What Type Of Solder To Use in Building Solar Panels

I've recently had several people ask me "what type of solder do I use when building my solar panels?". It's a good question with several right answers. Put simply, you can use whatever solder you want for building your solar panel (provided you don't use plumbing solder). Read more »

Where To Buy Solar Cells

Solar cells used to be quite difficult to get a hold of, but with the rise of the internet it has gotten quite a bit easier. I can remember when I first started looking to build my first solar panel that the most difficult part was finding some decent cells. I was looking in magazines, calling up companies and I still couldn't find anyone who would sell me small quantities (had to order a minimum of 10,000 from the manufacturer). Read more »

Parts To Build Wind Generators

As with all things, the more you look around the better deals you'll find. When I first started looking around for wind generator parts I was floored at how much they were! After a long time looking around I've found some great inexpensive sources for wind generator parts. Read more »

How To Build a Wind Generator

If you're anything like me you'll want to learn how to build a wind generator because it is just so expensive to buy one! The 2500 watt wind generator that I was going to need as part of my renewable energy system cost in excess of $10,000. For me, and probably you too, that is a lot of money. A lot of money! I knew I could find a better solution. I eventually decided to build my own. Read more »

Homemade Wind Generators

I can remember back when I was looking at wind generators. I remember feeling bad because I couldn't afford one... even though I really wanted one. After doing some research though, I was happy to find out that homemade wind generators are significantly cheaper and they can look just as good as an overpriced commercial model. Read more »

Managing Your Battery Bank

This is a question from John from our newsletter which I'm sure many people wonder about. He writes "I'd like to know more about managing used batteries in a battery bank. Seems like getting them all on a parity is a problem; the lowest drags the rest down to its level." Read more »

What's Tip Speed Ratio (TSR)?

I've had a couple people ask me what tip speed ratio is and why it's important in wind turbines. The tip speed ratio is simply a number from 0 - (theoretically a huge number, but usually 8 - 10) which tells you how fast the blades are moving in relation to the wind speed. Read more »

Step 7: Connecting Strings

We're almost finished our solar panel. In this step you'll need to connect the strings of cells together so that we can make a useful amount of power from our panel. Read more »

Step 7: Adding Switches

As it stands now our charge controller is somewhat limited. It's important that we be able to run a full discharge cycle as well as be able to go to the dumpload at will. We'll be adding a couple switches to accomplish this task. Read more »

Step 6: Building The Case

Now that we know that everything is working lets make it pretty by building a case for our charge controller. We're almost ready to hook our charge controller up to our system. Let's begin... Read more »