Señor

A number of people have asked me about building their own solar panels from individual solar cells and asking for my opinion on a number of web sites that make claims that you can build enough solarpanels to power your home for around $200.

I have a huge amount of respect for people with the aptitude and the ability to build their own equipment. These people often derive a great deal ofpersonal satisfaction from being able to say, "I built that myself". Largely, these people are to be encouraged. If you want to build your own solar panels, however, I would advise caution.

There havebeen many claims made from certain web sites that say it is possible to build your own solar panels and run your entire house from solar panels for an outlay of $200 or less, sell excess power backto the utility grid and even generate an income from solar.

Most of the claims made by these websites are either false or misleading. When you subscribe to these services, you typically receive thefollowing:


•Instructions on how to build a solar panel that are virtually identical to instructions that are available freely from sites like instructables.com



•Information on taxcredits and rebates for installing solar PV in the United States. (However, these credits and rebates are not applicable for home built equipment. The web sites omit to tell you that).



•A list ofcompanies and individuals who will sell you individual solar cells.


Many of the web sites claim, or at least infer, that you can run your home on a solar panel built for around $200. In reality,your $200 will buy you enough solar cells to build a solar panel producing between 60-120 watts, which is certainly not enough to allow you to run your home on solar power.

Leaving aside the obviouspoint that you can buy a professionally built 60-100 watt solar panel with five-year warranty and anticipated 25-year lifespan for under $200 if you shop around, there are various reasons why it is...