Build Your Own Solar Panel » cheap solar panels

Cheap Solar Panels

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:59:53 +0000

What? You don’t want to sink ten of thousands of dollars into a professionally installed solar power system? You want cheap solar panels? With some smart shopping and DIY ingenuity, you can harness the sun for less.My first piece of advice for people looking for cheap solar panels is to AVOID OLD ADVICE. Solar panel technology is in a stage of rapid development. First generation solar panels are pricey because of the expensive materials and the skilled labor required to produce the cells. Second generation solar panels hold some promise of affordability, but there is no way of knowing just how low they will go.

My second piece of advice is that FREE is the cheapest that you can get. Free solar panels are often used and/or damaged. They may or may not meet your needs.

The sticker price is only part of the cost equation. You have to compare efficiencies as well. A cheap panel with a much lower efficiency than a more expensive one may take decades to pay for itself.

Free Solar Panels

Cheap Solar: Breaking the $1 per Watt Barrier

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:57:09 +0000

First Solar has lived up to its name by being the first commercial solar panel company to bring manufacturing cost below $1 per Watt. The company owes a debt of gratitude to supportive government agencies.

The cost of manufacturing solar panels makes up less than half of what end users typically pay for an installed system.

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The Opposite of Do-it-Yourself Solar

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:05:13 +0000

Image created using images from Flickr: Houses / Solar Panels

One Block Off The Grid is an organization that is striving to increase the number of homes using solar. They do this by facilitating volunteer organizers within US cities. They step in once they have a list of 100 interested homeowners in any given area.

What do homeowners get from the deal? First and foremost, they save money because 1BOG negotiates with local contractors to get bulk discounts. The other major advantage is that 1BOG has a depth of knowledge of the process that no individual homeowner is likely to pick up when they go it alone.

You don’t have to involve 1BOG in your group venture, but it seems to me that it makes a lot of sense to get help from people who already know the process rather than rely on someone within your community to learn it all from scratch. I have heard of one HOA that was successful in getting the community to go in for a community wide solar project. The guy who spearheaded that project says that individual homeowners paid 30% less than they would have had to pay to get solar for themselves.

I personally think that the potential savings from building you own solar panels is greater. The DIY solar route does involve a lot of self education.

If you were wondering whether 1BOG is a non-profit, the answer is no. They are in the business of collecting referral fees from from contractors.

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