Cheapest Solar Power Systems

The cheapest solar power systems are the systems that output the smallest amount of electricity. Therefore, buying cheap won’t necessarily give you what you want. There is an age old saying; you get what you pay for.

Before you start searching for the cheapest solar electric panels, systems and accessories such as an inverter, generator, battery or batteries (for off grid storage). You need to first calculate your energy requirements in watts. You can do this in a number of ways, you can go round and look at the wattage of all your appliances and add them up, or you can look at your electric meter and determine how many kilo watt hours you use per day on average and then multiply that figure by 10% to 25% just to give you a little to play with.

Once you know that figure then you can go and look for the cheapest products. You can get a 1.2 watt panel for $32, and you can get a 210 watt panel for $836, and there is a whole range of different sizes and prices in between.

However, when looking for the cheapest system you must remember that buying the products only accounts for half the cost. The other half of the cost is fitting the systems, paying contractors to install and wire them up to your home. If you do this job yourself, then you can make considerable savings or if not do it yourself then control the project. You might then want to spend a little more on getting more efficient panels and so generating more power for your buck.

Remember that you do not have to purchase and install all your panels at once. You can spread it over time, start small and inside your budget, and as you see the benefits in reduced energy bills and have new savings, then you can invest again and add another solar array or two. It is a fairly straight forward process of adding cells when you have the basic installation in place.

Build Your Own Homemade Solar Panel

Of course the ultimate way to save money is DIY. There are plenty of books around which will teach you how to make a solar panel and the pitfalls to look out for when building one. They do go into real detail so you can see exactly how to assemble the photovoltaic cell into an array and build a panel. They even explain where you can source the cheapest solar cells and find damaged ones which you can repair. Their efficiency won’t be as high as a factory made one though.

The down side here is that you’re exchanging time for money. If you have plenty of free time and are good with your hands then this could be a good option for you. This residential solar power system is sitting on your house and is exposed to all the elements, so it has to be made waterproof else they won’t last.

To summarize, the cheapest solar power systems are the ones you make yourself but they won’t be as efficient and you are exchanging time for money. Take your time and weigh up all the pros and cons.

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