Building Your Own Solar Panels

As electrical power generated in conventional power stations becomes more expensive, more and more people are turning to cheaper, more sustainable ways of generating the power they need for their everyday energy needs. For most people this involves solar power, as the easiest to install and implement renewable source of energy for most households. It's also getting more affordable, as the technology improves and gets cheaper, but also as more and more governments implement subsidies and rebates to encourage homes to implement the technology.

It is in the government's best interest to reduce the growing load on conventional power sources all networked to the power grid - as when homes become more self-sufficient for their energy needs, the load on conventional infrastructure is reduced. Apart from the environment savings of switching to solar, there are also significant monetary savings, as your power bills decline as your own energy production increases and becomes more efficient.

Building your own solar panels will save you even more money than buying new or second hand assembled panels. It's not even that difficult - you can find instructions online, or you can buy kits which make building DIY solar panels even easier still. If you can find cheap broken solar cells for sale, you are well on your way to saving a bunch on your DIY solar project, as the cells will form the most expensive part of the panel.

As a solar panel is essentially a wired together pack of cells in a frame, that's what you will be building - you will need at least 36 cells, which you will then wire together before caulking them fast to a light wooden frame. So a soldering iron, basic woodworking tools such as a drill, saw and hammer will be required as well as wire cutters.

Making your own solar panel is no great challenge - and it can save you money well into the future as well as contributing positively to the environment.