The Solar Project for the Poor Man Part 1

December 14th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under
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Every time I get my electric bill I shiver at the cost of electricity, then I grin and pay the bill.  I think everyone has at one time or another thought about putting up solar panels to generate electricity to save money on their electric bill.  I know I have dreamed of one day the electric company paying me for my excess electric that my solar panels would have generated.  I quickly snap out of this dream when I see the prices of such solar commercial systems.

Looking at my electric bill I can see that last month I have used 1,279 watts of electricity and my bill also tells me that my average monthly watts used is normally  around 1,580.   I would like to have a system that will generate at least this.  Let’s get an idea of how much a commercial solar system would typically cost.

I have been looking at solar for a while so let’s check out the prices at Mr, Solar

Starting from cheapest to most expensive Grid Tied Systems.

Now these are some the cheapest kits I have seen on the internet but they still turn my stomach when I see the prices for a gird tied solar system.  There has to be a better way!

While I was surfing Google I found this website called “Earth 4 Energy” it talks about building your own solar panels or wind turbines and saving thousands.  The only down fall is that you have to build your own stuff.  Actually on solar panels you just buy a bunch of solar cells  and create your own containers to hold them and viola you have a solar panel.

After reading this ebook, I now have a new mission!  How can the average person afford his own solar panel system without breaking the bank!  I consider my self a poor man, well maybe I am not exactly poor but I don’t have a lot of extra money that my wife will allow me to spend.  How much money can I save by doing the work my self ?  Well let’s find out!

So following the ebook from “Earth 4 Energy” I go on a shopping spree!

My first buy is from the lifestylephoto store on ebay, were I am looking for “Solar Cells Photovoltaic Panels” I ended buying 100 4X4 Photovoltaic cells.    Here is  what they look like below.

4x4solarcell

I picked these because they have 2 watts of power each, so in order to meet my goal of 1,500 watts I would need 750 of these. At the time of this post they cost me about $3.00 each (on sale), if I bought all 750 at once it would cost me $2,250.00.  At this moment I can’t afford to buy this many so I am going to buy as I go at 100 cells at a time.  So far I am only out $300 + $10 shipping.

Now the panels I just bought are not tabbed.  This means that I would have buy the materials to tab them, them.  All it’s involved in tabbing the cells is some flex, a little bit of flat tinned wire and some soldier.

Here is what the tabbing wire looks like below that I bought from livingoffthegrid (another ebay store)

tabbingwire

Again on eBay the price cost me $10.99 + $5.65 for shipping on 50ft of the skinny tabbing wire and 8ft of the bus wire. I am not sure how much I need but at least this will get me started. I know that I might have to buy more, but I will worry about that later.

Now I need a flux pen, this is used to help with the soldiering.  Below is a picture of the flux pen that I bought for $9.95 + $5.00 shipping this also came from livingoffthegrid’s ebay store.

flux_pen

My Grand Total so far is..

$310.00 (100 solar cells) + $16.64 (50 ft inter tabbing and 8ft bus flat wire) + $14.95 (flex pen) = $341.59

Now that I bought my limit for now I wait for the materials to arrive and I will post my progress. Hopefully I will not mess up any materials but I will leave that for trial and error on part 2.

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There Are 7 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Vern Green on 15 December 2008:

    This project is a fascinating exploration and the results will actually be worth some green (a few types of green, actually). The thing that sounds odd at this point is that you need 750 of these pre-made solar cells to create the solar power system that would run your house. You mentioned that they are 4×4, which I have to assume is in inches, or your panel array would be absolutely massive. But, even at 4″ apiece, a relatively low-power solar system would be quite large. That’s where it gets into the nitty gritty of placement and other factors involved with maximizing energy production. I’d be interested to see what the installation ends up looking like, along with some true numbers on how much electricity it produces.

    Keep on posting!! :)

  2. Comment by That Guy on 15 December 2008:

    Hi Vern

    The 750 # is my goal number of individual cells because my average use of watts on my electric bill is around 1,500. All I did is divide it by 2 because the cell produces 2 watts at maximum output. This is how I got the number 750.

    I also live in Arkansas so the sun power is not it’s peak performance. So I may need more. Anyway when I get the cells I will put them in to a panel then I will know how much area it will cover.

    Also by making my own panels I can create them bigger or smaller to completely cover the needed area. Yes 4 X 4 is in inches.. Here is the specs of the solar cells 4in x 4in cells .5Volt 4Amps 2 Watts

    I am basically learning as I go. I have a been doing tons of research online, and the only thing that has really stopped me was the price of how much it would cost getting into this. By going at it slowly I can afford the process of learning the hard way.

