Here’s a question that I get quite often on my blog, “is Earth For Energy from Michael Harvey’s another scam?” I have always wondered why people ask such question. I guess it is understandable if you have never bought anything from the internet before.
The Earth 4 Energy e-book is one of the top selling renewable energy guides that you can find on the internet. It has been around for more than a year and it is still the top selling home green energy guide on the web.
If you didn’t know, the main web site for Earth For Energy (Earth 4 Energy) is at www.earth4energy.com. When you landed on the web page, you will see a big headline that say “How to make your own solar panels for less than $200” (screen shot below). Basically that is the promise from Micheal Harvey, the e-book author.
Low Cost DIY Solar Panel
The question is, can we make a solar panel for less than $200? If we can’t, that will definitely make Earth For Energy a scam. Don’t you think so?
I decided to do some research to prove my theory.
The picture below shows the cost breakup on the DIY solar panel. As it turns out, you can actually make the homemade solar panel with less than $100, instead of $200. Great!
From the costing breakdown, the largest material cost is in the Photovoltaic (PV) cells. Is is $67.50.
To make the solar panel as recommended by Earth For Energy, you will need 36 pieces of 3″ x 6″ solar cells.
Michael Harvey suggests for us to look for cheap solar cells at Ebay. And that’s where I’ve headed.
Cheap Solar Cells At Ebay
It took me about 5 minutes of browsing in Ebay and I did find a few good listings. The closest one that I’ve seen is an offer for 36 pieces of 3″ x 5″ solar cells for $56.50. The price is quite close to the solar panel budget as shown in Earth For Energy.
In fact, I’ve also found an offer for 70 broken 3″ x 6″ PV cells for $17.01. Broken cells may not be the best, but some of them still can be used. But you have to test them with a multi-meter first.
In Conclusion
So is Earth For Energy a scam?
The project budget costing versus the actual material cost is pretty close. If that is the case, Michael Harvey’s promise of showing us how to make a solar panel for less than $200 may just actually work. The rest is on your personal effort of actually building the panel.
From my conclusion, I do not thing the guide is scam or fraud. Nonetheless, I would suggest for you to try it for yourself.
Hey..if it doesn’t work, you can always ask for a refund. Micheal has given his personal guarantee on his manual. If you don’t see any value in his e-book, you can ask for a full refund within 60 days from the purchase date.