PICogeneration Article - Do-It-Yourself Solar Energy Projects

When you are looking for help with your alternate energy project, the last thing you need is a long or complicated process. For one thing, you usually have to pay to keep the process working. A turn-key project from PICogeneration means only paying for what you need - knowing what you need and knowing that you are getting everything you need! While there are good reasons to hire the professionals, and a situation may require a complete design and build team, but this article discusses projects that you want to do yourself. Similarly, there is nothing wrong with a trip to the hardware store, but if you have taken on a do-it-yourself solar energy project, the last thing you want to do is wear out the aisles at your local stores.

Too often, solar power projects involve a team of professionals who will visit your location, accumulate your data, send you a report with a variety of recommendations (if you are lucky!) and suggest further action once the contractors are hired. You risk paying for much more than you need. While there are reasons for this methodology, most homeowners would benefit by having simpler options as well. On the other end of the scale, there are retailers who will help you put a box of parts in your truck, but that is the extent of their commitment. You end up paying for something that doesn't work as you expect - sometimes it doesn't work at all. That is not how you want your do-it-yourself project to end, is it?

Most people who begin by talking to an estimator are soon convinced that a solar power project is too much trouble and too expensive. Any opportunity for keeping costs down usually means losing something in the project rather than a chance to provide "sweat equity." A store-bought box of parts usually relies on frustrating research that will often give you more ideas than directions. Finally, there is an option that means you can pick and complete your own solar energy project. As with any home project, you might get a little help from family and friends to speed things along. We are providing that kind of help! The technology has improved to the point that we can assure you get what you need and all that you need so that you can get results with only the most basic knowledge and using only simple tools.

This year your solar project will begin to pay for itself very quickly because there is a fifteen percent credit from the Canadian government. Your best cost recovery plan is to get the smallest project that is practical to install. The reason for this is simple - you will save more money by reducing what you pay to the electrical company than you can make by selling power to the electrical company. One way to think of the savings strategy is to think of how the utilities encourage us to reduce water use by putting a brick in our toilet reservoir - similarly, if you can reduce what you pay to the electric company,it is money you can use elsewhere. Some of our other articles provide more information about this situation and how your project meets your other environmental and security needs.

A common way to determine your project size is to look at your electrical company bill for the answer. Often your bill will show your energy use over the past couple of years as a bar graph. You can get the biggest bang for your buck by chopping the same amount off of every bar in the future. Take a look at your bills and see what you would like to chop off that payment - the trick is to look for the number of kilowatt hours (kWh). As a rule of thumb, multiply that number by three and that gives you the size of the system. For example, let's say you always use at least 500kWh in a month - that suggests a 1500kW system will meet your needs. You might consider that your budget forces you to look for a system that is almost that size or you might consider that you will use more electricity in the future and look for a system that is just larger than this rule of thumb suggests. In our solutions page, you will see packages that are sized for your needs and budget. The great thing is that you can always pick a smaller project to start with today and add to it later - the packages are entirely modular - you can always add to a project afterwards. Every renovation and improvement project we recommend has every part you need to connect your solar energy equipment to your electrical system. Wherever you have access to the most sunlight provides the decision about a ground-ballasted or a roof-mounted system (with tracking technology if you want it). And because the projects are modular, you can use a combination of these systems.

There is certainly a place for professionals - for one thing, safety first! But in an effort to provide a solution for everyone who wants one, for whatever reason they might have to take on a do-it-yourself solar energy project, we match a project to your budget, we provide a high-quality, complete project sized to meet your needs, and we assure you can change your project as your budget or your needs change. Check our Canadian projects on the Solutions page or go to the International Mall for all your alternate energy needs.

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