When thinking of a basic solar power system, think of a small cabin in the woods that needs four 12 volt batteries as a simple example. The assumption being that you are planning to run a small minifridge, a few lights, and a small stove. Perhaps, you may plan on powering a few simple tools as well.

The most basic setup will include a 3 panel (45 watt) solar kit and perhaps a 300 watt inverter at the minimum. This actually is a good starting point for a basic solar power system and then an additional 60 watts can be added. Anywhere you can eliminate the use of an inverter will help cut back on cost and the amount of converted current needed.

Quite simply this means connect the solar panel and the tool directly to the battery using their wires leaving out the inverter. Another simple solution is to wire the solar panel directly onto the tool like a solar panel wired onto an attic fan. In this case, the fan will only run when the sun is shining because there is no battery involved to store charge.

When mounting the panels, be certain to angle the panels slanted about 12 degrees thus maximizing exposure to the sun. If done correctly, then the three panels will yield 15 watts each at midday sun or 1.5 amperes. Keep in mind that a cabin in the woods will have plenty of trees around it to cast a shadow on the solar panels.

Considering the solar panels need sun to generate power, the trees might be a problem. In this scenario, the batteries will be at a trickle charge over the course of the day and will not even be able to power a light bulb.

If using the cabin for intermittent getaways, then perhaps a generator may be sufficient instead of solar panels. If planning on living in the cabin year round then consider a system of 500 watts at a minimum and a 1000 amp hour battery bank so that you can live comfortably inside.

On a more professional level, a basic solar power system includes the solar panels, charge controller, batteries, and an inverter. This will generally include a large array of solar panels that are wired together. In this scenario, the appliances will just be plugged into the inverter as needed. This system is generally installed by the local power company and comes with several rebate and tax incentives.

Many homeowners want to go green. They want to end their reliance on an electric system that is contributing to global warming. At the same time, many people are struggling with the high cost of energy. The concern over global warming and the high cost of electricity are both expected to become bigger problems in the coming years.

Going solar is obviously a great option no matter where a home is located. The problem is the cost of buying and installing solar panels. As long as the cost is too high, home owners simply won’t consider it.

One alternative to the cost prohibition is to take a bite out of it: do it yourself. Start small and install as much solar equipment as you can afford. Then over time, buy and install more solar panels. This approach can begin to save you money which will allow you to keep growing your solar capability.

Current home owners who have ventured into DIY solar have determined that the goal isn’t full electric generation. Instead, they have recommended that solar should be tied into your current system. Over time, if you are successful with installation, you can purchase more materials and add more solar capability.

Basic Tips
Find an online Renewable Energy Calculator that will help determine how much power your home needs. Try to buy enough solar equipment to produce at least 25 percent or more of your power.

Determine an area, facing south, where the solar panels can recieve a minimum of six hours during peak sunshine hours. To determine this, determine when the sun is at its peak and estimate three hours on each side of that daylight hour. Make certain the panels will never be shaded during this peak period. If there is no place that can get six hours of direct sunlight during the peak hours, then you may not want to proceed.

Try to avoid putting the panels on the roof. This makes the entire process more difficult and dangerous.

Use a concrete mixer and set the frame in the ground where it cannot tip over.

Do not work alone. The panels are breakable and expensive. It takes at least two people to handle them successfully.

Be careful. The system will heat as soon as the sun touchs the first PV panel.

If the wiring is too difficult, turn to a professional electrician to finish the job.

You can use sun’s solar energy to build your own solar oven and anything you can cook in a conventional oven; you can cook in solar oven too.

What raw materials do you need?
• Cardboard box
• scissors
• Aluminum foil
• tape
• Plastic wrap
• Black paper
• A ruler

How to prepare the oven?
1. Cut a flap in the cardboard box and fold it in such a way that it stands out when the box’s lid is closed.
2. Cover the inner body of the cardboard with aluminum foil so that it reflects the sun rays
3. Open the box and tape a double layer of plastic wrap over the opening you made when you cut the flap
in the lid so that sunlight enters the box easily.
4. Line the bottom of the box with black paper so that it absorbs heat

How to set up the oven?
1. Take it outside to a sunny spot and adjust the flap so that sunlight directly falls over it.
2. Adjust the angle of the flap using a ruler so the sunlight reflected directly falls inside the box.

Now your solar oven is ready to cook.

A car radiator makes a sturdy, cheap, solar heater. These simple steps will produce a basic design suitable for use as solar water pre-heater.

