Note: This is a review, here is the official DIY Energy site.

Hey all.

I mentioned in the last post that I was planning to build my own solar panal using the instructions from Green DIY Energy. I’m happy to report that my solar panels work. That to me is the most important part of the battle. Unsurprisingly, they were a bit more difficult to build than their ads led me to believe, but definitely not impossible, even for somebody as inexperienced as myself.

All told, it took me two weekends to build eight panels (working part time, and definitely not missing the Seahawks game). The total cost was $914.24, which is just over $100 dollars each. The only tools I had to buy were the electrical tools, which didn’t cost me much at all. This wasn’t the 8 hours and $98 dollars that they promised, but I was able to successfully build the things.

As for the material itself. There are four main parts to the DIY Energy system, plus the bonuses:

Book 1: This in itself is not super critical, but for the science minded, it’s a great read. It give a very thorough background intended for non-scientists. I found it an interesting read, but I wouldn’t really be ready to pay money for this alone.

Book 2: Here is the meat and potatoes of the product. 10 steps to take you from start to finish on how to build a panel for $98. Mine probably ended up a bit more expensive, but not much. I had no knowledge of any solar anything, now I have eight panels on my roof, all functioning. Enough said.

Book 3: Similar to book one, but shorter, for wind power. Again, interesting, but not particularly useful.

Book 4: This is the step-by-step instructions for the wind turbine. I confess that I haven’t actually built a wind turbine, but based on reading the book, and the success of my solar panels, I’ll have to assume that I could build one if I wanted to. I think that I might save this part for a science project or something similar that’s fun to do with the kids.

I hope this was helpful. I’m certainly glad that I decided to build my own instead of buying a commercial system. I actually feel pretty great about what I’ve accomplished. If you’d like to give it a try, or just do some more research, you can check out the main Green DIY Energy site.

Good luck, and happy building.

So the purpose of this post is that I think I’ve found a solution. A friend mentioned that it’s possible to build your own solar panal, using relatively cheap materials. He estimated that you could build one for around $100, and that it doesn’t take any special knowledge. I started looking around the web, and I’m getting confident that it’s possible.

The key component, solar cells, are available from a variety of sources online. The ones I’ve found start at around $70. The other parts of the solar panel (wood, paint, wire, etc.) are really cheap, and available from any hardware store. Currently I’m looking for a good instruction manual that will walk me through the process of building and mounting solar panals on my own.

EDIT: The Maine State Government and the Federal Government both offer tax discounts for building renewable energy systems on residential property. I’m going to see if I can find some more information to post here. I’ve also heard that if you produce more energy than you use, the power company will buy the extra from you. That would be great!

I’d like to talk a bit about green energy. Sustainable energy is defined by Wikipedia as “the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” When I first that definition, I was really moved. The point of this is really to be able to meet our own needs without screwing up the world for our children. If you’re like me, then your children are more important to you than anything, so that thought really impacted me.

The wonderful world around us provides all kinds of energy that we can use to meet out daily needs– biofuels, ocean thermal energy, tidal and wave energy, hydrogen, and many others. There are only two, however that we can really use in our daily routine- solar panels and wind turbines. When you look around, no matter where you look, you’ll probably discover a source of untapped energy, sun shining on a rooftop or the wind whipping around a tall building.

We only need to tap all of these different sources of energy. That is the goal of green energy- it is the way of the future. Not only will using green energy help sustain the world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also help stabilize our economy and minimize our need to support foreign dictatorships (by purchasing oil from them). When the cost is so minimal- installing residential solar panels or home wind generators, I don’t see how we can pass up the opportunity.