HomeMadeEnergy Review

Reviewer: Mark Johnson
Rating:
Product Reviewed: homemadeenergy.org

Another guide that I tested was the HomeMadeEnergy guide that teaches both - how to build solar and wind powered systems. After reviewing the guide, I decided that it has great instructions and built a solar panel to test it.

HomeMadeEnergy teaches how to build a wind powered system for around $100 and a solar powered system for roughly $200. This guide explains how to negotiate the price and save money when buying materials for your systems (I did not negotiate anything with anyone, but the negotiating process seems logical).

Click Here To Visit HomeMadeEnergy And Learn How To Build Your Own Solar Panels

The founder (Ben Ford - scientist and energy consultant) states that he tested his guide on average people to ensure that the test subjects would succeed in producing energy using this guide, before releasing it. After studying the guide, I can say that it's definitely written for an average person (in fact, the instructions made me feel that I was building a cheap and easy IKEA package).

I dedicated a weekend (it took me about 5 hours with a lunch break) to build my test solar panel using the instructions from this guide. It was a breeze. I mounted the unit in my yard (right next to the other units that I have built in the past). I would say that a few of these panels could eliminate the electric bill for a medium-sized household, located in a sunny area. My total costs were less than two hundred dollars, and I estimated the cost of a commercial PV panel of this size to be over one thousand dollars.

The guide also has sound instructions for building windmills. Talking about windmills, I want to mention that I heard someone say that they installed their windmill on an open balcony in their apartment. I can see how it can be done. However, you would obviously be limited in the amount of electricity that you can produce if you only have a balcony to mount your windmills. Trust me, windmills are better to install in a yard than on a balcony.

All in all, HomeMadeEnergy is a good guide, which lets you choose between building wind-based or solar-based electricity generators with the aid of diagrams. The guide gives advice on what's best to build, depending on your location and other factors. You can purchase the components needed for both systems from most hardware stores. Many people (including me) use both systems to generate more energy and to have a power back-up.

Here is the round-up of the two guides:

1. Solar Powered System
Full instructions to build your solar panel for $200 or less (if you successfully negotiate the price of the materials with the seller). It teaches how to power your home appliances with this generator. You can also take it with you while camping, as it's portable. It has simple instructions and diagrams. In order to go off the grid, you would need to build a few of these panels.

2. Wind Powered System
Full instructions on how to build a professional power-generating windmill for around $100. It also comes with simple instructions and diagrams.

The systems described in HomeMadeEnergy pay for themselves approximately within 1-2 months (you can save around $200 per month with them).

Click Here To Visit HomeMadeEnergy And Learn How To Build Your Own Solar Panels