Due to the ever increasing gas prices, people are looking for cheaper sources of energy. Within the last decade, solar technology has evolved quite a bit and now they are not that expensive at all.

Better, low cost and efficient solar technology is now available. More and more people are turning to solar energy for saving money spent on household electricity. Whenever you think of solar energy, the first thing that comes to your mind is the initial investment and the installation charges.

In fact it is not that difficult to setup a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) solar panel, provided you have the right knowledge and required raw materials. This article will provide you all the information needed to setup a solar panel of your own.

First of all you will have to gather the materials required to build the solar panel and also a box to house everything. You can buy solar cells at cheap rates from eBay. Apart from the photovoltaic (PV) cells, you will also need wires, diodes and a jones plug to wire everything. You can buy diodes from eBay and jones from a local electronics store.

In order to construct the solar panel box you will need lumber, screws and hardware, silicone caulk, paint and plexiglass, all of which you can buy from a hardware store. Some other basic tools will also be required to assemble the PV panel.

A cordless drill might be handy during the process. A soldering iron will be required while assembling. You can also get PV cells at very cheap rates from commercial solar companies. Normally these companies find it hard to store old cells when they replace a system with new ones.

They will be happy to get rid of those older ones that use up their storage space. You can approach some of these companies; it will save you some money for sure. You can also go for used or damaged solar cells. They are hard to find but if you do, it can save you a lot of money.

When you order solar cells, make sure you order a few extra ones in case of some damage during shipping or assembling. Another important thing to look at is that the size of all photovoltaic cell should be the same. Difference in size means difference in the amount of current produced.

Mixing different sizes can affect the efficiency and energy production. Before constructing your own PV panels, you should have a clear cut idea about the amount of power you need and also about the size of your system. One solar cell can produce one half volt and a series of 40 cells will give you over 20 Volts.

Power in Watts is calculated by multiplying the Amps by the Volts. If your cell can produce 3 Amps, then your system will be able to deliver above 60 Watts of power. If you want to increase the Wattage, you can use larger cells. Large solar cells can make the entire system heavier and may use up a lot of space. It is always better to start with a smaller one and then upgrade it when the need arises.

You are the one who believes in the conservation of electricity and as such you take extra care in switching off of the lights which are not required. You have shifted to CFL bulbs and removed the entire conventional bulbs.

You have stopped using your air conditioner to cool your home and instead are using the normal fan or you have set thermostat at 66°during the night. All these efforts are laudable, but have you ever thought of using the alternate source of energy, could be because of paucity of funds, you cannot invest in the Photovoltaic (PV) array or hot solar water system.

The answer to all this is solar air heater. You must determine the window which you will allocate to build the solar air heater, a double hung window can be an ideal choice, it should face south to south west, and should get sun light for the greater part of the day.

You will have to build a frame which is 1 ½” than the clear opening and 36″ to 48″ tall, use treated wood for long life. Ensure that the solar air heater is fixed well and well secured in the window. You must seal all the joints very well, cut the rigid insulation back to fit the frame leaving a gap of around 5 ½” at the top.

Place two spacers in the middle and at the edges which should be around 2″, now add the horizontal rigid insulation between the arms and the bottom and one in the middle of the arms. Make it strong and secure using adhesives on all the four sides.

Cut the corner bead and secure with roofing nails to the insulation with fins pointing outside. Paint the entire interior of the solar heater with black spray paint; apply the compressible foam weather stripping along the face of the entire frame.

You may use silicon sealant that will prevent you to remove glass in future. Insert a piece of the weather stripping between the aluminum angle and the glass. Your solar air heater is ready to be installed. You must make it weather proof so that the heat is not lost.

Once you have opened the window and place the heater inside. Lower the sash and install foam weather stripping along the line where the sash meets the heater. Now cut the air conditioner foam weather stripping as per the width of the sash and insert the same between the sashes at the bottom of exterior sash.

The gaps should be filled between the heater and the window jamb with expandable foam. Now install insulating window film over the window, securing the bottom of the horizontal piece of decking. Now finally cut a piece of rigid insulation to fit the top opening of the heater to prevent any heat loss. You can use an old bath towel also for this purpose.

To keep water out you can also add a piece of aluminum flashing at the top of the solar air heater. Now this installation your solar air heater is ready and installed.

DIY Solar Air Heater Guide

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Everyone knows exactly how much a gallon of gasoline costs and how many miles one can drive one’s car when we fill its tank with gas. But how many of us know how much a Photovoltaic (PV) solar panel costs and what will be the total expense when one installs a system of solar panels to provide energy for the house.

We can get mileage from gasoline instantly but solar panels do not work that way. It takes a while to store energy before it is made available for use. This blog post tries to explain two aspects of installing solar panels as an alternate source of energy, namely the cost involved and the cost effectiveness of this system.

First, let us consider the cost involved in setting up solar panels. Solar panels are photovoltaic systems which capture sun’s rays and convert them into electrical energy. The cost of PV systems are calculated as so many dollars per Watt, $/W.

However there are other aspects to be considered when calculating the cost. Are we talking about DC Watt or AC Watt, or are we considering the cost as per Watt peak, $/Wp? Irrespective of all these considerations one must be aware that when we install solar panels, they not only produce energy for current use but also for future use. This certainly sounds good.

Let us now consider how much the set up will cost you. Since each home requires its own unique configuration of solar panels, the cost will differ from house to house. Every state and local body offers solar rebates, and also solar tax credits. These rebates and credits are not uniform all over the country.

This means that the cost of installing solar panels will not only differ from home to home but also from region to region. If you pay Federal income tax, you can claim Federal solar tax solar energy tax credit for 30% of the cost of installing solar energy system in your home.

Listed below are some resources which would help you assess the cost of installing solar energy system in your home. First on the list is the Open PV Project, which is a project of the National Renewable Energy Lab. This will give you information on how much PV systems will cost in different parts of the country.

According to this list, in 2010, on average the cost was $7.15/W. However, this is only a ball park figure since not all solar installation companies had participated in compiling this data. But the data provided by the Open PV Project will give you some idea of difference between states in the cost of installing solar PV systems.

For example, the cost solar panel system is $5.64/W in Arizona, but it is $7.64/W in New Jersey. Secondly, in certain states it is required that companies which install solar systems report to the state their installation charges. If the company which had installed your solar PV system had not done so, the state will not give you any rebate.

On account of this requirement, it is possible to have a good idea of what the installation of solar panels will cost. You will find that in Pennsylvania, the Sunshine Solar Rebate program reports an average rate of $5.32/W for domestic installations with 8 Kilowatts as median system capacity.

On the other hand, Go Solar California that is a joint project of California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission reports an average cost of $7.19/W in its latest quarterly report on costs for domestic solar panel installations.

Thirdly, if all this confuses you, you can just follow the rule of thumb, and use a default value of $7.00/W for home installation of solar panels. Though is not an exact figure it will give you a good idea of what the project will cost you. Of course, this will reduce when you take into consideration the rebates and tax credits that you will be eligible to get.

Lastly, make sure you get quotations from three, or at least two, reliable companies that install solar panels for homes. You should be aware that since there is so much variability involved in installing solar energy systems in your home, you will get a proper estimate of the cost of installing a solar PV system in your home only when the installing company gives you a figure.

Anyway, going by the default figure of $7.00/W, it could cost you $35,000 for a system that would provide you an average of 5KW energy. When you take into consideration the rebates you will be eligible to get and the 30% Federal solar tax credit, your actual cost would be considerably less.