What materials and tools will I need?
This basic design requires one car radiator, flushed, pressurized to check for leaks and repaired, if necessary. Two rubber radiator hoses and two hose clamps used to attach the radiator in series with the water supply. Finally, black spray paint completes the list of materials. Tools required include a straight screwdriver and a rubber mallet.

What do I do next?
Use the rubber mallet to tamp all the fins flush with the surface on both sides of the radiator. Tamping all the fins increases heating efficiency, in this application. Next, paint both sides of the radiator thoroughly; use at least two coats of black spray paint.

Where do I put it?
Attach the radiator in series before the water heater. Find a location on the south side of the house in direct sunlight.

Is that all there is to it?
Depending on the climate, a housing built around the unit will increase its efficiency. Make sure to use tempered glass on the top. Tempered glass will endure the heat.

Solar heat panels can be easily and inexpensively made to help reduce the cost of heating your home by using the power of the sun. This project most directly benefits houses with a south facing room as that will be the strongest sunlight available.

Making a solar heat panel can be as simple as modifying old aluminum storm windows to absorb the heat and send it into a room through a vent or through a window. If using a window to bring the warmed air in, you’ll need to ensure that the opening is air tight around the vent. Otherwise the warm air coming in will quickly be replaced by the cold air that is coming in as well.

Using an old aluminum window, a piece of foil backed insulation, and a vent into the room, the window with the foil backed absorbs the heat from the sun and a some fan can draw the warmed air into the room where the vent is placed. Granted, it is a bit more complicated than that, but that is the basic plan. The window catching the rays must be angled to be able to absorb the heat and the vent into the room must be sealed tightly to prevent cold air from also coming in.

With the increase in the interest of having a “green” society, the topic of solar power as a source of heat is a hot one. There are different methods of achieving this, as well as different things to use the solar power on as a heat conductor.

What follows is a synopsis of some of these methods and some insight as to what one might need when interested in using this kind of natural power for heating purposes.

How to Make a Solar Water Heater ?

Depending on the method of solar heating used, here is a list of some things you may need to have when using solar heating of water.

1. One or more 100 feet long black garden hoses
2. One or more 50 feet long black garden hoses
3. Southern exposure. The roof is the preferred place of southern exposure if feasible
4. 30 gallon clean black plastic barrel with spigot
5. Four 4×6 treated posts, eight feet long in length
6. Concrete Mix
7. 3X3 sheet of one inch thick plywood
8. Four 2 by 4′s, 3 feet in length
9. Sixteen carriage bolts with lock washer,washer, and acorn nut
10. A post hole digger
11. Four 4×6′s, three feet in length

Both methods don’t require all of these things, but we will put this together with the following methods so you can see what material you will need for each.

1° Method

The first method of solar hot water heater homemade is as follows:

• Step one: Using large loops, stretch a 100 foot long black garden hose out over the southern side of the roof.
• Step two: Attach on end of the hose to your homes incoming cold water line.
• Step three: Take the other end of the hose and attach it to the cold water intake of your water heater.

Your water will now be warm before it enters your water heater as the heat from the sun will be absorbed by the hose, thus warming the water.

2° Method

• Step one: On the side of the house where you can have the effects of the full sun, build a 3×3 by 6 foot tall platform.

To build the platform:

1. Dig four two feet deep holes, three feet apart from each other in a square.
2. Center a post in each and then fill with concrete. Make sure posts are square and level. Let concrete set for 24 for 48 hours.
3. Attach the 2×4′s flush at the top of the posts. Use two carriage bolts at each end of the 2×4′s.
4. Use 1 1/2 inch wood screws to affix the 3×3 plywood sheet. Space screws about an inch from the edge and use one every six inches.To supply enough support for a full barrel, be sure your plywood is at least one inch in thickness.

• Step two: Screw three foot long pieces of 4×6 posts along the top of the platform using 6 inch screws to ensure they go through the posts, plywood, and 2×4′s. This will create a ledge to prevent the barrel from falling from the platform.
• Step three: Place the empty barrel on the platform with the hose attached to the spigot.
• Step four: Attach the hose to the cold water intake of your water heater and fill the barrel with water.

Keep in mind that the water will take several hours to heat, so using these methods will likely give you enough water for one or two showers per day.

Solar Water Heating for Swimming Pools

A long loop of 2-inch black PVC tubing that is a bypass into your pool’s water pump hose are the basics of a solar heating system for your pool. Many people spend over a thousand dollars to get a heater for their pool, but by putting in a solar system it’s possible you can spend about one fifth of that.

