Matt Hanson

I’ve been going through your website and have found it extremely intriguing and helpful to read your responses to everyone’s comments. I apologize if this is on your website already, but I was wondering if you could direct me to a website that will allow me to calculate how much energy I will be generating based on panel-size, etc., so that I can see how much I would be saving.

Also, I live in Utah and in the winter I get a good deal of snow, will I need to have a giant squeegy handy to clear my panels after a good storm?

Do wind turbines have problems in the snow, and is there any way to figure out the average wind speeds above my house to determine if its worth it?

Thank you!!!

Davey

At this point I would recommend you call your local power company or an electrician. If you do not wish to go as far as connecting your system to the breaker panel you can simply run your appliances straight from your AC inverter. Running your appliances straight from the inverter is easy and a very cheap option.

As for your power requirements, you would need to determine how much power you are actually using on average. I would check your latest power bill to determine your consumption and go from there.

Best of luck!

Absolutely, this would make a great DIY school project for your students! The level of difficulty in building the panel itself would be perfect for students at that age, as they are capable of attending “shop class” at that age. The E4E blueprints also explain how solar energy works (e.g. explains how Photovoltaic Cells work etc) and clearly defines the function of each component needed for your installation (e.g. inverter, DC disconnect, breaker panel etc). You could easily write your class material from the blueprints as they go into great detail.

Best of luck to you and your students!