Solar Kits

If running out of battery power has been a reason that you don’t enjoy your recreational vehicle travel as much as you would hope, there is an answer. A solar RV can extend your battery life and it’s is simple to transform the power system on your existing RV by adding solar power. Most solar systems are added by the owner after the RV is purchased.

Those with minimal handyman skills can construct their own solar panels. The quoted price is around $200 and the components are available at a hardware store. Some RV owners purchase kits that include instructions and all the necessary parts. Another alternative is to contact a certified installer of solar panels to help you decide what you must have to run your RV.

Your first step is to determine the amount of power that you typically use when traveling or camping in your RV. Do you get by with basic water and lighting needs? Does camping in an RV mean television, microwave and coffeemaker? The answers to these questions will tell you how many solar panels will be required to keep your recreational vehicle operational and comfortable.

Local weather patterns can affect whether or not you can provide enough solar power to operate your RV. Trying to heat in cold weather can require a tremendous amount of electricity. If you are running an air conditioner in the summertime, the power drain is significant.

You must have enough sunlight in your camping area to provide the amount of electricity that you require. If you add an inverter to charge up the batteries, your solar panels will provide power for a longer period of time. You don’t have to use batteries, but if you don’t, you are severely limited in the amount of power that you can generate.

At least some electrical power while using your recreational vehicle is important. Undeveloped camping sites with no electricity are much more comfortable where you are able to operate lights. If you have batteries and the sun is shining, your stay can last indefinitely. Generators give you power, but they also are smelly and noisy.

I suggest you check out my other guide on solar rv, solar energy installation and solar energy advantages disadvantages

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Many people think that the only way to have a solar power home is by installing banks of cells and batteries. Fortunately, you can use solar power in your home in some ways that are much less expensive. You can harness sun power without using any solar cells if you are willing to take a few steps.

One way that we often waste energy is in cleaning our clothing. Even if you have an energy star rated dryer, it is likely to be one of the largest energy consumers in the home. Even if you had solar cells, it is likely that you would not produce enough electricity to operate an electric dryer. You might get by with a natural gas or propane dryer since you only would have to produce enough energy to operate the motor that tumbles the clothing.

For a nominal investment, you can dry laundry in a way that will not add to your power bill. The simple old clothes line allows clothing to dry outside. On warm days, your clothing may be dry in about the same amount of time that it would take in a dryer. Most homes have yards that will accommodate at least the small square clothes line.

Other ways to take advantage of the power of the sun include opening blinds or drapes on southerly facing windows in the home during days of the winter months. The sun’s warmth filters int the home and allows you to use passive solar heating at no cost. If you have hard surface floors, they may absorb the heat and radiate it back into the home long after sunset. Window coverings need to be closed after dark as they add insulation value and minimize heat loss.

During the summer months, keeping these blinds closed in the afternoons when the sun is shining intensely helps to keep the heat outside so there is less work for the air conditioning of the home. At night, if the humidity is not a problem, you can open those windows and allow the cool evening breeze to float into your home.

A solar power home does not have to cost a fortune.

I suggest you check out my other guides on solar power home, solar energy home and solar energy panel

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For numerous years, the only kinds of solar panels commercially offered have been crystalline solar panels arranged in a rectangular casing and placed on a roof. This is why most people, as soon as they consider solar power for their home, imagine this as their single option. Below are a few recent advancements in solar power and mounting options you may have never heard of before.

Thin Film Solar Panels – Man Is This Thin!

Picture the solar panel you see in a solar calculator. That is a thin film solar panel. Thin film solar panels are used extensively in satellites. Thin film technology is currently being expanded into suburban and industrial use and was named one of the greatest inventions of 2008 by TIME magazine.

Thin film solar panels are flexible, not like polysilicon cells found in conventional crystalline solar panels. These thin film solar panels are being labeled as second generation solar power technology.

Thin film solar panels are more resilient to hailstones, rocks, and so on. If a portion of a crystalline solar panel is broken, the entire solar panel will stop working whereas a thin film solar panel will continue to operate.

Thin film panels can also be flexible and modified to many surfaces. They can be applied in places traditional crystalline solar panels cannot be mounted onto. I have even seen a thin film panel sewed onto a jacket that powered a MP3 player.

The downside to thin film panels is that they do not take up as much energy because they are so skinny. These panels are not nearly as efficient as conventional photovoltaic panels but they are much cheaper. Thin film solar panels are printed onto the rolled backing, eliminating many of the high energy and chemical intensive processes that are standard in conventional PV manufacturing.

Thin film solar panels are low wattage and need more room than traditional solar panels and they are more prone to degradation. In order to counter several of these competitive disadvantages they have versus conventional solar panels, manufacturers offer better warranties for thin film panels.

The biggest thin film solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the United States is the Blythe plant located 200 miles east of Los Angeles, California. The 21-megawatt solar power plant uses thin film solar cells made out of cadmium telluride. At full power, the plant will create enough electricity to power an anticipated 17,000 homes.

Now let’s look at traditional solar panels and some of the mounting options that are offered you may have never heard of before.

Mounting Selections For Traditional Solar Panels – It’s All About the Mount

Solar panel mounts come in three main varieties: pole mounts, roof-ground mounts, and flush mounts. With these mounts, you can set up your solar panel on your roof, onto an RV, on top of or against the side of a pole, or even install them as a free-standing unit.

