There are so many complete manuals online that can show you how to build a solar panel that I’m not really going to go into too much detail here. What I’m going to cover is why you should build your own solar panel.

The cost of pre-made solar panels is prohibitive for the vast majority of homeowners. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars, or more, to get enough panels to actually make an impact on your utility bills. With such a huge investment it could literally take a life time to see any return on your investment.  That just doesn’t make sense.

For anyone who is willing to do it themselves the cost is so much lower, on average a few hundred dollars per panel, that not only could they afford to have more panels but since their initial investment was so low they could see a return on that investment within a few months.  So much better.

In order to build your own panels you don’t have to have any special qualifications or skills.  Just as long as you can hold a hammer or use a drill you’ll be fine. The instruction manual you’ll get will have all the directions and instructions you’ll need.  It’s like following a recipe, just do what it says to do and you’ll be fine.

A good manual will provide you with a lot of picture or maybe even a DVD.  Being able to see a picture will make the whole process easier to follow so look for that feature when you are trying to decide which manual to buy.  Also, it’s would be great if the site you bought your manual from offered some sort of customer support, though few of them do. 

It’s a good idea to visit some forums and get more information on the specific product you are buying. If you visit a forum on solar energy and start asking for recommendations on what is the best DIY manual, you’ll get enough information to narrow down your search.

After you’ve gotten your first panel built and installed it will be really easy to do more. If you have room on your roof, or where ever you decide to mount your panels, you can build several more. The savings on your utility bill will only get better as your bill goes down. The more panels, the lower your bill.

When doing your search online remember that you can either get a manual or a kit.  A kit will actually come with most or all of the parts you need. While this may cost a little more than just purchasing a manual and going out and buying the parts yourself, it might save you a lot more time. It’s up to you to decide which option is your best bet.

Learning how to build a solar panel is relatively easy to do, just find a good source to guide you through the process. Before you get started though determine how many panels you’ll want and how much room you have for them. The more you can build the more you’ll save.