Finding A Cheap Price Buy Building Solar Panels Isn't Always The Best Route

Handy is your middle name.  You considered yourself a mythological hero due to your old car restoration. When Aunt Hilda fell through the family rocking chair, you were able to get it back in rocking action by the end of the afternoon.  Now, it's time for your ultimate money saving handy endeavor, installing your own solar panels system.  The goal for many self-installers is to find the best cost solar panel situation on the planet. Installing your own low price solar system can be a complicated task. In your case, you have some electrical experience, but many do not and need to hire labor to install their system.

The average price for a solar panel kit can range from $1.50 to $2.50 per watt. For the less electrical installation, add certified electrician costs of $0.50/watt. This culmination of solar installation cost puts your DIY budget at $2.00-$3.00/watt. Now, let's juxtapose that to what a professional contractor might charge, being on average $2.50-4.00 per watt.  Maybe this comparison is making you second think your savings, and you might be right.  The savings exist, but you might want to start weighing what your time is worth.   

Size    DIY                        Contractor
2kw    $4,000 - $6,000      $7,000
3kw    $6,000-$8,000        $10,000
4kw    $8,000-$11,000      $13,000
5kw    $10,000-$14,000    $16,000
10kw  $20,000-$27,000    $32,000

Professional Installation Afterall

There are simply many benefits to hiring a solar panel installation specialist.  Also, as we can see, the saving becomes often irrelevant. Professionals also understand design, have access to higher quality products and materials at better rates and are well versed with obtaining permits and tax credits.

Connect Your Solar Panel To The Grid

A lot of the low price solar panel kits have design intentions for off-grid systems.  These systems don't obtain as much energy as the average home. The most common off-grid low price solar panel PV systems cost approximately $2.50/watt. "Grid-tied," solar panel systems that flow in and out of the grid, and these kits range in the $2.00-$4.00/watt department. Utilizing a grid-tied system can be handy for providing electricity in low sunlight or night. 

Building Solar Panels From Scratch

In your case, as demonstrated by your handy skills, you have a high level of electrical power.   At this point, along with you electrical experienced peers, you have decided building your solar panel system will be the way to go.  If you search around the internet, you can find that the silicon wafers used to create them are possible to buy individually. To build your panel array, 60 of these wafers need to be put onto a backing and wire. Connect this to an inverter, mount, and you are in business.  However, you have to account for the multitude of risks you are building.  The quality of solar cells purchased isn't guaranteed, and homemade panels are often a fire hazard.  Also, many tax credits and incentives will not apply when systems are constructed without accredited and certified facilities to back them up. 

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years.

For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.