GreenDIYEnergy Full Review

What Is GreenDIYEnergy?

There are two PDF manuals and six videos focusing on building your first solar panel (total parts cost less than $100 and generate about 60 Watts of power). The wind turbine videos are not ready yet but there are two good PDF manuals for you to start thinking about your wind turbine while embarking on building your solar panel. The wind turbine can be built for under $150.

There are additional PDF documents if you are interested in solar and wind tax credits & rebates, wind map resources, and renewable energy.

The first thing that we noticed was how well the videos are made - high quality and easy to understand. We jumped straight to the solar panel videos and watched them all without even looking at any of the two PDF manuals! It is very impressive and once you view the whole series, you're fired up and want to start building your own solar panel.

We immediately felt that the solar panel videos are the BEST that we have seen to date. The hobbyist will know exactly what they will be learning and what needs to be done to build their first working solar panel for under $100 using used parts and well under $200 otherwise.

At the time of our review, the wind turbine videos are not available yet. But the two wind power PDF manuals and extensive video library that they have assembled to supplement this course gave us a good start. We will revisit once these videos are available publicly. Building a wind turbine is necessary to supplement our solar panels - why just rely on the sun when you can harness the power of the wind?

We suggest that you view all six videos and briefly read both PDF manuals before starting this project. Additionally, you will need to get all the tools and parts required to build a solar panel from scratch. A complete and detailed list of the required tools and parts are provided. All videos stresses that safety is of the highest priority.

The first thing we want to mention is that the videos (showing solar expert Brian Clark) take you through each step in great detail and points out things that you have to watch out for like careful soldering with a low voltage soldering gun. At each step, it also shows you how to test your unfinished product so that you know it will be guaranteed to work once you put the finishing touches.

From the tools to the materials, you start with the solar cells (with or without tab ribbons already attached) and start assembling them - either bought new or used. The introduction of a "testing block" to check your connections as you progress through the construction is priceless. The wood frame or box holding the finished solar cell array is standard but it is important that the Plexiglas used for enclosing the cells and box is UV protected so it does not yellow (reduces efficiency of the solar panel).

Three of the videos focus on step-by-step instructions on how to connect these solar cells together correctly, assembling them to generate the calculated amount of power, and finishing the solar panel by covering the finish panel with the Plexiglas and sealing it. Wrap it up by testing the completed solar panel in a sunny area.

By following the videos, the probability of not being able to finish making a working solar panel is almost zero. If you've been testing the solar panel as you move along step-by-step, the completed solar panel will work as expected as it did for us.

As for building a low cost wind turbine, we will go through the complete process once the videos are made available. This will give us a more subjective evaluation on whether the guide and instructions result in a working wind turbine. Since our reviews are mostly focused on building a working low cost solar panel, building a working wind turbine from scratch will only complement our renewable energy solution. The price of the product is more than justified by building just a single solar panel.

If you're one of these people and you're sick and tired of paying most of your wages out in energy bills, then this might just be your golden ticket.

There is a great feeling of self pride and satisfaction from becoming self sufficient, helping save the environment and ultimately doing something practical, fun and actually quite rewarding at the same time.

Just a note that the wind turbine videos are not yet available and it would be nice for those purchasing this product and is mainly interested in building a wind turbine instead of a solar panel. This will change in the future.

The value here is the massive savings of thousands of dollars for your initial solar panel array. For a typical installation, the photovoltaic (PV) panels or modules comprise around 60 percent of the total cost. The average household requires a power system that produces between 3 to 5 kilowatts (kW) of energy. However, a 1 kW unit will be enough to illuminate all your lights and run your TV, DVD/Video player, microwave and toaster.

You get an extensive tools and parts list required to build your own solar panel. And an estimate of how much it will cost using new parts versus used parts.

For under $200, you can build a brand new solar panel that generates about 60W. For a typical house, you will require about 3kW of power. This translates to about 50 solar panels (60W each) at $200 each for a total of only $10,000 using brand new parts or $5,000 using used parts. With an average cost of $5 per watt, the same upfront cost for solar panels from a contractor is about $15,000. That's a massive $5,000 to $10,000 savings alone!

Retail price for a typical 60W solar panel run about $400 each. The best selling Sharp 123 Watt Solar Panel retails for over $700 each. Additionally, by building your own solar panels, you gain the knowledge of being able to service, fix, and maintaining your home-built solar energy system yourself - even more savings.

In addition to learning how to make your own solar panel, you will also learn the basics of how solar energy works and how the solar panel fits into the big picture.

A hidden gem is the bonus video library that they have spent well over 50 working hours in finding. This cover advance topics not covered in the course and usually asked by customers. Includes videos on solar trackers (movement of the sun), battery backup, wiring tips, and hot water solar system.