| Are you looking into utilizing the power of solar energy | | | | home improvement store. |
| in your home? Whether you're building a new house, | | | | All it takes is a little understanding of the concept of |
| remodeling an old one, or simply looking for ways to | | | | how a solar panel works. Basically, a solar panel is a |
| reduce the electric bill. solar energy is the ultimate | | | | Photovoltaic (PV) cell that converts light into electricity. |
| green resource that is free and renewable. | | | | They are made of semiconductors such as silicon, |
| There are many professional grade solar panels for | | | | which absorbs a portion of the light that is passing |
| sale, but the cost can be prohibitive (up to $20,000 to | | | | through it. All PV cells have one or more energy fields |
| outfit a single home!). Portable solar panels average | | | | that force the released electrons to flow in one |
| between $300 - $1000 and can be used to power a | | | | direction and forms a current that can be drawn off to |
| laptop and a few other smaller appliances all at once. | | | | power electrical appliances. Even though this sounds |
| Why not make your own for a few hundred dollars | | | | very technical you can make your own PV cells. |
| instead? | | | | Instead of using silicon as your semiconductor you will |
| If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, you can | | | | need to use copper oxide (obtained by heating copper |
| easily build a solar panel in a weekend. Doing it yourself | | | | in a safe manner) as it is easily available. |
| is about 1/4 the price of a professional grade panel. All | | | | Make sure you do plenty of research to find a solar |
| you need is a few hundred dollars worth of supplies | | | | panel guide that will take you step by step through the |
| that you can pick up from your local hardware or | | | | building process and show you exactly how to do it. |