tecnical questions(solar panels)

[snake the squadie]

hiya all i know its been a long time but once again i require the assistants and knowledge of the many experts out there. i would love a solar panel at home but they are far to expensive for me so would like to try and build one myself apparently according to some dodgy american websites you can build them for less than $200 does any body know if this is the case or infact how to build them. many thanks snake

[Jardiniere]

i have a book called "Solar Water Heating - a DIY guide" which i know i will NEVER use....if you send me your address in a private message i will send it to you....its only little...

[Jardiniere]

havent you posted this twice?

[Hilary B]

We made a solar water heater out of a second-hand radiator, some matt black paint, some of that multi-wall plastic that gets used for some conservatory roofs, a shallow wooden box, and some roof insulation. You then need a well insulated hot water cylinder to hold the heated water, and pipes to join the 2, plus a bit of plumbing know-how. I think ours cost about £50, plus the secondhand tank for £25.

The expensive part of the system is joining it up to an alternative source of heat for the days when there just isn't enough sun for the heat you need. It is also a bit complicated joining in the pump to bring heat DOWN from a panel on the roof.
'Proper' panels get more heat out of the same amount of sun, but if you can make a BIG panel, and your insulation is good, you can get quite a lot of heat from a DIY version!

[snake the squadie]

thanks for the advice but its the electric type i want to try i find it strange myself that you can quite easly build these for a few quid but aprently you can. but i will be trying the hot water type as well once i get my new book

[snake the squadie]

yep i wasnt quite sure which one to post it in

[zazen999]

I've merged them - it confuses people as they answer once and then read the other thread and wonder where their response is [then PM me asking if I can look into it etc etc].

[snake the squadie]

lol well it confused me. mind you thats not hard

[NOG]

There are two types of solar pannels photovoltaic (PV) which produce electricity and the type that heat hot water.

The hot water type are the easiest to make for about £20-£50. The PV cost a fortune You can get a PV cell 125 watt cell for about £500. But they produce DC so to use them in the house or to connect to the Grid you will need an inverter to change it from DC to AC.

To be usefull you will need to have a 1KWH array. And that will cost you £8k.

There is a new system out in the US that combines hot water and PV into one unit. They have found that as PV cells get hot they produce less electricity so they use the water heating tubes to cool the PV cells.

What do you want to use the cells for.

[Dynamo]

Where in Yorkshire are you at the weekend? There's a green energy show on at Preston Park near Middlesbrough on the 7th of June. If its not too far away it may be worth a drive there to find out what information is on the go.

[snake the squadie]

this is why i am having trouble beliving this web site i found. its talking about pv cells that can generate about 80% of the house hold electricaty by using this very simple diy homemade all singing all dancing solar pannel for a special price of ? i stopped reading at that point. i know the states work on 110 instead of 240 like us but i still dont think it would make that much diffrence as most things we use use step downs any way

[NOG]

A roof full of panels will generate about 8kwh and cost you £12k.....but that will not give you all your energy needs.

[snake the squadie]

i have got mine down to roughly 8kwh a day now

[NOG]

Thats good...I have mine down to 2kw until the kids get in the shower and it goes up to 10kw.

Unless you want to do a project and use it to light a shed I would hang on a few years when the new technology will be in production and the price will fall. If you do make one please let me know,

[snake the squadie]

dont worry i have no itention of spending that amount of money i have got one of those shed ones and it is quite handy but want to expand my empire so to speak but will let you know how i get on. cheers