With the current state of the economy and the increasing impact of fossil fuels on the Earth’s climate, more and more people want to have a solar panel home.  If you are concerned about the environment or just looking to save money, there are a number of solar and wind power products that both help save you money and help save the planet.

The good news is that with the growing interest in renewable energy and the ongoing breakthroughs in technology, going green at home makes sound economic sense, if you take the long view.  Also, you don’t need to spend weeks and months researching how create your own solar panel home.  There are many different products on the market, ranging from DIY guides and plans, to used solar panels, through to custom made windmills.

There are three broad categories of renewable green energy that you should consider as part of creating your own solar panel home:

hot water solar panels

Hot Water Solar Panels for Heating your Water.

Hot water solar panels  or solar thermal panels are usually installed in the roof of your house and use the sunlight to directly heat your water.  Even if you live in a cooler country such as the UK, hot water solar panels can dramatically reduce your hot water bills.  The actual payback period will depend on your location, but in the UK payback should be between 5 – 10 years.  With the likely increase in the cost of gas and electricity, this payback period can be expected to get shorter.  For maximum return on your funds, your first investment in solar energy should be to install hot water solar panels.  Do this before you start looking at installing electric solar or PV panels.

electric solar or PV panel

Electric Solar Panels.

Electric solar panels or photovoltaic panels are often referred to as PV panels.  PV panels generate electricity and can be bought from a number of sources.  If you explore this website you will find a number of articles on where to get them cheaply, either retail or wholesale.  Photovoltaic panels can reduce your electricity bills and  if they are grid tied (connected to the electric grid) you will also get paid by the electricity companies for the surplus electricity you generate but don’t use.  However, to make a substantial difference to your solar panel home electric bill, it will be necessary to install a large number of PV panels.  The amount of solar panel watts required for your solar panel home to make a 70% cut in your electricity bill depends on your circumstances.  See our article on Solar Panel Cost and Payback for some real life examples of the cost and benefits of solar panel installations.

Wind Powered Turbines.

Windmills have been around for centuries, but with the advances in blade design coupled with the technological improvement to electricity generators have

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wind turbine

made these very attractive as viable sources of renewable energy.  Again, these can be purchased as complete products from the manufacturer or there are a number of very good guides and kits available that enable you to have your own wind powered generator at a significantly reduced cost.

Make It Yourself?

There are a number of websites promoting their “how to make your own solar panels” guides and videos.  Many of these make all sorts of outlandish claims and completely fail to spell out the problems of trying to use DIY solar panels.  If you are tempted by the DIY route, please keep the following in mind:

• A typical house needs at least 3000 watts of solar energy.  That is a minimum of 50 x 60watt solar panels.
• Government grants are usually available for installing solar panels, but these grants are NOT applicable to DIY solar panels.
• It is most unlikely that your electricity company will allow you to connect your DIY panels to the grid, so you won’t be allowed to connect your DIY panels to your ring main at home.
• Nor will you be able to sell the electricity you generate to your electric company.
• Commercially manufactured solar panels should last 25 – 30 years, your DIY solar panel will have a much reduced life.

All things considered, it simply doesn’t make sense to go the DIY route.  If you install DIY panels on you roof and these catch fire (yes, it does happen), don’t be surprised if your insurance company turns down you claim once they ascertain you had installed PV panels that were not commercially manufactured.

Even if you just want to make a couple of panels to provide external lighting for your garden or a workshop, if you search around you may well be able to buy commercially manufactured UL certified panels for not a lot more than the cost of making them yourself.  We came across some very competitive retail bargains on Amazon where they are selling the equivalent of 2 x 60watt panels for $360, so making them yourself will not provide any real cost savings.  

If you are still determined to make your own solar panel, then make sure you get the best guide available so you do it properly and safely.  Our review of the leading guides identified 3 suppliers who have done an excellent job of showing you step by step how to make a solar panel.  The “how to do it” guide that stood out as being the most complete product was HomeMadeEnergy.  Other guides also highly recommended are GreenDIYenergy and Earth4Energy.  But when visting their websites, please do not be taken in by their outlandish claims and talk of selling your electricity back to your utility company!.

Conclusion

A growing number of folk are wanting to set up their own solar panel home and use the renewable energy options described above to provide clean, green, environmentally safe, reliable energy.  We know that fossil fuels will eventually run out and the longer we go on using them, the greater the harm to our planet.  These sources of renewal energy do not produce greenhouse gasses or pollute our air, sea or rivers.

Whether you are driven by a desire to save the planet, just want to save money or love the idea of making something that will provide you with free energy, there are great products on the market.  If you want a great science or DIY project, making your own solar panel should be enjoyable and very satisfying, see our review for details of the “how to” guides that are available.  But if you are seriously wanting to install a number of solar panels to cut your electricity bills and help the planet, don’t bother with the DIY route, buy retail or search out some wholesale bargains.

