DIY Solar panels?

[supernova]

Does anyone know anything about building your own solar panels?

I was hoping to build (er get the engineering, electronics minded SO to build them... ;-) ) them and then attach to the heat pump. I spend about 3x more on heating/cooling than I do on hot water.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Here's a starting point -- Mother Earth News

This article is from 2006, but it's a place to start.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/2006-10-01/Easy-Solar-Power.aspx


Easy Solar Power
With superefficient peel-and-stick PV sheets, solar power is better than ever!


Installing clean, reliable, inflation-proof solar power is easier than ever, thanks to the invention of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) laminates that can be bonded directly onto metal roofing panels. Unlike crystalline PV material, there's no need for obtrusive racks and heavy, expensive glass. Instead, unbreakable thin-film PV is produced using amorphous silicon, encapsulated in Teflon and other polymers.

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This is something I'm interested in, too. After carrying on for so long about how every building in Arizona ought to have solar "generators" on its roof, I guess I'd better start at least trying to put my money where my mouth is.


TG, TT

[supernova]

2. Tansy, thanks

I like the idea of the adhesive solar film, rather than the little individual cells.

Passing this to my SO and see what he thinks.

[Tansy_Gold]

3. Mother Earth News has always been a great resource

I subscribed for many years when I lived in Indiana in an earth-bermed house based on one I saw in an article in "Mother."




Though the magazine tends to have more focus on northern areas with less application here in the desert southwest, there is usually good information for everyone. I think they have their archives available on CD/DVD, and if I can find the spare change, I may buy it all. It's time to get back to being off the (rapidly disintegrating) grid.



TG

[txlibdem]

4. June just started and Dallas is edging close to 100 degrees every day

I wish I had an earth-bermed / earth-sheltered home. The overhangs on our tract house are 11 inches wide so the summer sun hits the brick from 7am to 8pm at least. The A/C kicks on at around 6:45 and regularly thereafter up until 10pm or 11pm when the bricks have cooled down. We keep the thermostat set at 78 so our electric bill doesn't go over $200 a month in the summer.

What a stupid way to build a house in a hot climate such as Dallas. There is an earth-sheltered home on one of the back roads close to here and I always get jealous when my wife takes that route. It is protected from flooding because there is a water catchment pond on the lot, probably the source of the dirt for the earth-berm.

The home is modern style with properly sized overhangs to allow winter sun to warm it while blocking summer sun. A very well designed home.

[Kennah]

5. There is a lot online about DIY solar hot water

Might be cheaper and easier to dive in and get started there.