Does anyone have any tips or advice on installing a solar power system for their home?
This seems to be a growing trend and as the technology is becoming more efficient it is also starting to be more economical and installed in more and more homes.
We have started a blog http://www.sunpoweradvice.com and would like to hear some experiences from people who have installed solar power systems in their home.
More Pages:
- Solar Power: What Is The Most Efficient Way Of Powering Your Home? Do You Use Solar Power, Wind Turbine, Coal? (6/4/2011)
- Solar Power: What Features Should I Look For When Purchasing A Home Solar Power System? (5/22/2011)
- Solar Power: How Long Can The Solar Power Systems Remain Sitched Off? (7/7/2011)
- Solar Energy: Is Solar Energy The Solution To Oil Independence? (7/10/2011)
- Solar Products: How Do You Make A Home Nuclear Generator To Power Electricity? (6/12/2011)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
After following the progress of solar hot water systems over some 40 years I’ve come to the conclusion that the thermosiphon hot water system is the best. After traveling to China and seeing their systems in operation convinced me that this is the most efficient type of system but most people are not aware of this. It uses no electricity and no moving parts.
too good
What I started doing is gathering solar panels bit by bit, but got the ones with the same watts and voltage. I currently am using five wheel chair batteries stored in my basement linked together rated at 12v each. I have 7 15w 12v panels out back supplying power for my batteries. I use the power during night and morning to run 12v lighting to cut back on energy, and PC fans also run on 12v and work fairly well in the summer which I use next to my bed to keep me cool. I have underground lines from my panels running through conduit to my house to a charge controller to avoid overcharging my batteries. I also have an experiment underway building an wind generator. I completed it, and am waiting on the winter winds to do their thing. I would build a frame for your panels protecting them from the weather, hail, rail, snow? They should be facing the direction where you will be getting the most sun throughout the day, and the winter period. I advise you to uses sealed led batteries if they are going to be installed in your shed or basement to avoid gasses. Normal car batteries will cause a problem. You should have a solar charge controller to protect your batteries from overcharging. I gave up and just built my own charging system because most on the market are too expensive, that is the heavy duty ones. I’m going on over four years using panels, and they never let me down yet, and still charge fairly well on cloudy days. With these 7 panels, I can almost run a 19 inch television using an inverter.