Let me tell you, solar panels aren’t cheap. But an article on off-grid.net tells how one aspiring solar enthusiast built his own solar panel for $100. And he tells you how you can do it, too. Note: This article isn’t about making your own solar CELLS. He bought his solar cells second-hand on eBay and put them together in a usable panel.
And man, he builds on the cheap. For example …
The box was painted inside and out. The type of paint and color was scientifically selected by shaking all the paint cans I had laying around in my garage and choosing the one that felt like it had enough left in it to do the whole job.
To read the whole thing, point your web browser here: http://www.off-grid.net/2009/12/08/how-i-built-a-solar-panel-for-100-you-can-too/
By the way, I’m firing off a new recommendation to my Golden Age of Green Energy suscribers tomorrow. If you aren’t on board yet, sign up now.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
When all is said and done it will be the economics and affordability of solar power that ultimately determine the success or failure of this form of energy.Say what you may about the pros and cons of solar power but the cost ,not the concern for the planet ,will always be the deciding factor for the private sector.
I’m an enthusiastic for the solar energy. Congratulations for the articles on thi matter. I’d like to comment on it in my own country.
I live in Brasil, a country where sun shines almost all year round. Most of our energy comes from hidro (about 90% of total energy demand in the country). During the petroleum crises in the seventies, we was the only country to introduce an alternative fuel for car consuption: the ethanol from sugar cane. In the beggining of the eighties we had 95% of our cars driving with ethanol. It was a success and had the world recognition. Our gasoline used in the cars also has 25% of ethanol. Sugar cane ethanol doesn’t affects the human food suplly and could be produced from North to South of the country. This is better, much easy and cheap to produce than ethanol from corn or wood, for example. Maybe this could be a great solution for the americans, in order to reduce the air polution. We’re still a large producer of ethanol and export a lot. But to the United States we have problems due to over taxes the American Government introduced to our ethanol. We’re also developing our biofuel and already it’s mixed in diesel for truck and buses. Natural gas also is in our energy grid.
But, despite we have more than eight thousand quilometers of sea coast and strong winds rising all year round, we’re still very slow in the use of wind energy generators. I believe in a few years we could have a significative increase in eolic energy.
The solar PV energy production is insignificant, its restricted to home use. No industry or large energy consumer use it. It is still very expensive for the instalation specialy for domestic use in our houses. But I believe it could be increased as soon we have cheap prices for its components.
Anyway, we are a large country, with sun and wind almost all year round, but we also still have the cheapiest energy supply, the hidroelectric energy. Certainly for this reason we’re still disdain other energy source supplies. Maybe in a near future, I hope, we change our point of view on an eventuyal and future energy lack.
Hi, William.
Crude oil receives huge subsidies to this day, including big fat tax breaks. So it’s hard to break out exactly what is cost effective and what isn’t.