PV Gap

Brett Said:

Please help with a project Solar wind and electricity!?

We Answered:

1) You have to figure it out. If it's in Hawaii, you probably don't need heat, and can get by without A/C, too. In other places, more would be typical.

2) Your choice!

3) Since utilities are allowed, just to be minimized, I'd go with grid-tied solar electricity. The panels can generate 100% of average usage over time (unless this is Alaska or something). The grid is assumed to be reliable, but if there are doubts, I would go with a gas-powered generator for emergencies before I went with batteries to store electricity. The cost and upkeep of batteries would not be worth it unless they were going to be used all the time - typically, and off-grid arrangement.

Our house is 1900 square feet, single story. You can look at my profile and find out web page, with details on how much our system cost, which provides essentially 100% of our electrical needs. The link is called "Our Solar Panel Project" on that page. But we have gas heat. And prices have come down since we had ours installed, so you need to research current pricing.

Julio Said:

Setting up Solar Panels for Home Electricity?

We Answered:

get the solar cells
check power and ground
When you look at the solar cell, make sure you check voltage between the positive side (the back side which is usually grey) and the negative side (which is the black side, with all the lines on it) of each cell. You can simply use a multimeter by placing its leads on the cell itself. This step is crucial, otherwise you'll connect bad cells in the middle of your link, causing the whole panel not to work.
use conductive pen if needed
You need to make sure that all the tiny little lines in the negative side of the cells are interconnected (a way to gather all the electrons from the surface). This step is not necessary for all cells, only for the ones like in this picture, which don't have any connection between the lines on the surface. you can use the conductive pen to draw a thin line which connects all of them. Once you do that, you will immediately see the voltage rising for that specific cell.
cell with conductive pen line
here's an example of a cell with the conductive pen line on it, linking between the tiny conductive leads on the negative side of the solar cell.
linking the cells
This can get a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, can be done fast enough. First, some technical notes: In order to get higher voltage, you need to connect two cells in series. This means that the negative part of the first connects to the positive part of the second. As you continue to add more cells in series, you will get a higher voltage from side to side on your solar strip. This is all good, but if your cells are small-ish, they won't generate much amperage. So even if you have a high voltage, you probably won't be able to give it any load (probably will hardly light an LED). In order to get higher amperage through the circuit, you need to connect cells in parallel (positive side to positive side, negative side to negative side). When you do this, make sure the positive and negative leads (copper mesh in this case) don't short themselves out.
I found that the best way to connect between two cells was to use hot glue and some conductive mesh. The mesh is good since it allows light to come through it, and we all love glue guns. So all you need to do is glue the mesh onto the solar cell surface. Its always better to have a longer strip of mesh on the surface, with a big enough shared surface space between the two. Always check with a multimeter that there is connectivity, and that there is voltage coming through. Its a bummer later to try and figure out where the problem is.
silicon coating
I highly recommend applying a silicon coating to your solar array. The cells are so fragile, and the links can easily detach or move out of place. A thin coat of silicon keeps it all in place... and also gives it a very cool effect!

Connie Said:

how and where to buy solar equipment for home use in pakistan?

We Answered:

You may not be able to get enough power to wire up your house entirely. You can try small projects such as a solar cooker for your roof-mounted hot water, solar-cooker for day-time cooking, and solar cell-fed outdoor lights. You should be able to mail-order solar panels from Dubai. You can construct a solar cooker with locally made components. Look up the design by googling for it.

Corey Said:

I would like to power some home appliances such as computer and tv how would i select solar panels for this?

We Answered:

Don't go into a business you know NOTHING about!
Solar power is DC so most home apliances won't work. The panels are used to charge a battery bank and the batteries provide the power. it can be done but effectively you would need to rewire your house to work like a camper van or a yacht! Contact me directly if you are
a. serious
b. knowledgable

Derek Said:

How accurate is this rule of thumb? For every $1 offset in electricity you increase home value by $20.?

We Answered:

This formula come out of someones head.

Appraisers look at studies and figure as closely as they can. But there is no way to tell how much someone will pay for an unusual feature on a house.

Even if the buyer thinks the feature is valuable they may have picked a different brand or installed it differently, or think they would have maintained it better. Several people looking at it may think it looks ugly and may pay less for it.

But an appraiser has to come up with an estimate and the guy you spoke with came up with one just as good as any other.