1) While building a solar panel yourself is not rocket science, it does require that you be good at soldering, handy with tools and have some experience with assembling electrical components. It’s really not something a person with no experience in the above should try — unless they just want to mess around and see what happens.

2) It is critical that every single connection in a panel be absolutely right, otherwise the panel will either not work at all or will work very poorly. Again, some experience in this kind of soldering and assembly work can make all the difference.

3) One of the biggest problems with home-made solar panels failing is that they are not properly sealed against the weather. Remember, these will be sitting outside — probably on the roof — 24 hours a day all year round. If a little water get under your protective glass cover, the panel can be quickly ruined. So you have to do your work well enough to prevent that. Weather-proofing the panel to last for 15 to 25 years has proven to be one of the toughest things for the commercial panel manufacturers to get right.

4) While the Do It Yourself course recommended in the comment above does look to be one of the better ones around (most of them are pretty useless), I have never been able to find the individual solar cells needed to build a panel for anywhere near as cheap as all of the DIY sites claim they can be purchased. And I’ve looked. I think the best you can do by making your own is to cut the cost by 50% over the cost of a commercial product. Not bad, but you have to do all the work and:

5) You get NO WARRANTY. Commercial solar panels all come with a 15 to 25 year warranty on their rated power output. So, maybe you can save 50% if you have the time to build your own panels (and get it right), but the chances are your home-made panels will not last anything like 15 to 25 years. So, if you have to replace them even once during that time, any savings are lost.

6) If you want to get the state and federal rebates, refunds and tax credits being offered for home solar power systems, you can’t build the panels yourself. You have to purchase them from a commercial manufacturer and — in most cases — the installation must be done by a certified solar panel installer/electrician. Without those kind of official receipts you aren’t going to be able to get any of the rebates, refunds or tax credits.

6) Having said all that, I do think this instruction and education kit is well done and the price of $49 (including the videos) is reasonable. I wouldn’t pay much more for it, however. Even if you don’t end up building your own panels, for those who don’t know much about this subject, it is a good way to learn about home solar panel power systems. You can find out all the stuff in this kit for free by searching around on the web — most of the web sites selling the panels and accessories have good FAQ and tutorial pages — but getting it all in one package may be a preferable way to go for some people.

I’m not really sure bout how correct the info given there is. If some experts over here who have experience with these works can have a look and give your feedback in the site it would be grand and I’d highly value it, because I really love solar panel construction.

Thanks for reading this. You guys rock.

I haven’t had time to check your recent full-year 2009 production figures and other actions at Uni-Solar. If correct, they do indeed paint a dismal picture. My post was originally written in mid-2008 (even though it did not get posted here until Feb 2009) so I had to use the 2007 figures and projections from the company. I will look into the current situation at Uni-Solar and add to the post.

Your information underscores the point of my article: That Stan Ovshinsky’s dream has been “betrayed” by the business-as-usual mindset and decisions of the executives running Uni-Solar. It should be noted that Stan was forced out of all active participation in running the company 3 years ago, just as the first full-scale factory was about to come online and so is not responsible for the company being unable (or unwilling) to properly bring his solar laminate to market. For what I know of the materials and manufacturing process required to make the Ovshinsky laminate, a properly structured and well run company should have been able to manufacture it for less than half of the 2002-cost of traditional crystalline solar panels. The fact that the those running the company have not done this, for whatever reason, is a tragedy.

I left out your personal comments about Ovshinsky because they serve no purpose in this dissucssion. As for comparing theoretical efficiency factors vs. the real-world power production capabilities between thin-film and crystalline solar panels, that debate continues and has been covered by others more expert than I. Some examples:

http://www.pv.kaneka.co.jp/why/index.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/thin-film-solar-vs-crystalline.php
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/05/solar-shootout-in-the-san-joaquin-valley
http://solar.coolerplanet.com/News/5280901-crystalline-vs.-thin-film-solar-cells,-and-the-winner-is.aspx
http://www.homepower.com/view/?file=HP127_pg98_Weliczko
http://www.electroroof.com/Analysis/ElectroRoofData200403.pdf
http://solarcostarica.com/pdf/Brochures/Uni-Solar%20vs%20Crystal%20Tech%20-%202%20Sided%20-%202.08.pdf

…your production and shipment numbers are all wrong. In calendar 2008, Unisolar reported production of 113MW and shipments of 109MW, nowhere near your imaginary 182MW capacity. Currently, the nameplate capacity is 150MW (the 28MW Auburn Hills was taken offline), but it is not utilized (in the current, December 2009 quarter, the company will be running at 1/2 capacity). For the whole calendar 2009, production will be about 110MW and shipments will be about 70MW. The previous plans for capacity expansion have been put on hold.