Solar panels for your home are a great way to cut the cost of a high electric bill. If you have been thinking of going to solar power you have found that having the panels installed is very expensive, $35,000 and up. Common people (not rich) have found that you can build them yourself much cheaper. All you need is the right information to get started.

History of solar panels

Photovoltaic technology was first introduced in 1839.However, the first solar panel was not invented until 1883 by Charles Fritz. Fritz used a thin layer of gold to cover the semiconductor selenium to form the junction. This cell was only one percent effective. The solar panel cells we use today were invented in 1954.

Solar applications

You must first choose if you want to power you entire house with solar panels for your home or just a few major appliances. Some people use solar energy for heat and air or hot water only. Depending on what you decide to run with your solar power will determine how many kilowatts your panels will have to produce.

On Grid or Off?

The next decision you must make is whether you will be on the grid or not. This simply means whether or not you will stay connected to a power company. If you stay connected to the power company, you will still have an electric bill it will just be drastically reduced. However, you will not have to purchase storage devices or have reduced power on cloudy days and at night.

Off grid means, you will be totally self sufficient, the only power you will have is what you generate yourself. This can be very freeing until you realize that the only place you can really achieve this is the extreme southwest United States.

Solar cells

A solar cell is a device that changes sunlight into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. You can build your own cell with many complicated steps. You will have to use things like Titanium Dioxide, electrolytes and metals. The result will work but the power produced will be very small. Your best bet is to purchase the latest cell technology and assemble the rest of the solar panel.

Building your first panel

First create your box or panel, the size and configuration will be largely determined by the above figures, if you only need one panel to power your air in the summer the size will be much different from what you need for an entire home. Basically, it should be solid wood bottom, 1.5 inch rails for the side and possible the middle of a large panel.

Once you have determined the size and number of panels you will need you must build an array. This is simply several solar cells linked together with tabs. You must be very Balkonkraftwerk  careful with your solar cells as they are rather fragile.

Place them upside down on a ready made pattern or jig, quarter-inch plywood is sufficient, and solder the tabs to each cell (cells commonly come with the tabs you need). Once the tabs are in place, you can solder each tab to the next cell, creating a panel of cells. Flip them carefully for placement in the solar panel.

The biggest problem with homemade solar panels is moisture getting inside the unit and degrading connections or cells. To prevent this you can use a layer of foam tape available at any hardware store around the edges, and then affix your Plexiglas over this with a screw every six inches.

This is a very basic outline for the procedure. To be completely successful you may need battery storage and regulators as well as an assessment of the best placement for your panels. You will also need to add a junction box and some other key components, but this is a basic outline for creating solar panels for your home.

Things That Go Bump in the Dark

We sat in a circle in the dark room and watched Angela’s Ghost Radar cell phone app on the table hunt for spirit presence as a line swept continuously across the dull green radar screen. Suddenly, a yellow bead of light popped onto the radar, alerting us of a spirit presence nearby. “What is your name?” Angela called into the darkness. We listened to the silence. “Can you tell us your name?” Then, buttons on Alice’s KII Meter, which senses electromagnetic fields, began glowing green, yellow and red. I felt a prickly sensation on the back of my neck.

Recently, I took about 20 of my mediumship students to a haunted basement in Scarborough, Ontario. Several people brought digital recorders and cameras, and Angela also had a spirit box, which gives off energy in the form of white noise that spirits can use to communicate with us. In addition, Fritz, a filmmaker from England’s National Film and TV School, recorded the goings-on for a documentary he was making.

We said a prayer asking for the highest and best to come through and guide us throughout the evening. Then Angela, Alice, Joanne and others set their ghostbusting devices on the table in the middle of the circle. “Is anyone here?” Angela asked, then again a little later.

Would someone like to talk with us?

• A blip showed itself on the screen of Angela’s telephone. The Ghost Radar app picked up an energy hovering nearby. Then things began happening.
• “I feel funny,” Robin said, and turned to Maureen sitting beside her. Several people thought they saw a mist move across Maureen’s and Robin’s faces. Brenda snapped a few pictures on her cell phone. When she called up the photos, jagged yellow lines crossed the picture. “Those squiggles look like spirit energy,” I told her.
• Several students were attracted to a full-length mirror on a back wall. I wondered if this was because mirrors are often portals to the other side.
• I felt something come over me and said, “I don’t feel very well.” At that moment, just to my left, someone took a picture of me. There’s a grey cloud swoosh just behind my head.
• Other students showed photos they’d captured on their cell phones. Several had small white orbs that appeared to be dancing near the ceiling. Throughout this, Fritz moved around the room, recording everything on his video camera.
• “Is there some special significance to the clock on the back wall?” Benjamin asked, pointing to the clock shaped like a motorcycle rider; the clock face was the bike’s front wheel. Angela laughed, (Later, she said the area used to be a hangout for a motorcycle club.)
• I sensed a shift in the room – spirit had left the building, and the evening wound down. I asked everyone to take their seats again and we said a closing prayer.

As we headed upstairs to go back to our cars, I asked my students, “Did you feel the evening was worthwhile?”

“Yes!” they enthusiastically replied. And Angela said, “When can we do it again?”

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