Build Own Solar Panel

I am considering starting a solar/wind energy business. I would like to know how many people would really consider installing solar panels and/or a wind generator on their home or business.

If a complete system is too costly, would you consider a battery back-up system to run essential items in you home or business for when the power drops out? This would consist of 4-12 batteries, a couple of solar panels and/or a wind generator. This would operate items such as lights, well pump, refrigerator, radio or TV, telephones, and computers.

Would you consider starting a small solar array (4-6 panels) and adding panels to it when you have extra money to spend on them?

Please give me your feedback on what you think of "GREEN" energy and if you think it is the future or just a fad.
Good answers so far. In response to f100_supersabre, A 4 battery system is not much. It all depends on what you will operate and how long. The more batteries the better. About the telephone, yes they are powered by the telephone line but businesses usually have multiple lines with a switching station that needs electricity to operate. Most homes now only have cordless phones which require electricity. If you keep a corded phone in your home this would be a non factor. When it comes to the size panels and wind generator that is relevant to your power consumption. What might be good for your house may be too big or too small for your neighbor.

Keep the answers coming.

I will go for it provided the economics is atleast the same as present. Some incovenience I can take it up like some interruptions etc for the sake of environment protection.
But if the cost is going to be higher then I am not interested. There are several things which I can forego like using an air con etc to help the environment at the present. So it boils down to dollars.

that was fairly bright and no need to put solar panels outside or run wiring would you buy it ? Makes no difference if you live in an apartment . I see allot of people say they cant use solar because they have no place to mount panels . Anyway would you buy such a light with say 15 to 20 amp florescent bulb and approximately what would or should such a light be worth to you .

I made up my own lighting system that is kind of unique . I have not seen them on the market or on the web i build them myself . In fact that’s what im sitting here with now . Its so simple and it cost me approximately $10 to build each light and im trying to figure out what to sell them for on ebay .
No Mickey you would need one huge panel to even come close for it to feed itself
But thanks for the answer

Very intriguing! I’d be interested in knowing how you’ve managed to do this without wires or external panels, and whether your invention is original? It does sound very innovative and commercially viable because it would have such a huge market - people in flats or apartments, business, etc.

I think people would buy such a product but you’ll only be making pocket money in the ebay market. It’d need a proper launch to be commercially viable; a lot of advertising, promotion and selling in stores.. obviously is more cost effective to produce on mass as this would also lower the retail price to the consumer.

Me and my wife just saw an ad on TV about going solar and saw the money we can save every month… any here have solar panels? How much do you save every month on energy bill? Is it true that your energy meter will spin backwards? lol

You can put a dent in your usage, and save money without having to spend any. Look at the "half program" at http://www.builditsolar.com

The notion of spinning a meter backward has a lot of people plugging in their solar panel via an inverter- but this is a very bad idea and illegal as well- the power company requires a lockout device they control to kill power in their powlines for servicing and repairs- a plugged in solar panel and inverter can cause them injury or death.

If you have about 30,000 dollars to invest (cost will vary), and you are going to be staying in your home for at least 10 years, contact your electric power utility as they will have the progams in place to do the installation on your site, and install the needed equipment for you to be legally grid tied. They will also have your paperwork prepared for your tax person come tax time. Most are actually seeking people out to do this, I won’t go into details why, but by listening carefully to the power company in their presentation they will indirectly tell you why.

Any installation that is intended to be grid tied MUST be approved by the power company and meet their specifications. Too many people are ignoring this last detail.

I need to find out more information concerning solar energy for single home use. If you have solar panels or have had in the past please informme if they are worth the cost to lower my ultilty bill?
I live in the state of Texas and my current rage is 11. per kWh.
Thank you for your time and help

It cost .7 per kWh here. I added up the cost of my system and I insalled it will take me almost 40 years to get my money back. I should be dead by then. Maybe I will sell the house and make it back becaue it does increase the value of a home.

I just went in to a 2 page posting on how to wild guess what it would cost in one of the last three postings.

