GreenDIYEnergy
Of the available DIY solar panel guides, GreenDIYEnergy is the best and also the most complete. They include ebooks, videos and spreadsheets – 17 different components in all. Video quality is what really makes GreenDIYEnergy stand out.
GreenDIY Energy includes 6 videos which cover the entire build. The videos are high quality 852×480 mp4 videos. They are much larger and higher quality than the videos in the other DIY solar panel guides. They look awesome and they show the entire process step-by-step from start to finish. The high resolution and big size make it easy to see everything.
To start, the videos show you what tools and parts are required to build the solar panel. Next up is soldering together the solar cells. The next step is building the actual container and attaching the solar cells in the container. Up next is final wiring and finishing work. The last step is connecting the solar panel to a volt meter so you can watch it producing electricity.
The ebooks included in GreenDIYEnergy cover, among other things, solar electrical, solar tax credits, solar installation and DIY solar power. With over 200 total pages, the ebooks are really comprehensive. Also included are spreadsheet which will show you how many solar panels you’ll need, sizing for batteries, charge controller and power inverter and how much electricity your appliances consume.
I’ve bought and reviewed a lot of DIY solar guides in preparation for building solar panel for my electric bike and GreenDIYEnergy is the best and most complete DIY solar guide I have seen.
Homemade Energy
Another very good DIY solar guide is Homemade Energy. also include videos, more videos than any other guide, in fact. It includes ebooks, though fewer than GreenDIYEnergy, and similar spreadsheets.
There are more videos in Homemade Energy than in any other guide. They show the whole build step-by-step in plenty of detail. You get to see everything – parts and tools, connecting the solar cells, constructing the box and cover, affixing the cells and final finish. They are flash videos and are very good, though not quite as big and high quality as the videos in GreenDIYEnergy.
Homemade Energy contains a comprehensive ebook that covers all aspects of the build. My suggestion would be to watch the videos all the way through and then use the ebook as a reference. It also includes a spreadsheet with sizing calculators that is very similar to the one included with GreenDIYEnergy.
Homemade Energy has more video, but because GreenDIYEnergy has higher quality video and more ebooks, I think it is slightly better. You definitely get your money’s worth with Homemade Energy and it is a very good package.
Earth4Energy
Earth4Energy would be my 3rd choice. The ebooks, videos and spreadsheets they include aren’t quite as good as the packages above. It is the only package to include video for a wind project and the solar material is pretty good as well, but I think for a solar guide the videos in GreenDIYEnergy and Homemade Energy put then in front of Earth4Energy.
The videos included in Earth4Energy cover the most difficult aspects of building a solar panel, but they are not comprehensive. Where GreenDIYEnergy and Homemade Energy include video showing the entire build step-by-step from start to finish, Earth4Energy relies on the ebook for much of the build and includes video for just the most challenging sections.
While not as comprehensive as the other two guides, the ebook is pretty good. Earth4Energy includes online calculators for appliance electricity requirements, solar panel output and battery sizing.
So, will Earth4Energy allow you to build a solar panel? I think most people will be able to build a solar panel with Earth4Energy, but the other two guides include more video, which is the most important part of the package in my opinion. Earth4Energy also includes video for a DIY wind generator and is the only guide to do so. For a solar project, you can definitely build a solar panel using the Earth4Energy guide, but both of the other guides above will give you more for your money.
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