Technorati Tags: electric solar panels, hot water solar panels, solar panel home

Solar Tiles blending with existing roof tiles

If you want to help the planet by installing electric solar panels, but really don’t like the idea of large PV solar panels being mounted on the roof of your lovely home, solar tiles or solar roof tiles could be the solution you have been looking for.  Solar tiles really are a viable alternative to standard electric solar panels and definitely warrant your consideration if you are going to create your own solarpanel home.

With the increasing interest in solar energy solutions for the home, new technologies have been developed that provide the normal benefits of electric solar panels but are much better looking when installed on your home.   Please note: solar tiles are for pitched roofs and not suitable for flat roofs.  If your house has a flat roof and you want to install solar energy, your options are pretty much limited to setting out arrays of electric solar panels on your roof.  However, if you have a pitched roof, now have a choice of standard electric solar panels and solar tiles for your solar panel home.   It should also be noted that solar tiles tend to cost more than standard solar tiles and installign them will require that part of the roof has to be re-tiled, additng to the expense of installation.

Therefore, if you are not that concerned about the appearance of solar panels or more concerned with keeping costs down, standard electric solar panels will do the job.  We found some very competitively priced solar panels on Amazon where they are selling a number of solar panels at around $4 per watt.

What are Solar Tiles/Solar Roof Tiles?

Solar Tiles or Solar Roof Tiles operate on the same principle as standard electric solar panels or solar Photovoltaic panels.  The advantage of solar tiles is that they are manufactured to the same modular size as normal roof tiles and are easily integrated into a new roof at the time of construction or into an existing roof when the roof covering is replaced.  Solar roof tiles look very similar to normal roof tiles or roof slates and are used in the same way as normal roof tiles.  Solar roof tiles come in a variety of styles, colours and sizes. A common and affordable solar tile is manufactured to look like traditional asphalt shingles.  Solar tiles are aesthetically a major improvement over conventional roof-mounted PV panels.  Recent developments have produced solar roof tiles that just blend in with the rest of the roof and are virtually unnoticeable.  Solar tiles are a very attractive option for those who want to have a solar panel home but don’t like the appearance of large PV panels mounted on their roof.

Solar Roof Tiles

How Solar Tiles Work

Although solar tiles generally look vary much like normal roof tiles or slates, each solar roof tile has a top layer of photovoltaic (PV) material that turns sunlight into electricity.  Solar roof tiles are known as BIPVs (building-integrated photovoltaics) because they integrate solar power generation into the design of the building so that it is still aesthetically pleasing.  BPIVs are used as substitutes for traditional building materials such as skylights, facades and roof tiles.   Solar tiles can be installed on the roofs of most homes.  Each tile has a plug-in connector and they are simply wired together during the installation process.  As with standard electric solar panels, solar roof tiles can be connected to the electricity grid and excess energy can be sold to the utility company.

Why use Solar Tiles?

The main reason for using solar tiles is their appearance.  Electric solar panels sit on top of your existing roof.  Although attempts are being made to improve their appearance, they are quite noticeable and detract from the appearance of the home.  The beauty of solar tiles is that they are designed to be integrated with your standard shingles, roof tiles or roof slates, so they blend in.  Quite simply, they go unnoticed or actually add to the appearance of your roof.  The use of solar roof tiles is especially attractive if you are extending your home or having your roof replaced.  In these circumstances the solar tiles can be integrated into the new or replacement roof as part of the standard build process.

Do Solar Tiles Make Financial Sense?

Roof with PV Panels and Thermal Solar Panels in Garden

Yes.  Like PV solar panels, solar tiles are a green renewable energy product and many governments are providing grants and rebates to encourage each of us to have our own solar panel home.  The actual return on investment for solar tiles will depend on where you live, how much of a grant you receive from the government and how much you are paying for your electricity.  As a very general rule of thumb, expect a solar tile system to pay for itself in 10 – 18 years.  For more information on costs and payback, have a look at the article on Solar Panel Cost and Payback. Solar tiles are usually guaranteed to work for 20 to 25 years.  However, most manufacturers expect them to continue working for 40 or 50 years.   Also, keep in mind that electricity prices have been rising rapidly for the last couple of years.  If this trend continues, solar tiles and PV panels will pay for themselves in a much shorter time period than that shown above.

Advantages of Renewable Solar Energy

As with standard electric solar panels, solar roof tiles do not generate heat, they work silently and produce no harmful emissions or greenhouse gases.  They are a truly green renewable energy product.  Not only will solar tiles reduce your electricity bill, but you will also reduce your output of CO2.  The actual amount of CO2 reduction will depend on how much electricity you save.  To give you an indication, if you save around 1800 kWh per annum, the amount of CO2 that you produce will reduce by approximately 1000kg per year. The other advantage to installing solar tiles is the potential increase in the value of your home.  While some people might be put off by the appearance of a house with large PV solar panels mounted on the roof, solar tiles are very unobtrusive and should be seen as a definite asset to your home.  To get an indication of how much solar tiles will add to the value to your home it is advisable to contact your local estate agent.