Check back through my post. There is no need to repeat the same information.

Read up on solar energy at http://www.oynot.com

I’m not looking forward to paying my electricity bill, especially because I almost always have my computer on doing something intensive. I know it’s possible, but how difficult is it to get some solar panels or a small wind turbine and somehow use it to generate electricity?

it’s not really possible.
you really cannot put the stuff outside your window.
and there’s some really expensive equipment that’s needed to make 110ac out of the energy you do generate.
and, you do want that stuff so your computer works at night, when there’s no wind.

however, get yourself a Kilowatt meter.
you’ll find that your system does not use as much power as you think.

put some insulation on your windows (clear plastic) and you’ll likely save far more energy.

Edit: Free Magnetic Energy doesn’t work. Consider, if it did, wouldn’t the utilities be using it, instead of burning all that expensive coal and oil and natural gas. It doesn’t work, no matter how much you pay for the plans.

Cold fusion doesn’t work. Hydrogen fusion is being worked on in several locations, including:

http://www.google.com/search?q=lawrence+livermore+nif+laser

how much does it cost to get solar panels for your home? where do you find it, is this available everywhere?

On average, a turn key photo voltaic system will cost you about $4 per Watt. There may be some incentive rebate offers by your state, local government and possibly your electricity provider to help ease the cost of installation.

As to solar energy being available everywhere, for the most part, it is. However, different areas have a better solar production level than others. Arizona often rates as one of the best states for installing PV systems. Florida is also a good state too. On the other hand, areas around Seattle might not do so well.

Check out the link below to learn more about solar energy.

please i need to know your combination of solar panels (with the wattage), inverters(how many and its rating), batteries(how many and there voltage) specically for like a 16KW load.Please i will like also to know there manufacturers for refrences.

If you mean you use 16 kWh a day, you’re similar to us. If you mean your load is constantly 16 kW, that’s way out of our league.

Our system is 2.5 kW, and grid-tied (no batteries). It supplies basically all of our kWh’s averaged over the year.

You can see the specs at

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/roderick/solar/photovoltaic.html

Like the kind u put on your roof looking for a good balance between cost and power produced while still making it worth the time and effort were defiantly getting some but wanted to know the best preferably by experiance of the answerer. Thanks in advance

Experience of an answerer is not likely to tell you the "best" solar panels. All they will be able to do is give you their overall satisfaction with there system. Their satisfaction will depend on a lot of things, like the opinion of their contractor, the inverter equipment, the location with respect to angle from the sun and presence of shading influences, and their original expectations.

Probably competitively priced panels are very similar in quality. One measure that may be of value would be the watts per sq ft of panel area.

Do a lot of studying, including searching for solar panels in the upper right corner of this page.

That’s difficult to say because current costs of photovoltaics is about $10 per watt installed but projections are that it will be less than $1 a watt quite soon and will be integrated into common building materials like roofing tiles and even paint.

I would focus first on insulating the home, then on using solar thermal collectors for hot water and for heating. If you’re in a warm climate, it’s possible to use solar heated water in a lithium bromide chiller to provide for airconditioning but due to the low demand in the market, small scale residential units aren’t available forcing one to buy an expensive 30 ton unit and derating it for residential use. If there are significant tax breaks then a photovoltaic system might make sense but in the meantime you can get about 80% of the benefit with much less expensive solar thermal.

Im curious.
You had enough Solar Panels to power your home.
You payed the expenses of the solar panels.
Would the Electrical company still ask for money each month?

Yes. At night or in cloudy conditions a computer will sense drop in available electric current and the Electrical company supply makes up for the shortfall.

The solar panels are coming down in price and eventually they will pay for themselves. Maintenance is low too. Also you have the good feeling and ability to crow about being a non-polluter.
The Electrical company will only ask money for what you use when it is cloudy or at night. Some use battery storage to get around or reduce this. If you have a surplus of electricity during a very sunny day for example, the electrical company will even buy the electricity back from you if you have this set up to do so.