    Thanks

  3. Comment by Random Dude on 19 December 2008:

    Hi,

    Just wanted to contribute some solar math…

    If your average usage is 1500W, that’s 1500W x 24hrs x 30 days in a month = 1080kWh/month (which seems about right for a normal home).

    You’d need 13000 kWh/year, so about 6.5kW PV array x 2000 hours of sunlight per year to power your whole house. I wouldn’t expect to eliminate your bill for less than $15,000 invested unless you can grow silicon crystals at home.

  4. Comment by That Guy on 21 December 2008:

    Hey Random Dude,

    You know your right! I was looking at watts and kilo watts as the same. This throws my math out the window.

    My Electric Bill states that I have used 1239 Kilo Watts (KWH) for the month, so there is 1000 watts in 1 kilo watt so the new number would be 1,239,000 watts for this month.

    My goal is 1500 KWH because that is the average for the year on a monthly basis.

    To meet this goal I would need..

    1,500,000 watts / 30 = 50,000 watts a day.
    OR
    50,000 / 24 = 2083 watts an hour. but since its only sunny half the day I would need to calculate that in also.

    2083 watts X 2 = 4166 watts per hour.

    So Very roughly it’s going to take me 4166 watts per hour for 12 hours a day to meet my goal.

    I guess I need to see finish my first panel to see how much each panel will cost me to build compared to an commercial pre built version.

  5. Comment by Solar Builder on 3 February 2009:

    Earth4energy is a complete and utter sham.They advocate using WOOD backing and their video shows you how to incorrectly solder.They are DRY soldering cells together.It is a net campaign with alot of money behind it but is 100% fluff.Sorry guy but the panels you made with their instruction will self destruct in 3 years.If you used plexiglass you didnt see that it bows in heat more than 8 in.?
    Only guide ive seen that is indepth and complete is here:
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=400009239960&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

  6. Comment by That Guy on 14 February 2009:

    By Chance would this be Stefan ? Your wording sounds like Stefan. Anyway your right, Earth4Energy is a total sham! I am going to tell the folks about the sham and my experiences and the big mistakes that I made in Part 2. Like how I bought wood and almost started building my panels before I found “livingoffthegrid” (ebay store) website.

    I am going to include a few emails from the people who I am learning from and hopefully a few soldiering techniques that would make the cells last. I have tried a few ways, including the wrong way of dry soldering like Earth4Energy was teaching. My main goal is to help fill in the gaps from the beginners to the pros. Even I have not learned everything yet, so if you catching me doing something wrong please let me know.

  7. Comment by Jason on 16 February 2009:

    I also recently purchased the Earth4Energy eBook in the hopes that it would be legitimate and help me and my family get “off the grid”. I just paid for the eBook 2 days ago and now I’ve stumbled upon you blog and wish I had done so prior to spending the money. I can get the money back but I’m more upset by the fact that this was not what it was cracked up to be.

    And for anyone else who happens to look into the Earth4Energy eBook, here’s where they get you. They market their product by touting that you can build your own solar panels for under $200.00 each. How many panels you need to get “off the grid” is totally dependent upon your monthly energy consumption needs (kinda vauge at best, huh?). And, if you follow their guidelines for building your own panels, I’m sure their figures are pretty accurate. BUT, what they don’t tell you is that solar panels produce DC current, and the DC current must be converted into AC power before you can get any closer to your “off the grid” goal. This is where the majority of the expense comes in. So you can build all the panels you want to at a sub $200 price tag, but they won’t do you a bit of good until you spend the thousands they don’t tell you about up front.

    I even went to so far as to email them “prior” to ordering their product and asking specific questions that I only got vague responses to. I’m VERY disappointed to say the least. But where this leaves me is where I started…still looking for how I can REALLY get off the grid. I don’t mind building the panels myself. From what I read in the Earth4Energy eBook, I felt confident that I could do everything they said. But there’s no way I’m going to invest the time or the money in something that won’t hold up.

    Does anyone have any suggestions??? I’m also looking for grant money to help offset the expense of the project. If anyone has ANY “LEGITIMATE” “REAL” “VERIFIABLE” suggestions as to how I can accomplish my “off the grid” goal, grant money help, or any other suggestions in general, please feel free.

    And thanks for posting this blog. It’s been helpful already.

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