (PV) cells, wires, electrician tape, wood glue, blocking diode, silicon II caulk etc. If you are wandering what type of wires to use, Bryan also gave a very good recommendation in the video.

How do you select the solar cells? Do you use PV cells with tabbed or without tabbed ribbon? Bryan actually explains the pros and cons of the different solar cells.

Do you want to use a residential solar or wind power system to reduce your home energy consumption? If you do, be sure to check out the Green DIY Energy program. For a comprehensive Green DIY energy review, go to www.greendiyenergyreviews.com.

==> Click here to visit Green DIY Energy now!

Related web pages:
1) Northeast Sustainable Energy Association – Promoting sustainable energy solution.

2) American Solar Energy Society – The Solar Nonprofit Advancing Education, Research, Advocacy, News, and Insight Since 1954