Pole Mounts – No This Is Not What Santa Claus Uses For His Sleigh

Pole mounts, particularly top-of-pole, have been well-liked for a long time. Top-of-pole mounts are essentially a steel or aluminum rack and rail structure bolted or welded to a large casing that sets on top of a pole with set-bolts to keep it stationary. Side-of-pole mounts are regularly used when you need to mount to the side of a communications tower or telephone pole. Tracking mounts are similar to top-of-pole mounts, but they also have a technique of automatically aiming the mount to follow the sun.

Top of pole mounts (as well as sun trackers) are one of the simplest mounts to install. They really only need a single steel pole set in the ground (typically in concrete), and the mount slips onto the top of the pole. Most common sizes use a 2-inch to 8-inch pole, usually around 11 to 13 feet in length. They can go higher if you need to get the panel up higher to get around shading from close by bushes.

Common Roof-Ground Mounts

Roof-ground systems can be mounted onto a roof or ground without a lot of deviation in setup. They are typically constructed from stainless steel in a grid-like system of supports. Roof-mounted panels for smaller systems are the easiest to install, using small flush-mount brackets that raise the panels to the best angle for solar collection.

Ground mounts, as the name suggests, are solar panel mounts that are installed on the ground (as opposed to a pole mount or roof mount). They have supporting, changeable legs that allow you to optimize their vertical orientation for solar exposure. Ground mounting systems typically require plenty of steel supports, concrete foundations, and galvanized footings, which can be challenging, when you are attempting to keep your system low cost. Ground mounted systems need structural strength to prevent weight bearing failure.

Although module mounting systems are offered for ground and roof installation, roof mount installation is the most popular and cost effective approach. The roof mounted panels are attached to a mounting system normally consisting of an aluminum or steel support structure that attaches the panels to the roof.

The Smack Down On Flush Mounts

Flush Mounts are reasonably priced and straightforward to install – these are perfect for single panel installations and smaller solar arrays. Flush mounts are mounted onto a level face such as the top of an RV, a roof, or the top of a boat and are not used for ground installations. These mounts serve to separate the solar panel from the mounting surface and allow airflow to go below and lower the temperature of the solar panel for smooth operation. Flush Mounts are usually used with small solar arrays on roof tops and RVs, because the structural design of a flush mount cannot hold big solar panels.

There are many new options available in the expanding realm of solar technology. To learn how to calculate the number of solar panels you need for your home and other solar power secrets they don’t want you to know about, go to purchase solar panel kits

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There has been so much information given to the public about solar energy that many people feel they know it well. After seeing programs on installing green DIY solar in a home with little or no assistance one begins to wonder how hard it can be. If a person has not had experience with solar cells and panels and their installation, it is important to look at all of the options that are available.

First it is important to spend some time planning and researching the amount of electricity that is needed to run all of the appliances and outlets in a home. Knowing how much energy is going to be needed will be very important when it comes to deciding on the type of green DIY solar project to take on.

Knowing about the “guts” of a solar panel will help an individual to decide if they want to start from scratch and build their solar panel, get a kit where most of the tedious labor is already done, or get some help or consultation in getting the solar panel installed.

Amorphous cells which are normally not as efficient as the other cells, monocrystalline cells which are usually the most expensive of the cell choices, and polycrystalline cells which are small and are pieced together.

There are two other types of solar cells that are used in residences as well. All three of the solar cells have their own distinct characteristics and you will need to decide which one will best meet your needs.

There are different styles, shapes, and sizes of solar panels being developed on a regular basis. Some are designed to be ascetically pleasing when one places them on a roof, others are more functional and don’t have the flair of the fancier models. The main function of the solar panel is to protect the cells that are within it. With that in mind one can base their decision of panel on the budget they are working with and the durability of the panel they select.

Prior to starting a green DIY solar project an individual will want to look at the options available for getting the job done with the least amount of worry and time. There are several ways to do this. There are multiple plans available on-line that give detailed instructions. There are also companies that provide solar kits which give a person the cells, panels, and instructions that they will need to complete their project successfully.

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You can build diy solar panel for less money than what you think. Many people want to convert to solar thermal energy but are afraid that it will cost more money than what they can afford. If you build the solar panels yourself, your cost goes down considerably. You can construct diy solar panels for around $150.

The secret to building solar panels is that you do have to purchase brand new solar cells. Go to any major online auction site and search for used solar cells. You will be surprised at how inexpensive that they really are. Getting bran new solar cells is not only expensive and often not sold in the quantities that you are looking for, if you are going power your entire home.

Many sellers will use wax to store and ship solar cells. Just remember that wax is not easy to get off the cells once you have them. The cells are brittle and you could damage them just trying to remove the wax. However; they will be well protected. You might want to discuss a different shipping method with the seller. If the seller is already storing their cells like this, there is not much that you can do.

You will need to construct a shallow box to hold all of your solar cells. The box needs to be shallow enough to hold the cells but you do not want the box to cast a shadow on any of the cells. You will also need a clear piece of plexiglass to protect your solar cells from the weather.

You will need to solder all of the cells together. You will need to solder them in a certain order so that you will have a consistent flow of energy to produce a voltage. It is recommended to use a soldering iron and you will have to treat these cells as delicately as you can. Pushing to hard, having the soldering too hot or holding the soldering iron too long in the same area could damage the solar cells.

A light touch with a soldering iron is all the heat that is necessary for this project. Anything hotter or being heavy handed can possibly damage the cells and render them unusable.

Anyone that has a basic understanding of electrical and construction jobs should not have a problem building their own diy solar panels. There are more in depth articles that you guide you from the start to finish of this project. This is an exciting low cost solution to eliminating your reliance on the electric company and allowing you to rely on Mother Nature.

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