What Are My Solar Plans?
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With the vast increase in energy bills in the last few years more and more people are researching for alternative energy to try to reduce the ever increasing energy cost rises, my solar plans will solve that problem.
I decided to do some research on solar panels and I got one of the well known solar panel expert companies to give me a quote for having a solar panel system installed on my roof. The sales rep spent around 2 hours at my house explaining all about the installation and how good the systems are he finally hit me with the bill of $15,000. At first I was a little shocked and then I realized it would take around 15 to 20 years to see a return on this investment. I told the sale rep I would think about it, he tried his hardest to persuade me to sign but I wasn’t having any of it. A few days later I got a phone call from the sales rep trying once again to close the deal, in the end I ended up putting the phone down on him there is only so many time you can say NO I’m sorry I’m not interested. A week later I decided to go down a different route to see if there is a way to make these solar panels myself. Having spent a few weeks reading lots of different review sites I found My Solar Plans and was immediately impressed with the video introduction on the My Solar Plans Official Website. At the official my solar plans website there is just a 5 minute introductory video which explains what my solar plans are, the clue is in the title. My Solar Plans are a detailed video and PDF How To guide on building your own solar panels.
Click on this Youtube video and see the finished product.
Is My Solar Plans For Anyone?
Using my solar plans is very easy to follow and understand, it is all down to your hand skills if you are good with your hands then you should have no trouble at all following the my solar plans guide and completing the project successfully. If you are not so good with your hands then take your time with the project don’t rush follow my solar plans one step at a time and the same result will follow a successfully completed solar panel. Once you have built the first solar panel you will be able to build as many as you wish without having to keep referring back to the video or my solar plans guide. The will be a cost involved which is the materials, that cost will be all down to where you can get the materials for the best price.
My Solar Plans- Tools List.
Once you have outsourced all the materials and have all the tools that you will require it will be time to start and watch the first video and follow the my solar plans manual. To complete your D.I.Y project, there are a few tools that you will need to make the job easier. The tools are very basic, except the multi-meter which can be purchased at your local hardware store, or online. You might have most of these items in your shed or workshop already…
- Hand saw
- Tape measure
- Long-nose nail punch
- Paint brush / roller
- Portable hand drill
- Multi-meter
- Soldering iron
- Solder
- Soldering iron holder
- Wire clippers or scissors
- Eye protection & respirator
- Clamps
The beauty about building your own solar panels using my solar plans is that you can make them as big or as small as you wish, even angles or different shapes as long as you can get the right PV cell to fit on to the holding plate and be able to join on to the previous PV cell. When you have built say 4 solar panels which will be able to generate around 1000 watts of electricity, the PV cells will all be soldered together and then each solar panel will also be linked together until you have joined them all up and are left with 2 cables a positive and a negative which are then connected to a inverter. The inverter turns the DC voltage from the solar panels to AC voltage to use in the home.
My Solar Plans- Materials List.
Here is an example materials list of the installation I was going to have installed on my roof, this is what you would get for a $15,000 solar panel installation.
12 Solar Panels 250 watts each
4 Mounting rails 4 metre length’s
36 Mounting Brackets
1 Inverter
1 Electric meter
2 Isolators
DC and AC Cabling
All of the above installed in a day for $15,000, you can see why I thought it was a lot of money for what I was getting. Having built my own solar panels using my solar plans as a guide, I built 12 of just like the quote; I then purchased the rest of the materials, the inverter which converts the DC voltage to AC voltage to use in the home, the mounting rails and brackets, the electric meter, cabling and the isolators for a total cost of $1500. Now that’s more like it the inverter was the most expensive piece to buy costing me $549 the rest went on the PV cells and the rest of the materials. Now I had all of this how do I install all of it?
My Solar Plans- Installation.
This next step can be a bit tricky but again follow the my solar plans video or manual guide step by step. Install and fix together in 2 groups of 6 the solar panels you have made and feed the cables that are left over through a roof tile, there should be 4 cable 2 positive cables and 2 negative cables. Install one set of cable from one set of 6 into a DC isolator and do the same with the last 2 cables this isolator is so you don’t get an electric shock from the DC solar panels.
Find a well ventilated space in your loft and secure the inverter to the wall. From the inverter connect 2 DC cables to the DC isolators 1 positive and the other negative and do the same with the second isolator. Then you have a Mains isolator to install a wire which is next to the inverter, connect a short piece of cable from the isolator to the inverter and then run a long piece of cable from the isolator back to the main fuse board where you install the electric meter and wire that circuit on a separate circuit breaker. All the electrical work should be carried out by an expert, within my solar plans there is a very good a clear installation guide and if you follow it carefully and slowly you should be able to complete the installation successfully.