Despite what you might think, building your own photovoltaic panels in order to create residential solar power systems for your homes is not as complicated as it may seem.

I have been shown a great example of how to do this as presented by a guy called Mike Davis at mdpub.com, who built his photovoltaic panels out of necessity. He had moved to ‘the outback’ of Arizona, a long way from any possible grid connection. So he was left with no choice but to build his own version of the residential solar power systems that some companies might charge a great deal for.

The good thing about that is that he is not only a good scientist and electrician. He is also very generous with his knowledge. To that end, he has created a page on his website in which he lays out every last detail of how he goes about building his own photovoltaic panels and creating as good an example of residential solar power systems as you are likely to see for the minimal outlay that he incurred.

One thing I particularly liked was to see how easy it is to assemble photovoltaic panels for very little money. Simply by buying blemished and damaged solar cells, fixing them up where necessary and wiring them all together, he very quickly had a powerful solar panel that was soon generating 60 watts of domestic electrical power, enough to easily light his home at nights … and some.

As residential solar power systems go, this is as good as you really need if you are living in the outback for short periods of time. (As an astrologer, he was there merely to watch the stars at night.) If you were to take up residence more permanently, then no doubt, building several photovoltaic panels, buying a few deep cycle batteries and, by keeping everything tight and frugal, I would think you could get by quite well using the instructions he lays out on his web page.

All in all, I think it is worth a trip over to read this entertaining and educational article giving you full instruction as to how to build home made photovoltaic panels, and thereby create your own do it yourself residential solar power systems.

I like that he shows the whole experience warts and all. He is open enough to let you see where he drilled a hole and it snapped some of the plexiglass covering. I like this honesty. It allows me to think that even ‘the clever folk’ make mistakes as they progress through their developments and therefore I can conclude that I don’t have to get it right. I am therefore even more encouraged to take up the idea of building my own photovoltaic panels, and who knows, I might even create my own residential solar power systems!

By Sam Deane
Your solar power for homes guide

Pic and Info via: Mike Davis and mdpub.com

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