Do you know one of the world’s largest oil producers has a division that sells solar technologies? Yup, I know it is kind of like a corporate oxymoron but it is true. The oil giant, British Petroleum (BP), has a company known as BP Solar that offers both home and business solar solution.

BP Solar has a very popular residential solar system known as “BP Solar Home Solutions”. It is a system using BP solar components installed by BP registered dealers.

BP Solar Home Solution is very similar to other domestic solar system offered in the market. It comes with all the standard solar components.

The heart of the system, the solar modules, is made from high performance monocrystalline and multicrystalline. The key function of the modules is to harness the energy from the sun and converts it into usable electricity.

One of the main challenges when installing the solar panels is the roof. All houses have very different roof design. Some uses slate, metal, Spanish tile, asphalt, shake shingles etc. If you are a novice, without the proper mounting and tools, securing the solar modules on the roof will be a tough and dangerous job.

Luckily, part of the services offered by BP Solar’s representative is to access your roof. Representative from BP Solar will assess your roof to determine the best location and angle of placement.

The assessment will cover the roof type, roof pitching, shape and orientation as well as analyzing any potential shading throughout the year. The initial roof assessment will ensure maximum power output from your home solar power system.

What are the other components that come with the solar system? It is the inverter and utility net meter.

The solar modules up on the roof only produce Direct Current (DC) when exposed to the sun. All modern home appliances nowadays are designed to run on Alternate Current (AC). The function of the inverter is to convert the DC to AC.

If you are planning to sell access power generated by your home solar system back to the utility company, you will need to install the utility net metering unit. The meter will track your home net energy usage by spinning forward when electricity is used from the grid and spinning backward when there is access power. In short, it generates a credit when the solar system creates more electricity than you need.

DIY Home Solar Power Guide

If you do not understand how a residential solar energy system works, the information above may sound like Greek to you. Before you contact the people from BP Solar, it is best for you to brush up your knowledge on solar power system.

If you are looking for a good DIY home solar guide, check out the Earth4Energy manual from Michael Harvey. It is an e-book with High Definition (HD) step by step instructional videos. For more information about Earth4Energy, click on the link below.

Are you a rugged person that loves the outdoor? If you are, wouldn’t you want to bring along your personal electronic gadgets with you?

In the modern fast paced world, successful people are always connected either via their cell phone, laptop or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Even when you are out in the wilderness, or climbing a mountain, you want to have a way where anyone can reach you anytime.

Well, maybe not for a cell phone where there’s no coverage. Then again, if you have a satellite phone, people can reach you even if you are at the top of Mount Everest.

The only challenge with all these electronic gadgets is power, or lack of it. You can bring a few backup batteries, but out in the open, it will run out after a couple of days or a week at most.

To meet this energy demand, Brunton has came out with an ingenious idea, a flexible solar panel which can be rolled up and stored in a back pack.

The first time I saw the Brunton solar roll is when I was visiting Amazon.com. It caught my attention because it was very unique. I have never seen anything like that before.

I bought the unit and thought of doing a quick review of the Brunton flexible solar module.

Firstly, the power output from the solar module is 14 watt. That amount of power is more than enough to charge a cell phone, laptop, PDA, digital camera, video camera etc. The power output is not too much and not too little, just right for a person on the move.

The module is actually amorphous solar cells which is effective even under low light situation. It is built with Tefzel fluoropolymer which is extremely durable. For added ruggedness, it is also water and UV light proof. No worries when you have to carry it into a rain soak forest or kayaking in a raging river.

There is a feature that I really like. If you need more than 14 watt of power, you can actually link multiple units of the solar module together to generate more power. I wonder if it could power a plasma TV with it…

When you are running or hike in a mountain, the number of stuff in your back pack will be a factor. You want to carry the least weight as possible.

Luckily, the Brunton solar roll weighs only 17 ounces. Size wise, it is 12 inches x 57 inches. But when you roll it up, it only takes up the space of a bottle of water.

The Brunton solar module is selling at $306.68 at Amazon.com. Get it now while stock lasts.

Most people who own an RV will consider it as their home away from home. In actual fact, an RV is almost like your house on wheels but minus some of the electrical appliances.

Due to the limited on board power supply, you can only use a couple of electronic gadgets on your vehicle. Your kids may want to bring along their Playstation, Xbox or Nintendo Wii along on long RV trips.

Tapping on the existing RV power supply will drain the batteries very fast. You won’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere just because your battery went dead.

How do you create more power on your RV?

The easiest way to get more power on your vehicle is to purchase an RV solar panel kit. All you need to do is install the kit on your RV and you’ll have instant power on the go.

The only drawback is the cost of the kit. A 330 watt RV solar power system will cost upwards of $2800! It’s fair to say you can ask your kids to leave their gadget behind.

A cheaper alternative is to build the RV solar panels via a Do It Yourself (DIY) approach. A portable solar power system is actually quite simple. The main components are the solar panels, charge controller, battery units and power inverter.

The solar panel is made from small Photovoltaic (PV) cells soldered together. The PV cell has a natural tendency to generate electric current when exposed to direct sun light.

The charge controller will then use the current from the panel to charge the backup battery bank. For a small RV, you may need 4 – 6 units of 12 volts deep cycle batteries.

Since batteries can only hold Direct Current (DC), you will need the power inverter to change the DC to Alternate Current (AC). Most of the modern electrical equipment run on AC and all you have to do is plug them into the power output from the inverter.

How much will the homemade RV solar power system cost?

It depends on where you can find good bargain for the solar component. Nonetheless, a DIY solar power system would cost less than $700.

To reduce the cost of the system, you can actually make the solar panels on your own. You can do so by purchasing cheap or used PV cells from Ebay. The next step is to solder all the cells together and put them into a custom build solar panel box.

For a complete step by step instruction guide and blueprint, check out Michael Harvey’s Earth4Energy guide. It comes with PDF file e-books and High Definition (HD) instructional videos. Check out the Earth4Energy review on this blog for more information.