Building your own solar panels makes a lot of sense in this day and age of increasing power prices and environmental crisis.

Whilst many people opt for a commercial system, the cost makes it prohibitive for a lot of homeowners in particular, with prices starting in the low thousands of dollars. Fortunately for those people there is the option of do it yourself solar panels which can be built for a fraction of the price (usually under $200)

So how do you do it? How do you build your own solar panels?

Well the first and most crucial thing you need to do is get yourself an excellent do it yourself guide. These guides are often referred to as diy solar power kits and retail for around the $50 mark. The guides are essentially a blue print or instruction manual if you will, that will guide you through the process of gathering the materials you need and walk you step by step through the whole process of building your own solar panels.

Surprisingly the materials required to undertake these tasks are readily found in your local hardware store or if you don’t mind scrounging around, your local junkyard!

Another surprising aspect of building your own solar panels is its extremely easy! It’s the kind of project you can include the whole family on, including your children, in. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist or be the world’s most proficient handyman to build your solar panels, if you can cut, glue, hammer and drill you have all the essential skills that will be required.

On the topic of including your kids in the project, you will be surprised how the project can be a great educational tool to raise awareness about global warming and even energy conservation in them. Imagine the bliss of never having to yell at your kids “Turn the light off!” again.

So how much money can you save by building your own solar panels? Well it really depends on how many panels you make and the particular energy needs of your household, but its been reported that you can save up to 80% off your energy bill, now this is a substantial amount for most of us and over the years will build into a very tidy sum indeed. Don’t forget the thousands of dollars you save on having a retail system installed, depending on the size of your house this could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars.