Homemade Solar Power – Pros and Cons

Are you thinking about making homemade solar power for your home? If you are then you know that solar energy can be a great renewable power source. I like to use solar energy wherever I can in my home, but its not for everyone. There are a few things you need to take into consideration before you start building your solar panels and canceling your account with your local electric company.

Cons

• Expense. The initial upfront expense of installing solar panels is daunting. Buying solar panels is expensive. You need to have the panels, wiring, batteries and adaptors which can be a considerable amount of money to come up with to begin your project. You can make your own solar panels and save a considerable amount of that expense. You also don’t have to do it all at once. Don’t forget to check into any tax breaks that might be available to you as well for switching to renewable energy.
• Weather. You need to live in a sunny part of the world if you are going to depend on solar energy. Sounds obvious, but you need to do your research as to how many hours of sun you will need to power what you have in mind and how much sunlight you can expect to have available. If you live in Arizona you can depend on unobstructed sunlight for energy. If you live in Seattle, you may want to rethink your options.
• Size. Solar panels are large. They are getting smaller and more efficient as the technology develops, but they are still large and take up a lot of space. The most common way to deal with this problem is to mount them on a roof. How much roof space do you have that gets good exposure?

Pros

• Renewable. Solar energy is a renewable resource. As long as our sun keeps generating energy, we can use it.
• Green. Solar power is clean energy. It doesn’t require coal or oil or hydro power to make electricity. It is one of the best options for our environment.
• Free. After the initial expense of installing solar power, you don’t really have any other expenses other than minor maintenance. No more utility bills.
• Gradual. You don’t have to do everything at once, which helps with the costs. You can start out small, build panels to power the lights in the workshop for example. As you determine what you need and if it works well for you, you can build more panels and create more homemade solar power to fill all your needs.