Making solar panels for $1 per watt

[techman]

I spent a good part of the summer experimenting with homemade solar panels. I have tried out various materials in making solar panels. I have also experimented with the location of the solar panels.

Homemade solar panels can be every bit as good as retail solar panels. The homemade panels can be made for as low as $1 per watt, sometimes less. Compare that to retail solar panels ranging from $5 to $10 per watt and it is well worth your time to make them yourself. If you count the time from making a frame to soldering the solar cells together, to putting the solar panel part together, you may spend an hour or two making each solar panel. Your first solar panel will, of course, take longer. But once you have made the first panel, the others fall together rather quickly.

If you follow the tips on The Do It Yourself World articles, you can save a lot of time and effort when making your own solar panels. A lot of time and money was invested into various types of solar cells, EVA sheeting, plexiglass and solar glass materials and solar panel framing for the DIY-er.

You can see the results and learn how to make your own solar panels on these pages:
http://www.thediyworld.com/DIY-Solar-Pa ... -Power.php

More updates from the summer experiments will be posted soon, so check back later as well.

Check out our video pages for lots of videos detailing our experiments.