The 5 Steps You Don't Want To Skip When Planning To Build A Diy Pv Solar System

A successful DIY solar PV system for your home needs some preliminary research to point you in the right direction

. The 5 steps you don't want to skip when planning to build a DIY solar system will be the foundation for your success. Skipping these steps will cost you time and money and will possibly prevent you from ever having a PV system that will pay for itself in a reasonable time.

1. Avoid common pitfalls when building a PV solar system for your home. Get a good start with choosing the right type and size of panels and system components for your particular application. Begin with clearly defining your goal. Will your solar PV system serve a weekend vacation cabin in a remote area? That kind of system is the simplest one and many excellent DIY PV solar kits are available. Do you want a PV system that covers between 30% and 70% of your electric needs? These systems can range from simple (no battery storage) to fairly involved. The king of the systems is the one that will get you off the grid when you are done with the solar PV installation for your home. This option will require you to have a considerable battery storage for overcast and rainy days.

2. Next, let's look at the electric requirement of your home. PV panels are not cheap and they do use water and energy to produce. Therefore, you want to minimize the size of yourPV panels, which means first you have to minimize the electric demand of your home. The free option is to turn of lights and equipment, including the stand-by power, when they are not in use. Next, take out all incandescent bulbs and replace them with LEDs. I do not recommend CFLs, as these contain mercury. A more costly step will be to replace your low-efficiency appliances with new, higher-efficiency appliances. If you plan to install the PV solar system in a new home, then make sure to purchase only high efficiency appliances.

3. Confirm that your home's roof will receive enough sunlight to make a photovoltaic system feasible, meaning your system will make sufficient electricity at an affordable price. You can check for the best location, slope and orientation for your photovoltaic panels with the Solar Pathfinder (TM), which can tell you an entire year's solar potential for any location and orientation at your home. This tool, that you have to purchase, might be a bit of an overkill for one installation. You can also use one of the many free programs available online to calculate how much sunlight your site receives. Don't forget to make allowances for shading trees and neighboring houses. Check with panel suppliers as well to have them help you determine the solar incidence for your site.

4. Local codes and utility requirements for connecting your solar system to the grid must be checked and complied with. They might require you to install a very specific meter or other piece of equipment. While you talk to them, check what utility incentives for PV systems are currently offered. In addition to the federal tax credits for solar systems you might be able to take advantage of state tax credits for solar photovoltaic systems.

5. Just one more thing: education. Knowing about all the wheres, whats, why and hows will drastically reduce, if not eliminate errors. At the minimum, you will better notice whenit is time to ask for help. You will recognize when something is not as it should be.Sit in on a couple of classes about solar PV systems. Many books and ebooks have been published. The government's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program published a huge amount of very educational and useful information on their site (www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/). It might also be very helpful for you to invest in a set of videos which show you step by step on how to go about planning and building a DIY solar PV system for your home.

It's time to get this going for real! You have many resources and answers to important questions. With the knowledge you have gained, you are able to have a productive conversation with a DIY PV solar kit provider and together you can determine what the best PV solar system for your home is. You can avoid the common pitfalls when building a PV solar system for your home.

by: Christiane Perrin.

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