With clear instructions, tips, and step-by-step color photos for each project, this book takes the intimidation out of DIY solar builds. For those with more ambitious solar power plans, this updated edition contains information on outfitting your home with solar electricity collection systems and integrating them into your primary power supply system. Excitement about home solar energy is exploding, and DIY Solar Projects: Updated Edition sheds light on how you can get involved immediately.

Advances in solar technology have made many DIY-friendly products available to consumers, several of which will be hitting the market for the first time in 2011. These include solar water heaters, solar battery charging stations, solar powered lights, photovoltaic shingles that provide supplementary electricity, solar heat pumps, and solar panel kits that generate primary home electrical service. Among the step-by-step projects is a solar water heating system you can build and install yourself for under $1000; simple thermosyphon solar heat collectors for barns and outbuildings; or "heat grabbers" that you can fabricate for $50 in materials and position below a south-facing window to provide auxiliary winter heat.

Instructables is back with this inspiring book focused on a series of projects designed to get you thinking creatively about going green. Twenty Instructables illustrate just how simple it can be to make your own backyard chicken coop, or turn a wine barrel into a rainwater collector. Here, you will learn to: Clip a chicken’s wings Power your lawn mower with solar power Create a chicken tractor for the city Water your garden with solar power Build a thermoelectric lamp Create an algae bioreactor from water bottles And much more! Illustrated with dozens of full-color photographs per project accompanying easy-to-follow instructions, this Instructables collection utilizes the best that the online community has to offer, turning a far-reaching group of people into a mammoth database churning out ideas to make life better, easier, and, in this case, greener, as this volume exemplifies.

You can make the furniture you want at a fraction of the price of store-bought furniture. Not only will you save tons of money, but you'll also make environmentally sustainable pieces that are solidly built, using real materials like metal, wood, concrete, and other recycled ready-mades. The projects in this book don't require special skills, prior experience, or even a garage full of tools. You'll be walked step-by-step through the process of making furniture, from where to buy the materials (or where to scavenge) to how to make the most of the tools you own.

Labor and related costs account for more than half of the price of the average home solar installation. But homeowners can save thousands of dollars with this user-friendly manual, which follows the same process professional contractors use. Through detailed directions and step-by-step photos, veteran solar installer Joseph Burdick and seasoned builder Philip Schmidt teach you how to determine the size, placement, and type of installation you’ll need. This comprehensive DIY guide covers everything from assembling rooftop racking or building a ground-mount structure to setting up the electrical connections and making a battery bank for off-grid systems. This publication conforms to the EPUB Accessibility specification at WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

Solar power DIY handbook is loaded with much useful content and is an excellent guide on how one can choose, decide and install efficient and reliable solar power in one's home. It's also great for professional installers who haven't mastered installation as it outlines the necessary steps to follow. The entire book is divided into 15 chapters. The fore chapter discusses the basics of electricity and the electrical components including resistors, capacitors, transistors, diodes, and inductors. The latter chapters address the theory about solar energy, the solar cell and the photovoltaic effect and how it produces electricity. It explains how small solar cells are bundled together to form a solar module and how several modules are clustered to form a panel. You need this handbook.

How to make a solar system without headache, even if you don't know anything about electricity. More people are figuring out how to make off grid solar power work for them. In this book: Off-Grid Solar Power, you will discover: Energy units you didn't even know existed Formulas you can't live without when building a solar system A comprehensive list of tools that you absolutely need How to choose wire diameters the right way Step by step guide on sizing your off-grid solar system without painful mistakes Why not every wire is suited for solar energy installations The best way to protect your installation from catching fire Discover different batteries; maintenance, price, increase lifespan, configurations, ... Discover different solar panels; tilt, cleaning, optimizing solar input, ... Discover different types ofphotovoltaics What device is at the heart of any solar power system? Inverters; different types, different sine waves, efficiency, power ratings, ... Discover the best way to monitor the state of charge of your batteries The safest way to charge your solar battery from your car alternator. A step by step guide on how to build your system People can transform their RV, van, cabin, boat or tiny homes using these off-grid solar systems. This book is written by an electrical engineer who specializes in solar power design. A licensed electrician has reviewed it. This book has been written in a way to suit beginners to understand how an off-grid solar power system works and how to build one. If you want to learn about making your off-grid solar system, then scroll up and click the add to cart button.

Eric Layton, a well-known solar expert, wrote this guide for readers that are trying to build their own solar or wind system. Using pictures, this do-it-yourself (DIY) solar and wind system was built with a battery back-up system. His new book is a comprehensive guide on the design, thought process, equipment, and technique on designing this DIY system. Using photographs taken throughout the building process, he covers why he chose certain components in addition to any issues building and installing. This book was written to help fellow solar and wind enthusiasts, as well as inspire those who would like to build their own solar and wind DIY system.