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Whether you can install a DIY solar system in your house depends on four things: 1. The amount of sunlight You would need less solar panels when you live in an area that receives lots of sunshine. There are maps on which show how much energy the sun can provide (in kilowatt per hour) per square meter of south facing panels. Check the site of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for these maps. The sun can provide the most electricity in the reddish areas of the map. This helps you determine the size of your DIY solar system to get sufficient electricity for your daily requirements. 2. Is your roof sufficiently south facing Your do-it-yourself solar panels will have to be facing south. So do you have enough roof space available to install your solar panels? A solar system is rather inefficient transforming sunlight into energy, you would require a relatively large surface to install your home made solar system. For a DIY solar installation you would need an area of 8 to 10 m2 (86 to 105 ft2) per kilowatt. Normal households would make use of a 3kW installation, which requires an area of about 24-30 m2 (250 to 315 ft2). Many people think that do-it-yourself solar panels have to be installed on the roof. This is not true! They can be placed on the ground to, as long as they are south facing and get a minimum of 5 hours of sunlight a day. 3. Is something blocking the sunlight? The main obstacle for the sun to reach your homemade solar system is the shade of a tree or if other houses close by limit the amount of sunlight to reach your panels. Especially when this occurs between 12 and 4pm. During this time the sun provides most of its energy. 4. How is your roof build? Branded solar systems (like those of Sharp and Sanyo), which are frequently used by the professional solar contractors, can be too heavy for your roof construction. The contractors have to guarantee that a solar panel will work for at least 25 years. Therefore these panels are placed in heavy metal mounting brackets, resulting in a total weight of 20 kilos per panel. You will need about 23 solar panels for a 3kW system. This equals 400 kilos including the mounting brackets and your roof will have to support this. There are not a lot of roofs which can support this kind of weight completely by themselves. Therefore you will need additional roof bracing which a specialized solar contractor can provide. However nothing is for free and you will be paying lots of money for this. A better option here is to use a homemade solar system. Homemade solar systems are lighter and because of the protective coating you will be using, these panels are durable as well, even though they are made out of wood. Your roof can easily support these light weighted solar panels and you do not have to improve the supportive structure of your roof. DIY solar panels can be directly fixed to your roof (considering the roof being south facing, if not brackets to place the panels to the sun are required). If you can't build a do-it-yourself solar panel entirely by yourself, there are first-class guides on the market. These guides will assist you with step by step instructions building a home made solar panel on your own. And you really do not have to be a high potential DIYer!!. Take a look at our site reviews for the best home made solar manuals.
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