Proper solar energy plans that you can follow step by step are the first things you will need if you are interested in building your own solar collector. Although making your own solar collector may sound difficult to do, it is not really that much of a chore at all if you have good solar energy plans that you can follow.

The First Step

Before you do anything else, you need to make sure that you clearly understand the difference between solar collectors and panels. This is necessary before you even examine any solar energy plans. Solar collectors are what actually harvest the solar energy in the form of heat, while it is the solar panels that reap solar energy in the form of electricity.

Another difference is that solar collectors make use of the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, solar panels convert radiant energy into electricity and today are only really cost effective in remote off-grid areas with a price of about $5/watt.

Materials

There is quite a list of materials that you are going to need for your solar energy plans. These will include two rolls of 50-foot 20” aluminum flashing, four 0.06 thick 4x8 sheets of Kalwall, twenty 1x4x8 pine boards with few or no knots, four 1/2x4x8 CDX plywood, four 1x4x8 sheets of insulation with an R value 5 or better, clear silicon caulking, aluminum foil, some felt paper, one gallon of roofing tar, one gallon of oil base paint, angle irons for mounting, sixteen 1/4x3 lag bolts, sixteen 1/4x1 1/2”  machine bolts with nuts and washers, 1 ¼”  and 2”  drywall screws, one pound of 1 ½”  galvanized nails with small heads, and plumbing supplies.

The actual process that will take place will depend on what specific solar energy plans you have. However, the advantages that you will gain will typically remain the same, regardless of the particular plans that you are using.

Advantages

There can be very serious advantages to using solar energy. It will be possible for you to save more than $50,000 in hot water and home heating costs if you can afford to spend $2,000 and have a few weeks of labor available to invest for this work. The average American household consumes between 1,000 and 2,000 gallons of number two fuel oil per year, so solar heating can be a good option; because, if you efficiently use the energy from the sun, it could easily cut your consumption in half. You might even be able to eliminate other fuels entirely, which is certainly the ultimate goal to strive for.

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