First you need to be sure to get black PVC piping. White reflects sun and black has the opposite effect. Get yourself at least 200 feet of 2 inch black PVC pipe along with the following.

1. a proportionate amount of 2-inch, black PVC elbow fittings
2. some hose clamps
3. PVC glue
4. Primer

Now your ready to know how to use solar power to heat your pool.

1. Find area of the pool that receives the most light.
2. Determine loop and grid. Figure out where to lay the pipe. Keep in mind that the roof of a blacktop garage will run lots of heat.
3. Run a continuous loop of the tubing from the pool to a series of parallel lines, interconnecting PVC tubing throughout the grid loop. Now you have a single loop grid collecting energy from the sun and using it’s energy to heat your pool.

How to Make Your Roof into a Solar Water Heater

1) Tanks – This is essentially a black water tank on the roof. The dark color absorbs the sun’s rays, heating the water. The advantage of using a tank system is that the water held in the tank often has enough weight to allow the heated water to flow into your water heater as well as new, unheated water to flow into the roof tanks without additional pumping.

The obvious disadvantage is that such a heavy system could require reinforcement of the roof against the sheer weight of the system as well as against wind, as the tank enclosure tends to be a high profile construction.

2) Hoses – Using the same principle as the tank system, fresh water is pumped through dark colored hoses arranged in a serpentine pattern on the roof. While eliminating or reducing the weight and wind issues of the tank system, the hose system has its own concerns.

While the tank system utilizes tanks in a protective enclosure, the hoses in a hose system are exposed to the elements and might not last as long as a tank system. The second issue is that without a great deal of water weight being concentrated in any one place, pumping is the only option to cycle fresh water into the system.

The two systems are pretty much the same, it’s just a matter of which works best for you in your specific situation.

Does a Solar Water Heater Panel Have to Face South ?

Answer: This depends on your location.

If you are living in Texas, there’s no point of having the heater panel facing south because it is an area that has mostly heat and sun all year long it’s easy to charge and operate products with a solar power as a generator.
If you are living in an area that does not get a lot of sun but does get sun during noon but in a particular direction it is very important to have your solar water heater panel facing that direction. This is so that you may receive as much sun light as possible and so that you can not only run your machinery but also save power and money.

To answer your question in short it really does depend on your own judgment. You need to find out the best times when the sun will be at it’s peak, for how long, and in which direction in order to successfully operate under solar power.

This is very important to discover before you hook up, spend money, or even purchase anything solar. It does not help to purchase solar power machinery if your going to be in snow all day.

Do It Yourself Solar Water Heater Installation

Having thermal panels added in to the system of your solar water heating can greatly increase it’s production.

Your consumption of fossil fuel will be greatly diminished by using solar energy for electricity as well, and may even disappear altogether. Keep in mind that many energy providers and government agencies have rebate plans for people who install solar power as well. Photovoltaic panels have the potential to decrease your electric bill.

Here’s how you can install your own solar hot water system with thermal panels. After that we will look at installing photovoltaic panels for electricity.

Part 1

Part 2

Figure that you will need approximately a 30 pound capacity of water per person in the household.

1. Figure out how much thermal panel you will need for the roof or where you are putting the system. On the average, figure you will need approximately 20 square feet for two residents. For more people add around 8 square feet each, although you may want to make it up to 14 feet if you live in a particularly cold region.

2. Find out where you want to put the panel. On your roof is usually the best place as you can secure mountings to the rafters and may be convenient to run pipe to your hot water heater.

3. Measure out where the mountings will be. Make sure you line them up with the thermal panel to be sure they match.

4. Using a power drill, install the mounting with screws and brackets.

5. Use sealant, such as caulk, to seal up any holes.

6. Install rails onto mounts. Be sure they are fixed in place.

7. Install thermal panel on rails insuring they are secure enough to withstand rain or poor weather.

8. For the panel connection to the water pipe, you will have to install a roof boot. Do not place the boot over any rafters. The boot should be about 2 inches from the feed connection on your solar panel.

9. Use flashing, and caulk if needed, to make the boot’s connection to the hole surrounding it watertight.

10. Install roof boot number two about 2 inches from the absorber outlet of solar power.

11. Attach compression unions to roof boot and use copper tubing to connect compression unions to feeds on the solar panel. Be sure to check that all connections will not leak.

