Why should you look into building solar panels? For me it wasn't really about how much money I would save. I just wanted to get rid of the monthly mortgage payment to the electric company. It seemed like energy rates kept going up and up and it doesn't look like they will be coming down anytime soon.

Of course the other reason that I looked into building solar panels was because I simply couldn't afford an installation. I mean, who really has the $20,000 required for a minimal installation? I certainly didn't so I looked into ways of getting that cost down.

That's when I found out that you could buy solar cells for quite a bit cheaper than a panel. I built my first couple of panels using untabbed cells. It was somewhat tedious work (each panel took around 4 hours to do); however, I than learned about tabbed solar cells. That meant I could cut the tabbing step right out! Although they cost a little bit more the time I saved was definitely worth it.

If we take a look at the price difference between a 72 watt homemade panel and a 72 watt used panel the difference is quite astounding. Each panel I build is 72 watts (simpler that way) and each one costs less than $100 to build. If you were to try and buy a used 72 watt panel you'd be paying at least $400. I don't know about you, but being able to save $300 with 2 hours of my time is definitely worth it. In the picture at the left you can see a solar panel I built... does it look any different than a solar panel that you'd buy?

Many people don't even know the difference when I ask them. I've come up with some great methods that save a lot of time and you can learn from my mistakes (I've made quite a few) that way you don't have to repeat them. I'll be honest with you... anybody can build solar panels. It's not that hard. There are no moving parts and all it requires is a little delicacy (solar cells are fragile) and a little soldering (trust me, it's not hard. I teach beginners how to solder all the time). That's all there is to it.

If you want to have solar panels, but you don't have the money to buy them just start building solar panels. The reward is great and it's quite a feeling knowing that you built your own renewable energy system. There's know feeling like looking up at your solar panels and knowing that you built them yourself and saved thousands of dollars by doing so.

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