Affordable Solar Power Systems – Make A Homemade Solar Energy Panel Below $200

October 3, 2011 | By Articles are the property of their respective Authors In alternative energy | Comments(0)

Solar power systems can be very affordable if you can apply a little elbow grease. By constructing solar energy panels yourself, you can a truckload of money on expensive setups and installation. You can also experience the joy of creating something useful.

A typical solar power generator costs at least $ 35,000 to $ 40,000 for a complete set up in a regular-sized home. You also have to consider maintenance costs. And if the panels break for whatever reason, you’ll need to spend money to replace them.

For many homeowners, their main aim of using solar energy panels is to be able to harvest the freely available energy from the sun. Then at some point in time (usually 10 to 15 years) their photovoltaic panels will eventually pay back the price they were bought for. This is commonly known as the payback period. It’s at this time when the owners start seeing financial benefits coming from theirsolar energy panels. Sadly, most of us will not have the patience to wait that long to experience the benefits.

By making your own solar panel, you can possibly shorten the payback period by a good ten years. This is because homemade solar energy panels cost much lesser. Thus even if the energy production is not superior to commercial panels, their payback period can be reduced dramatically.

Each piece of solar energy panel you build may cost less than $ 200 if you know how. This is a big contrast from professionally made panels. The entire construction process is simple and can be learnt from a DIY solar instructional manual. With nothing more than glass, plywood and some other commonly found parts, you can make an energy producing photovoltaic panel that can probably last you for two decades.

A possible challenge when making your own solar energy panel is where to source for cheap and reliable solar cells. This is because solar cells are the most important components of a solar power generator and cheap ones are not commonly found. This information can be found in good instructional guides. In fact, these guides can lead you step-by-step to complete your first homemadesolar energy panel even if you have got no prior experience in DIY projects.

There are also tips and secret techniques that can transform your ordinary-looking solar energy panels into professional-looking ones. More importantly, you can build a more efficient and longer-lasting solar power system with good instructional guides than doing it by the trial-and-error method.

Written by Rafael Borba Castro

default Affordable Solar Power Systems Make A Homemade Solar Energy Panel Below $200

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A Bright Future for Solar Energy: An Alternative Energy Source

March 24, 2011 | By In alternative energy | Comments(0)

I was first introduced to solar energy in the movie, Race the Sun with James Belushi and Halley Berry in the lead. It was a story about low- income and under achieving Hawaiian students encouraged by their teacher to join the Solar Car race. In the movie, a car shaped like a cockroach and covered with solar panels used the sun’s rays as an alternative energy source to run the car.

Solar energy is the light and the heat from the sun. Solar energy is free and its supplies are unlimited. There are n air and water pollution caused about by using solar energy. But there is still some impacts on the environment although indirect.

Photovoltaic cells used to convert sunlight into electricity uses silicon and also produce some waste materials. There are also large solar thermal farms and these farms can also be harmful to the environment and desert ecosystems if not properly managed.

Solar energy can be used on different aspects. Solar energy can be used in agriculture. Greenhouses (which is entirely different from greenhouse gas) convert solar light to heat to be maximized in enhancing the growth of plants and crops. Greenhouses has been around since the Roman times and modern greenhouses were built in Europe in 16th century. Greenhouses are still an important part of horticulture nowadays,

Daylight systems are also being used to maximize the energy released by the sun. It is used to provide interior illumination replacing the artificial lighting. Daylight systems include sawtooth roofs, light shelf, skylights, and light tube. Daylight systems when they are properly implemented can reduce lighting-related energy consumption by 25 percent.

Solar energy can also be developed into solar thermal technologies which can be used for water heating, space heating, space cooling and process heat generation. Solar energy can also be used to distil water and make saline or brackish water potable or drinkable.

The solar water disinfection or SODIS involves exposing water-filled plastic polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles. This process takes a long time, since the exposure time varies on the weather conditions. It requires a minimum of six hours to two days during days with overcast conditions. Currently, there are two million people in developing centuries use SODIS for their daily drinking water needs.

Also sunlight can be converted into electricity using photovoltaics or PV. PV has been mainly used to power small and medium-sized things like a calculator powered by a single solar cell. There are homes powered by photovoltaics. Using solar energy for water and space heating is the most widely use application of solar energy. While ventilation and solar air heating is also growing in popularity.

There are three main ways in using solar energy. The main way of using and converting solar energy is by using the solar cells. Solar cells convert light directly into electricity. Solar cells are also called photovoltaic or photoelectric cells.

Meanwhile, solar furnaces use a huge array of mirrors to concentrate on the Sun’s energy into a small space and produced very high temperatures. Solar furnaces are also called “solar cookers”. A solar cooker can be used in hot countries to cook food.

With all the benefits if using solar energy, there is still a downside for this alternative energy source. It does not work during night time. The cost of setting up solar stations is expensive, but the benefit of using solar energy when accumulated is so much more.

Have a look at www.greenenergygroups.com

Lucas Price – http://thedownloadshub.com
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