Home build solar system

[Home Build Solar System]

Home Build Solar System

Home Build Solar System is the website where you can get the information you need to build your own solar system.

I could see that my electricity bill was increasing year after year, just because the modern day appliances can't be turned off any more and before I noticed I had many appliances in the house which are on standby day in day out.

This all not only harm the environment but also my bank account as I am using electricity for nothing.

Not to solve this problem (as this is how appliances are made and I can't change this) I started to look into renewable energy to compensate my unneeded losses and to take some pain away from my bank account.

Wind energy was no option due to the area I'm living in, hydro electricity is no option as I live in a flat country with next to no rivers so solar power was the best solution.

Than the price of solar systems appear to be horrendous, far too much that the system ever would produce in its estimated 20 year lifespan.

So I tried to get governmental grants for this project but grants for those kinds of systems where limited and did I miss out.

But I still wanted a solar system but I didn't wanted to pay the high price, so I decided to build the panels myself.

Yes you see this right, I wanted to build my own solar system and I can tell you now it's possible and well with materials bought local in DIY shops and easy to obtain parts from the Internet.

No I'm not a technical wonder and I don't have lots of experience working with electricity, I just looked around and taught myself how solar panels are made, how other might have done it and made out of this a workable plan of how I could do it.

After I did my homework I found out that there was a solar cell manufacturer just a few hours away from my house who could supply me with the needed cells (otherwise I could buy those online as they're easy to obtain from other sites).

With information I collected from various sources I made a wiring diagram and did I got ordinary glass from a local supplier.

Tools I needed came from my local DIY store and I was ready to start.

I soldered the solar cells according to the wiring diagram and installed them between 2 sheets of glass and sealed the glass plates together (yes I just made double glassing with solar cells imbedded, how easy can a plan bee).

I contacted the local solar panel shop for a suitable inverter as this one needs to be small (remember that I only make a small amount of electricity with this panel).

From this shop visit I learned that one panel for sure was not enough so I build a 2nd panel and those two together was enough for a small inverter to produce electricity back to the grit.

This inverter by the way was for free as it's so small that it doesn't fit in existing solar systems which come an pre-arraigned packages and has been laying in the shop for years.

The 2 panels gave only a small output and not even a steady one as I still was paying with the minimum output of this inverter so I build a 3rd panel.

Now I've got a nice steady output as soon as the sun comes up till it's going down again.

The production of those 3 panels is enough to overcome the daytime usage of the standby related appliances (which was my goal).

From this I learned that making a Home Build Solar System is not difficult at all, all you need is the right mindset, the nerves to just do is and a minimum technical experience.

So when I can do this, you can do this too.

An extra pleasant factor is, is when you make your own system you're not stuck with the standard sizes of the panels which often don't fit where you want to place your panels (I made mine panels slightly smaller than standard panels so they fit more easy in my garden).

And the costs, by making your own system the costs will be a lot lower.

And for the critic, yes you're right this is not free electricity as I had to pay for the parts but when I reached the break even point the costs are paid back and then the system will give me free energy by harvesting the sun.

To share my experiences I've made a website where you can see for yourself how I did it, my production records to show how the system is behaving, and how you can do this yourself by means of text, photo's and films.

See this all at my site on http://home.kpn.nl/maas5455/

Why wait till tomorrow if you can start saving money today.

See you all at http://home.kpn.nl/maas5455/

[zeusmorg]

Put those appliances on power strips with switches, so you can turn them off! It's still easier to save electricity than to produce it.

 Or you can even build your own. Locally you can buy an outlet with a switch on it, then put that in an electrical box, with a cord attached, nothing could be easier. I've replaced several outlets in my house with that combination, so I can turn off what I have plugged in.

 Of course, some things do present problems if you cut off the power, like tv's loosing their channel memories... You can always purchase a kill-a-watt to determine the draw of a given item.

[Volvo farmer]

Nice work.

Personally, I think panels are normally constructed of 36 cells for good reason. Anything over about 32C ambient, and I bet you are not going to get 14.4 volts out of those.

I also made a bunch of my own panels a few yeas ago and still have 4 of them out making power every day. I made them almost exactly like you did, with a single dab of adhesive in the back and between two pieces of glass.  I was buying surplus cells by the pound and could make panels for about $2 or $2.50 a watt. It was a fun project, but very time consuming, and my output was not nearly what I expected. Here's a picture of my 72 cell panel before I put the top glass on. It puts out about 2.5A @24V  

Upon reflection of my total experience, I decided that I saved a little money, but would have been better off in the long run buying commercial panels for about $4/watt.

There is no mention of how much those solar cells cost in your website. Care to share that information?

[OuttaSight]

Nice one!

I might give it a go (making a panel) for a laugh.  I currently buy used Sharp / BP / Kyocera panels from eBay as that's much cheaper than buying new ones (I average about £100 per 40Wp).

What inverter are you using?  The only low voltage grid tie inverters I know of are the MasterVolt Soladin 600/700 and the SMA SunnyBoy 100LV but both are quite expensive (500EUR to 1,300EUR).

[Home Build Solar System]

To all,

First I have to say thanks for your great support.

The costs of my cells where 99.96 Euro for 28 cells, I bought those Solland Solar which is a cell manufacturer in Holland. As I at the time of buying the cells wasn't too familiar with this subject I still has many questions and by contacting Solland Solar they could answer those. I know that I could have got the cells more cheaply but then I was still stuck with some unanswered questions with the risk that I made a non working panel.

The inverter I'm using is an OK-4. This inverter suppose to be mounted on a big panel which would producing straight up 230V. This inverter was in the shop for years and un able to sell so I got this for free. It's not the best inverter in the world but as it was for free it is good enough. The good thing is, is that this inverter works on low voltages (working range 24V - 50V) and this works out perfect for my 3 panels.

One of the advantages of making your own panels is that you can make them in near enough any shape and size you want. There for my panels are smaller as this worked out best in my garden.

Keep returning to the site as I will update as often as I can and try to keep going with the weekly production update.

See you all at Home Build Solar System (http://home.kpn.nl/maas5455/).

[GaryGary]

Hi,

It seems like one possibility for a small, grid-tie inverter would be to use just one of the Enphase inverters.

http://www.enphaseenergy.com/products/products/micro-inverter.cfm

I notice that some companies are selling "starter" PV systems that consist of one big PV panel and one Enphase inverter.

http://www.affordable-solar.com/ASGP-solar-starter-kit.htm

Kind of wondering how this might work out?

Gary