3 things before to start

build solar panels - 3 things before to start

You can easily make-up your own solar panels at home and it is a fun task but there are some things that you should know before starting a project as this will determine the success of the task.

1. First of all you should know what you will be using your panels for that is the appliances that you want to run with solar electricity. Then record the wattage of each appliance which is generally written somewhere on the appliance or can be found out by searching online. Then you need to know how many hours you will be using each appliance every day. Calculate the total wattage that you calculated and divide it by the peak sun hours that you get every day. This way you have a very rough estimate of the number of solar panels and the wattage that you will need. This will also help you determine the total cost of the system and if you buy a good polycrystalline or mono crystalline cells and the cost will be around $2-$3 per watt.

2. You will need to find a favorable place where you can install your them. The best place for the panels is simply the place where is the most sunlight for the longest durations during the day. Choose a place where the solar panels do not come under the shade of trees or any other objects. Generally the best place for installing them is the roof. Solar panels can be installed very easy on the roof using flush mounts. You can also install them in your garden using pole mounts or the not so aesthetically pleasing universal(roof- ground) mounts. Although the flush mounts are the cheapest part they offer no flexibility in the orientation of the panels and cannot sport large photovoltaic units.

3. Before you start to build solar panels at home you must know if you want to use the appliances directly or you want to store the generated electricity in batteries for later use. If you want to use the appliances directly from the panels than you will need and AC/DC inverter which converts the DC obtained from solar panels to AC which is used by appliances. You can even use a grid tie system and supply electricity back to the power company when you're not using it. If you want to store the electricity in batteries for later use them you must have power trackers which make the charging of the batteries efficient.

These are some of the many basic steps that you will need to consider when you want to build solar panels at home. There are many other things that you can do to make your homemade panels more efficient and durable.