In today's world, energy consumption has become one of the toughest challenges to overcome.
Skyrocketing fuel and energy prices, along with a sense of duty to preserve the planet, many people are turning to alternate renewable energy sources such as solar energy with the use of solar panels.
These solar panels absorb sunlight and convert it to electrical energy.
The energy is then sent to a battery bank for later use when sunlight is scarce.
Solar panel systems can be very expensive but luckily you are able to build solar panels from scratch.
It can seem like a daunting task but it's actually not that difficult if you have the right information and instructions.
The good thing is that they can be built for considerably less than what it would cost you to buy one.
In order to build yourself a solar panel, you need to get photovoltaic cells, These types of cells produce an electric current when exposed to sunlight.
All you need to do is connect these cells in series.
You will receive wiring instructions with your cells.
You then need to lay them on a frame, either wood or steel and then you will need to place a glass cover over the entire panel.
You can get these cells over the Internet just Google the term.
The frame materials can be bought from your local hardware store.
The next thing you need for your solar panels is a battery bank which will be used to store energy for use when there's no sunshine.
This battery bank will be connected to your panel and consists of rechargeable batteries.
This battery bank is crucial to your homemade power plant as you will need it in times of darkness or when sunlight is scarce.
The last thing you need is a power inverter.
The 12V DC output from the battery pack has to go through a circuit which will turn it into AV power with an adequate voltage to use in your house.
This power inverter comes as a whole unit so all you have to do is connect the battery output to the input and the inverted output will go to your home wiring system.
As you can see, it's not very hard to build a solar panel from home in order to become self-sufficient.
You will need a lot of panels if you wish to be completely dependent on them but it's well worth the effort as you will not only be saving money by having free energy but you will also be helping protect the environment.