Not all Solar Tiles are the Same

Some solar roof tiles make use of thin film PV material.  This material is flexible and allows the manufacturer to produce tiles with a curved profile.  Thin film solar tiles are not as efficient as the material used in standard solar panels, but this is not really an issue.  If you use the thin film solar tiles you will just need to install more of these tiles to generate sufficient solar electricity to meet your energy requirements.

Solar Electric Roof Slates being installed on the roof of a new build

Recently, a new solar tile has been developed – the solar electric roof slate.  Each solar electric roof slate is a two piece solar photovoltaic assembly with a solar module and a glass laminate cover. Each module is supplied with electrical connectors which link it to adjacent modules. These solar roof slates incorporate one of the best PV materials: they 21% efficient, delivering approximately 30% more energy from the same tile area than most standard solar panels.  This means these solar slates require less than 10sq m per kWp (kilowatt peak).  This makes them very suitable for homes with a limited roof area or homes with less sunny climates (see below).

What About Cooler Climates such as the UK?

One of the major concerns for those living in more northerly latitudes such as the United Kingdom or the northern states in the US, is will solar tiles work effectively?  The answer is Yes!  A company called Solarcentury has developed solar roof tiles and solar electric roof slates for these cooler climates.  Their solar tiles and slates do not require direct sunlight to work, they only require daylight and will even produce electricity on cloudy days.

Solar Thermal Tile

Another very recent development is the solar thermal tile.  This is used in the same way as solar tiles described above and looks very much like them.  However, the key difference is that while solar roof tiles are used to generate electricity using PV technology, these solar thermal tiles are designed to heat water for washing and bathing.

Conclusion

If you want to build your own solar panel home but are concerned about the appearance of PV panels on your roof, then solar tiles should address these concerns and warrant serious consideration.

Solar Roof Tiles

Technorati Tags: electric solar panels, solar roof tiles, solar tiles

Electric Solar Panels – The Facts

Ongoing advances in technology and the ever increasing market for renewable energy, means that having your own solar panel home and installing electric solar panels is no longer just for the well off.

If you are attracted to building a couple of solar panels as a project to keep you busy over the weekends, we strongly recommend that you buy one of the “how to make solar panels” guides / kits.  These contain good manuals, diagrams, details of the material to be used, links to suppliers, step by step instructions and instructional videos.  Please take a look at our recent review of solar panel guides / kits. The review confirmed that even a novice DIYer should be able to make a decent 60watt solar panel for around $175 – $180.  But do not expect to save much (if any) money by going the DIY route.

Electric Solar Panels in back yard

Before installing Electric Solar Panels, Consider

• Sunlight. But before you start on your solar panel home, you need to consider the location of your property and how much direct sunlight you get.  If your climate is predominantly cloudy or your property is in the shade of tall trees or high buildings for most of the day, the benefit you get from electric solar panels will be diminished.  That is not to say you should not do it, but be aware that electric solar panels function best in direct sunlight.  Generally, on a sunny day your electric solar panels need to receive at least four hours direct sunlight.  More is good!  However, it should be noted that new solar tiles have been developed that are approximately 30% more efficient than standard electric solar panels.  These work well in more northerly latitudes such as the UK and do not require direct sunlight to function.
• Planning and Building Codes / Regulations. Also, be aware of that in some countries you will be required to get some form of planning permission before settng up your solar panel home and installing electric solar panels.  There may also be specific building codes or electrical regulations that you have to comply with.  Find out what applies to you before you start.  It is much, much easier to plan for this from the outset than try and make changes retrospectively.

Finding out what is available

Now you need to research the Internet and see what is available in terms of products and off the shelf solutions.  You will find that there are numerous suppliers selling a variety of solar power solutions. If you contact specialist companies they should be able to provide the materials you require or direct you to those that can.  These companies will usually have details of professionals that undertake the solar panel installation for you or work with you when you requires specialist assistance.

Electric Solar Panels in foreground, with Hot Water Solar Panels behind

The Electric Solar Panels DIY Route

We can only recommend making your own electric solar panels if you are looking to make just a couple of solar panels as an enjoyable and very rewarding DIY project.  Please see our review of the “how to” guides  / kits for more details.

When it comes to installing and connecting you solar panels, always get professional advice and assistance from an electrician who knows what they are doing and is a member of the appropriate professional body, even if it is to simply check that you have wired everything it correctly.  Also make sure you comply with your building codes/regulations.

Technorati Tags: DIY Solar Panel guides, DIY Solar Panel guides review, electric solar panels, solar panel home