Some people may find the subject of economics very boring. I know I do because I remember sleeping through economic classes at school. Studying all the charts and graphs did not interest me at all.

If I am so turned off by the subject of economics, why am I writing an article about it right now?

Well, back then, the subject of economics didn’t concern me because it does not affect me. However, today’s article is on the topic of energy economics at home, which has a direct affect on my pocket.

If you are planning to build a home solar power system to supplement your energy usage, you know you have to set aside quite a large sum of money. Wouldn’t it make sense to get the best Return On Investment (ROI) for your money?

That’s what I thought and the studies of economics became very interesting.

Getting The Best Out Of Your Money

When you are making investment in both time and money planning and building a home solar energy system, you should be focused and deliberate in order to ensure a good payback.

Unfortunately, many home owners do not have a good grasp on the specific of how and where energy is being consumed in their homes. Before you start buying solar components, it is best to deduce how much you are paying for electricity at home.

As the saying goes, “The devil is in the details.” Do you know where you are spending the most on electricity? Is it the air-conditioning unit, heater or refrigerator?

If you were to study your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HAVC) system, you may discover certain areas which you are wasting money.

The biggest issue with HVAC is your home insulation. If your house is not properly insulated or if there are air leaks, your air-conditioning unit will kick into action to achieve your desired temperature setting. Due to air leaks, the system has to work harder to compensate hence costing you more money.

If you were to install a home solar power system without first studying the energy economics of your home, most of the power generated by the sun will go to waste.

Performing Home Energy Audits

So, here’s the conclusion of this article. Always perform a complete energy audit of your home before you start buying the solar parts and components.

There are 2 ways you can do this. You can either engage the service of a professional home energy auditor which will cost you a couple of hundred dollars or do the auditing yourself.

By doing your own DIY energy audit, you will locate where are your largest energy wasters. There is a step by step guide which will show you how to perform your own home energy audit. It only takes 1 hour using common tools found around your house and it will give you a better result than using a professional auditor. Click on the link below to check out the DIY home energy audit guide.

==> Click here to visit DIY home energy audit guide now!

Before you start building your home solar power system, you need to know how much power is needed for your home utilization. This will determine how big your residential solar system will be and at the same time, gives you a rough estimated project budget.

To calculate your energy needs, follow the 3 steps below.

1) Calculate your home daily energy usage.

To get this figure, you begin by getting your home energy bills for the last 12 months and calculate the average kilowatt hour (kWh) usage per month. Why do you need last 12 months bill? Reason being, the power usage of your home fluctuates throughout the seasons.

Add up the total power used for the past 12 months and divide it by 12. That will give you the average monthly power consumption.

Now, take the figure and divide it by 30 and you should have your average daily power consumption.

2) Solar power system output.

This is to determine how much power you need the solar system to generate. But before you begin, find out how many usable sunlight hours your region receive per day. Different areas will have different average sun coverage. To get this number, look at the solar insolation map.

Now, use the average daily power usage you calculate earlier and divide it by the number of daily usable sunlight hour from the insolation map. Next, multiple the number with 1.25 as a factor to account for energy wastage from wiring, batteries, charge controller, power inverter etc.

Here’s an example, assuming your daily power needs is 15.4 kWh and your region has average 5.5 hours of sunlight. Then the calculation will be 15.4 / 5.5 x 1.25 = 3.5 kWh or 3500 watts a day.

Assuming you are getting a solar panel rated at 180watts, then you will need 3500/180 = 19.4 or 20 pieces of solar panel.

3) Photovoltaic (PV) panel watt cost.

Now, you need to calculate how much it will cost you to buy all the PV panels needed to generate at least 3500 watts of power. For the time being, the highest average cost for solar panels in the United States is $4.98 a watt. So, the solar panels cost will be 3500 x 4.98 = $17,430.

The figure is a rough indication of how much it will cost you to buy the solar panels. Remember, the budget excludes the cost of wiring, charge controller, battery bank, power inverters etc.

The number above looks quite high and most home owners will shy away from using solar energy to supplement their energy needs. Don’t worry, the government is willing to give you a helping hand.

In my next post, I’ll share with you how government rebates and credits will help you to reduce your home solar power project cost.

DIY Home Solar Power Guide

Do you want to know how to get started on building your own DIY home solar power system? If you do, check out Micheal Harvey’s Earth4Energy guide book. The manual comes with pdf files and step by step High Definition (HD) instructional videos. Click on the link below for more information.

When you were going up, do you remember learning about the sun at school? I can remember every year, we learn about the sun in science classes. Back then, we knew the sun is a ball of burning gasses and it lights up the earth. Now that we are all grown up, we understand that the sun is capable of much more than lighting up the sky.

A good example is the sun natural ability to generate electricity for a homemade solar power system. Nowadays, most houses are powered using gas or fossil fuel. Should you consider going green and start using renewable energy such as solar? Here are 3 good reasons why you should do so.

1) It can be reasonably low cost. Most people wanting to use solar power at home will start by using readymade solar system or solar components. While this approach is quick and easy, it can be rather expensive.

Engaging a professional solar contractor to setup the system can cost from $20,000 upwards. If you have some technical understanding and if you are good with hand tools, you can actually build the system via a Do It Yourself (DIY) approach.

In fact, there are a lot of guides on the web which will teach you how to build a homemade solar power system at minimal cost.

2) There are many DIY solar guides which you can find on the internet that will teach you how to build the solar powered system. Make sure you find a manual written in simple English without too many technical jargons.

Luckily, some of the guides come with lots of diagrams and step by step instructional videos. All you have to do is follow the instructions making the entire process fast and simple.

3) When you are using a DIY homemade solar power at home, you will begin to see a reduction in your home energy bill. No doubt the reduction may not be a lot, but if you were to multiple it with 10 or 20 years, the money saved can be quite substantial.

A good DIY solar system can last 1 or 2 decades. That is generally the lifespan of the solar components before you need to replace them.

The next time you look at a sunset, admire its beauty because it is simply amazing. The sun gives out large amount of energy every second. If you were to take the time and build a solar system, you can use the energy to power your home electrical appliances.

DIY Home Solar Power System

Want to know how to get started on a homemade solar power system? If you do, begin by downloading a free copy of the 30 Solar and Wind Power For Homes Videos e-book. The e-book will show you videos of how solar power works and the components needed in the system. To download the e-book, click here.