Robert Smith - How To Build A Solar Panel And Solar Power System

All contents copyright 2009 by Robert Steve Smith.
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Robert Steve Smith is the author of How To Build A Solar Panel And Solar Power System .

Robert, a college student at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in Engineering Technology, with a concentration in Computer Engineering Technology and a minor in Computer Science, has dedicated a decent amount of time learning how solar panels work, and how solar panels are built. Robert became involved in online solar related communities where he learned many of the basic fundamentals about what was needed to create a solar power system. Robert has experienced firsthand what it is like to build a solar panel and has provided support to individuals new to the solar industry. Robert has also created a series of free online videos that teach you how to build a complete 63 watt solar power system and other useful solar energy information. For more information visit Robert's website at: SolarTechTown.com .

This eBook is dedicated to anyone who finds it useful.

I would like to express my appreciation to all online solar communities. Without the generous support received by numerous individuals, my success of building a full solar power system would not be possible. Additionally, I would most likely not be writing this eBook if it was not for the elongated list of experienced community members. A large portion of the content within this eBook has come from my own experiences and from many of the common questions asked by those new to solar energy.

As you may or may not know, over history many types of energy sources have been discovered such as, nuclear power, fossil fuels, and renewable energy. Between the three, renewable energy has grabbed more and more attention over the last few years. Many businesses and individuals are now looking for ways to leave a lesser carbon footprint and alternatives for using fossil fuels.

Two well known devices for creating renewable energy are solar panels and wind turbines.

For those of you who may not know, a solar panel is an electrical device that is filled with an array of solar cells. The solar cells collect energy from the sun or light and convert that energy received into electricity, or direct current (DC). Most devices in your home like a lamp, TV, or oven use alternating current (AC). So to convert that DC from the solar panel into AC so that you can power items in your home, an inverter is used. We will get more into this at a later point in this eBook.

A wind turbine obviously collects its energy from the wind. The energy a wind turbine receives from the wind is converted into electricity, or DC, similar to a solar panel.

Between the two, most people find solar panels more convenient, or are forced to use solar panels because of their location. To produce the best results from a wind turbine, one would need to reside where there is a large amount of wind. As for a solar panel, at this point you should know that one would produce the best results residing where lots of sunlight is received. I fell into the category of receiving more sunlight than wind. So I soon decided to build a solar panel. I will teach you how to build one yourself later on in this eBook.

Solar panels have been around longer than what most people think, but we are now finally investing more time into making solar panels one of the standard energy sources. One reason is, we receive energy from the sun every day. About 965 trillion kWh of energy is produced by the sun every day. Why not take advantage of that free energy? For many business owners and average consumers, professional made solar panels are still fairly expensive to invest in. Many people find it cheaper to manufacture the solar panels themselves rather than purchasing a professional solar panel. However, this will not be case for everyone. There are many hidden details that come with making a reliable solar panel that some individuals or DIYERs (Do It Yourselfers) simply are not aware of and find out the hard way. There are many methods for creating a solar panel, but not all methods provide the same reliability that a professional solar panel does.

The method used in this eBook will give you a basic understanding of how to build a solar panel. Once you have a basic understanding of how a solar panel is built, you can start to modify the panel by adding or using different materials specific to your needs. If you are completely new to solar panels like I was when I first started, this eBook will open the doors to new knowledge that you can use to expand on. As mentioned earlier, there are many ways to build a solar panel from a DIY perspective. However, not all methods provide the same reliability that a professional manufactured solar panel does. This eBook is targeted toward those who do not have access to professional machines that large solar manufactures have available. Most tools and materials found in this eBook can be purchased at most local or online retail stores.