subject: Home Solar Power Systems - The Benefits Of Building Your Own Energy Supplier [print this page] We are a world that is dependent on costly, toxic fossil fuels to provide the energy we need for everything from cars to power plants. For many people, the cost of fossil fuel, driven ever higher but unrest in oil-rich regions and the inherent danger and uncertainty in finding oil, has them seeking different ways of producing power. If you share these concerns, then home solar power systems may be what you've been looking for.
You've probably seen pictures of a great sea of solar panels stretched across a vast plain or spotted one positioned along a building's roof line. You may have wondered if these were expensive and the answer is yes, they are. Even a standard residential solar energy system can run up to several thousand dollars, depending on what options you decide to include and your location.
A long time can pass before you'll start to see any return on your investment with one of these systems, at which time the whole thing will be nearing the end of its useful life anyway.
Fortunately, there are some solar energy options that are more wallet friendly. Solar panels are fairly easy to construct, and if you've ever done any do-it-yourself type work, even just putting together the "some assembly required" furniture from your local Wal-Mart, then you can build a solar panel.
Before you start planning where to put your new solar panels, however, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, don't worry that you'll need anything that's hard to find. All of the material you'll need to build your own solar panels can be found at almost any hardware store or online.
There have been numerous books and manuals written about this topic, and they can serve as an excellent guide to your project. Just be carefully selective about which ones to follow. You'll find any number of authors who will claim that you'll be completely "off-grid". Most solar energy systems will reduce how much power company energy you use but to truly go "off-grid" would require a full-time construction effort and a field full of solar panels.
At the end of the day, it comes down to this: Building your own solar panels can be a fun DIY project for anyone who wants to reduce their need for fossil fuels and save some money on that monthly power bill, and if you fit into that category, then definitely make that leap. Just that one step forward can help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels today.
