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The Cost Of Solar Energy: Solar Panel Costs -VS- DIY Solar Costs

Written by Guy Moyer, CEO/CTO of Cre8ive Productions, Sales & Service, Inc. - Solar Energy Power Costs

Determining the cost of solar power will first depend on whether you buy manufactured solar panels or if you decide to build your own solar panels. If you choose to build your own solar panels, you can buy everything you need from this site to build a 200w solar panel for around $320. This figure does not include glass or other building materials which cost me around $90 for my 200w solar panel. The lowest I've seen a manufactured 200w solar panel is around $650 so by going with DIY solar, (do it yourself) you can save around $240 on each 200w

solar panel you build. On top of that cost, you will need to figure another $120 for each 200w solar panel which is for your 300w grid tie inverter, wiring and charge controllers. This brings the total solar costs to around $530 for a 200w DIY solar panel versus around $770 for a manufactured 200w solar panel attached to your grid with a 300w solar grid tie inverter.

Solar System Installation Costs: DIY Solar Or Manufactured Solar Panels?

There's a couple things you will want to consider before choosing either DIY solar panels or manufactured solar panels. DIY solar panels require more work but give you the ability to design the solar panels around your available space. Manufactured solar panels will more than likely always look better so if your solar panels are going to be low to the ground where people can see them up close, this is something you should take into great consideration when deciding. Another thing to consider is DIY solar panels require some soldering and electrical skills so if you don't think you possess these skills you may want to go with manufactured solar panels. If your budget is limited then you can easily learn and develop these skills before going with DIY solar panels which is what I decided to do.

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How To Build A DIY Solar Panel