GreenDIYEnergy
GreenDIYEnergy is the most comprehensive and the best of the DIY solar guides. It includes 17 different components ranging from ebooks to spreadsheet to videos. The videos are what really separate GreenDIYEnergy from the other guides.
GreenDIYEnergy covers the entire solar panel build process in 6 videos. The videos are at a resolution of 852×480 and are mp4 videos. The videos are higher quality and are a lot bigger than the videos included in the other guides. The videos cover the entire process step-by-step, all the way from start to finish, and look really good. The large size and high resolution let you see everything.
The videos start with what tools and parts you’ll need for the solar panels. Then they move on to getting and connecting the solar cells. Building the container and affixing the solar cells is covered next. Then they show final wiring of the panel and finishing. The last step is connecting the solar panel to a volt meter so you can watch it producing electricity.
Also included in GreenDIYEnergy are ebooks covering solar installation, solar electrical, solar tax credits and DIY solar power. There are over 200 pages of material in the ebooks so they are quite comprehensive. There are also spreadsheets you can use to figure out how much electricity your appliances use, how many solar panels you’ll need and sizing for power inverter, charge controller and batteries.
GreenDIYEnergy is the best and most comprehensive DIY solar guide I have seen, after buying and reviewing quite a few DIY solar guides in preparation for building a solar panel for my electric bike.
Homemade Energy
Homemade energy is also a very good DIY solar panel guide. It includes more videos than any other guide. It includes ebooks, though fewer than GreenDIYEnergy, and similar spreadsheets.
There is more video included in HomemadeEnergy than in any other DIY solar guide. They cover the entire process from start to finish in a lot of detail. Tools and parts, soldering the cells together, building the container, attaching the cells, wiring and finishing. Everything from what parts and tools you need to wiring the solar cells together to constructing the panel container to final wiring is covered. The videos are flash videos and aren’t quite as big and high quality as GreenDIYEnergy, but they are still quite good.
All parts of the build are covered in the comprehensive ebook include with Homemade Energy. I would suggest using it as a reference alongside the videos. The calculator spreadsheets are really close to what you get with GreenDIYEnergy.
Homemade Energy has more video, but because GreenDIYEnergy has higher quality video and more ebooks, I think it is slightly better. Homemade Energy provides a good quality product, though, and you do get your money’s worth.
Earth4Energy
I put Earth4Energy in 3rd place. The ebooks, videos and spreadsheets they include aren’t quite as good as the packages above. The solar material is pretty good, though in my opinion not as good as the solar guides above, however Earth4Energy is the only guide that includes video for building a wind generator.
The parts of the project that are most likely to cause problems are covered with videos, but the videos are not comprehensive. You have to go to the ebook for much of the build information with Earth4Energy, while the other 2 guides show you the whole project from start to finish in the videos.
The Earth4Energy ebook is also pretty good, but not as comprehensive as as the other two guides. Instead of spreadsheets, Earth4Energy gives you online calculators for solar panel output, battery sizing and appliance electricity usage.
So, can you build a solar panel with Earth4Energy? I think most people will be able to build a solar panel with Earth4Energy, but the other two guides include more video, which is the most important part of the package in my opinion. Earth4Energy also includes video for a DIY wind generator and is the only guide to do so. For a solar project, you can definitely build a solar panel using the Earth4Energy guide, but both of the other guides above will give you more for your money.
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