How Can You Make Solar Panels at Home? Did you think about it? It will be easy with my experiences.

It took me about ten solar panels to cover our needs in terms of electricity, so I gained considerable experience and skills building them. Ever since the first panel, I began to take notes and draw sketches so that I could remember the steps and know exactly what to do in case I had to start all over again.

With each panel I built, I improved the material with new observations and tips, so, in the end, putting the information and the schematics together, I came up with quite an explicit set of blueprints on how to build solar panels, and even an introductory part on photo voltaic panels, the principles they work on, etc.

So, the first step I recommend that you take, is to buy my blueprints. The price will help you understand that I have no intention to get rich in the process, but just to cover my expenses. You have my 100 % money back guarantee, and my full support in case you have difficulties following the plans and building the PV panels.

A complete list of materials and corresponding quantities is also available. Except for the solar cells, all the other items on the list can be found at very good prices in any local store (you may already have some of them).

As far as solar cells are concerned, their price can be quite high. I suggest that you buy broken cells. Don’t worry, they work quite well. Their name comes from their odd shapes. The best place to look for these cells is online.

Once you gather all the materials on the list, place them somewhere in an open space, where you can reach them without efforts. You may need the help of a friend, or of someone from your family.

The drawings and instructions will teach you what you have to do every step of the way. I have also included step-by-step pictures, so that you can compare the results of your work and keep track of everything you are doing. The installation is also covered.

A charge controller, or charge regulator is similar to the voltage regulator in your car. It regulates the voltage and current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. Most “12 volt” panels put out about 16 to 20 volts, so if there is no regulation the batteries will be damaged from overcharging. Most batteries need around 14 to 14.5 volts to get fully charged.

Not always, but usually. Generally, there is no need for a charge controller with the small maintenance, or trickle charge panels, such as the 1 to 5 watt panels. A rough rule is that if the panel puts out about 2 watts or less for each 50 battery amp-hours, then you don’t need one.

For example, a standard flooded golf car battery is around 210 amp-hours. So to keep up a series pair of them (12 volts) just for maintenance or storage, you would want a panel that is around 4.2 watts. The popular 5 watt panels are close enough, and will not need a controller. If you are maintaining AGM deep cycle batteries, such as the Concorde Sun Xtender then you can use a smaller 2 to 2 watt panel.

The obvious question then comes up – “why aren’t panels just made to put out 12 volts”. The reason is that if you do that, the panels will provide power only when cool, under perfect conditions, and full sun. This is not something you can count on in most places. The panels need to provide some extra voltage so that when the sun is low in the sky, or you have heavy haze, cloud cover, or high temperatures, you still get some output from the panel. A fully charged battery is around 12.7 volts at rest (around 13.6 under charge), so the panel has to put out at least that much under worst case conditions.

Contrary to intuition, solar panels work best at cooler temperatures. Roughly, a panel rated at 100 watts at room temperature will be an 83 watt panel at 110 degrees.

The charge controller regulates this 16 to 20 volts output of the panel down to what the battery needs at the time. This voltage will vary from about 10.5 to 14.6, depending on the state of charge of the battery, the type of battery, in what mode the controller is in, and temperature.

Using High Voltage (grid tie) Panels With Batteries
Nearly all PV panels rated over 135 watts are NOT standard 12 volt panels, and cannot (or at least should not) be used with standard charge controllers. Voltages on grid tie panels varies quite a bit, usually from 21 to 40 volts or so. Some are standard 24 volt panels, but most are not.

You can have a try!