12. Run copper tubing from both feeds to the water heater.

13. Turn off gas and drain all water from the water heater, then install coaxial fitting onto water heater.

14. Making sure the connections are correct, which should be the feed line taking cool water out to the water panel and the return line being hot water in, connect the copper tubes to the fitting.

15. Even if sealant or Teflon tape is needed, you need to make sure that there are no leaky connections.

16. Refill heater with water and flip the gas back on.

There you go. That’s how you can install thermal panels and your solar water heater. Hope this can help with some of your questions about how to install panels for your solar water heating. Photovoltaic panels are important if you want to save on electricity . This should not be forgotten if you want to build your own solar energy system. To install photovoltaic panels follow these steps.

1. Pick out your photovoltaic panels and appropriate panel mounts and tools for installation.
2. Use a stud finder to find the rafters and align mounts. Pre-drill with pilot bit to avoid splitting and make sure to keep mounts in a straight line using laser sight or chalk line.
3. Use stainless steel lag bolts to attach mounts to the roof.
4. Place metal flashings over the mounts and use 3/8′ stainless steel bolts to secure metal rails to the posts.
5. Install solar panels and connect them into an array.
6. Run the conduit to connect the panels to the inverter.

Now your photovoltaic panels are installed and your solar electric system is ready to go. Keep in mind that if you are interested in using this type of energy and are considering getting your roof redone, that would be the best time to have the system installed.

Having them “flashed-in” during the roofing process is a good way to assure there are no leaks. Also, having structural attachment points “flashed-in” is a good idea for installing solar panels as re-installation or future cost of removal will not be a worry for many years to come.

With more and more emphasis being placed on energy being derived from natural sources and being less dependent on fossil fuels, more and more interest is being shown towards solar power. Solar power requries one thing and that is sunlight. The sun is the biggest star in the universe and while it shines bright upon the Earth every single day, it can also be used to harness power and that is a very interesting thing to alot of people.

When it comes to adding solar power to a persons home, the most common way of doing that is through solar panels. These panels are produced by different companies from all over the world and what they do is harness the sunlight that comes from the sun, stores that energy in the panels and then transfers it into a power grid. The panels are made to produce a certain amount of power per hour which means that they are usually designed to help take the stress of off the regular power grid which is also run by fossil fuels.

The best place to go in order to find solar power and panels for your home is to do some research online. There you will be able to find out where to buy panels and exactly how a system is put together.

How to Install Solar Panels Yourself

With the rising cost of energy and the movement to utilize renewable energy sources, many homeowners are interested in using solar photovoltaic panels. These panels are comprised of solar cells that do the actual work of converting the sun’s rays to power that can be harnessed and used. The cells are mounted in a frame, or panel, that is typically placed on the roof. You can install solar panels yourself, even if you have only basic home improvement skills.

The first step is to select a location for your home solar panel installation. You want to select the area of your roof that receives the most sun each day. The south side is optimal for residential solar panel installation, but the west side is the second best orientation to use, followed by the east.

Solar panels installed on the east or west will not produce as much energy as those on the south, which means that you will need more panels to provide the same amount of energy. Solar panels should never be mounted on the north side of the residence.

Check with your city to see what building permits you may need before you begin your do it yourself solar project. There may also be specific instructions or inspections required. Failure to comply with permitting codes can result in having to tear everything out and redo it.

Use a stud finder to locate your roof rafters. Write down the spacing between them. Measure your solar panels and prepare a written sketch of how to install them so that all mounts will be placed in a rafter. If the rafters do not line up properly, you can install a wooden block on the underneath side of the roof for placing the mount. Never drill the mount into the plywood that lies beneath your shingles.

Mounts should be placed so that the installed solar panels will have at least three inches of air flow beneath them. They should also be tilted for maximum production. The tilt is dependent upon your latitude.

If you are installing solar panels at latitudes between 15 and 20 degrees latitude, make the angle of tilt equal to the latitude. Increase the tilt by 5 degrees for every 5 degrees of latitude until latitude reaches 40 degrees. If your latitude is in excess of 40 degrees, add 20 degrees of tilt to the latitude.

Measure carefully and use a pilot bit to drill the holes for the mounts. Install them with the lag bolts. To help guard against roof leaks, install flashing over the mounts. Attach the rails by bolting them onto the mounts and then install the solar panel onto the rails.

Open the junction box on the solar panels and interconnect them. Each box will have negative and positive terminal screws. Attach the each wire to the appropriate screw, creating a daisy chain of solar panels until you come to the last one. This wire should be run through a conduit to the next component, such as the controller.