If you are starting your first solar power generator project, you will surely be making mistakes along the way. This is normal. But your learning curve can be shortened dramatically if you can just avoid the 3 most common mistakes that almost every beginner makes.
If you're starting something new, there is a strong tendancy to make mistakes. Building a solar panel isn't any different. If you have an experienced hobbyist guiding you, he'll be pointing you to the most common mistakes that beginners make so you'll avoid it. This article attempts to do the same. Your learning curve can thus be shortened dramatically.
All the time and frustrations saved will be worth the little time taken to read this article and keep it in mind. As you march on into your solar power project, you will probably be way ahead of your peers. Along the way, you'll also feel encouraged as you complete milstones after milestones with seeming ease. If this is what you want, read on.
Common mistake #1: Not Calculating Number Of Solar Cells Needed and Size of Battery Bank
If you have constructed anything before, this should be pretty obvious to you. Yet a large proportion of us are guilty of this. We pour in money and time, expecting our raw estimates to give us precise results. How naive. Feeling your way through the project may save a little time, but it'll probably land you into hot soup.
Proper calculations need to be done even for the smallest, most insignificant step. After all, you’ll want to have sufficient solar cells and have battery banks large enough to store precious renewable energy, isn’t it?
Common mistake #2: Constructing A Flimsy Solar Panel Casing
Your solar panel is placed outdoor where it is exposed to the elements. Therefore it is important to design a solar panel casing that has enough structural support to brave the wind and precipitation. But most beginners have no clue. They have neither the design nor dimensions for a sturdy solar panel frame. As a result, many of them end up constructing flimsy frames that are easily damaged by a gust of strong wind. And it may already be obvious to you that solar cells are brittle (easily broken). Therefore you need to handle them with care. Your panel frame may also bend and break during site installation if it lacks strength.
Common mistake #3: Failure to Vapor-Proof Your Solar Panels
Metallic joints are prone to rust and corrosion when there is moisture trapped in the inner recesses of the solat panel. But how did moisture enter in the first place? We find that vapor seeps through many types of sealant after some time. Unfortunately stays trapped in the interior of the solar panel. Therefore you have to choose the correct type of sealant to prevent moisture from destroying your hard work inside your solar panel.
These 3 pitfalls may stop your project dead in its tracks or cripple it some time after you have put in all the hard work. Therefore you will have to keep these in mind while designing and building your first solar panel. If you avoid these pitfalls, you are already on the way to building a successful solar panel project that can generate renewable energy for you for many years.
