How to Build Solar Panels

GIt seems that every day there are more reasons to build your own solar panel. Between the energy savings, bill reduction and tax incentives it is not only friendly to our earth but also is a great way to save money. Now purchasing a solar panel can be extremely costly, even with the tax rebates you could be looking at tens of thousands of dollars. Now it doesn’t have to be this way, there are plenty of ways to build a solar panel yourself for less than a few hundred dollars and get the same (or better) results.

While it might seem like an overwhelming task, it really isn’t as difficult as it sounds. We have scoured the internet to find what resources are available to help you build your own solar panels.

There are several places where you can find directions online and they are detailed, helpful and certainly work. However we have also found that unless you are pretty tech savvy to begin with they can be a bit overwhelming. For that reason we have also come across a handful of paid guides that offer detailed video, photos and free technical support. Depending on your budget and level of experience you can’t go wrong with either approach.

Online Guides

I found these online guides that are personal accounts of building solar panels. These gentleman were nice enough to share with us the secrets to how they built solar panels. All of them not only include pictures but also the parts that they bought and used to build the panels. While the instructions are complete I will admit that they are more difficult to follow than the paid guides that I have tried. However those of you who are more technologically inclined will have no problem putting these guides to use.

• Tree Hugger
• MDPub
• Virtual Secrets

Paid Guides

While the paid guides do cost money (obviously), I really did find that they are worth their weight in improving your success on building a panel and the time you will save as well. Honestly most of them are less than $50 for the guide, offer detailed and picture rich instructions, video and often free support as well. While I have tried 6 – 7 I have been able to narrow the best down to the following:

• Green DIY Energy (our fav!)
• Home Solar Energy
• Power4Home

Building Solar Panels

The fact of the matter is that if you are going to build solar panels or feel like you would like to know how to build solar panels, some sort of guide is key. Even experienced electricians may find difficulty setting up a home solar panel system. It is worth ensuring that you know all the details so that you can get the most out of your solar panel system.