…On Review

GreenDIYEnergy

GreenDIYEnergy is the most comprehensive and the best of the DIY solar guides. They include ebooks, videos and spreadsheets – 17 different components in all. The videos are what really separate GreenDIYEnergy from the other guides.

GreenDIYEnergy covers the entire solar panel build process in 6 videos. The videos are high quality 852×480 mp4 videos. Compared to the videos in the other guides, the videos in GreenDIYEnergy are much larger and higher quality. The videos cover the entire process step-by-step, all the way from start to finish, and look really good. The high resolution and big size make it easy to see everything.

They start with what parts you’ll need as well as the tools required for building the solar panel. Next, acquiring and soldering the solar cells together is shown. The next step is building the actual container and attaching the solar cells in the container. Then they show final wiring of the panel and finishing. Finally the solar panel is connected to a volt meter and you can see it actually producing electricity.

GreenDIYEnergy also includes ebooks on topics like DIY solar power, solar electrical, solar installation and solar tax credits. With over 200 total pages, the ebooks are really comprehensive. Also included are spreadsheet which will show you how many solar panels you’ll need, sizing for batteries, charge controller and power inverter and how much electricity your appliances consume.

GreenDIYEnergy is the best and most comprehensive DIY solar guide I have seen, after buying and reviewing quite a few DIY solar guides in preparation for building a solar panel for my electric bike. For a more comprehensive review, visit  GreenDIYEnergy Review.

Homemade Energy

Homemade energy is also a very good DIY solar panel guide. also include videos, more videos than any other guide, in fact. There are also ebooks, though not as many as GreenDIYEnergy, and spreadsheets that are very similar.

There are more videos in Homemade Energy than in any other guide. They cover the entire process from start to finish in a lot of detail. Tools and parts, soldering the cells together, building the container, attaching the cells, wiring and finishing. Everything from what parts and tools you need to wiring the solar cells together to constructing the panel container to final wiring is covered. They are flash videos and are very good, though not quite as big and high quality as the videos in GreenDIYEnergy.

All parts of the build are covered in the comprehensive ebook include with Homemade Energy. I would suggest using it as a reference alongside the videos. The calculator spreadsheets are really close to what you get with GreenDIYEnergy.

GreenDIYEnergy includes more ebooks and has higher quality video so I would give it the nod over Homemade Energy, but Homemade Energy is also quite good and does have more video than GreenDIYEnergy. You definitely get your money’s worth with Homemade Energy and it is a very good package.

For a more complete review, check out  Homemade Energy Review.

Earth4Energy

In third place is Earth4Energy. The ebooks, videos and spreadsheets they include aren’t quite as good as the packages above. The solar material is pretty good, though in my opinion not as good as the solar guides above, however Earth4Energy is the only guide that includes video for building a wind generator.

The videos included in Earth4Energy cover the most difficult aspects of building a solar panel, but they are not comprehensive. Where GreenDIYEnergy and Homemade Energy include video showing the entire build step-by-step from start to finish, Earth4Energy relies on the ebook for much of the build and includes video for just the most challenging sections.

While not as comprehensive as the other two guides, the ebook is pretty good. Instead of spreadsheets, Earth4Energy gives you online calculators for solar panel output, battery sizing and appliance electricity usage.

So, can Earth4Energy help the average person to build a solar panel? It’s definitely possible to build a solar panel with what is included in Earth4Energy, but both of the other guides have more video and the video is the most important part of guides like this. For those of you planning to build a wind generator, Earth4Energy is the only guide that has video for a wind project. Most people will be able to build a DIY solar panel with Earth4Energy, but you’ll get more value for your money from either of the other two guides.

To read my complete review, visit Earth4Energy.

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