DIY Solar Panels

In this section I will discuss how to make your own solar panels including an in-depth financial analysis of an off-grid battery bank versus a grid-tie inverter as well as methods to determine insolance for your area as well as calculate wattage per area for your planned system.

My system utilizes recycled windows picked up for free from Craigslist as well as photovoltaic cells and grid-tie inverters picked up from Amazon. This blog entry will focus on how you can build your own photovoltaic system on a budget.

Thank you for visiting. This section is currently under construction. As you can see, this website covers several topics. If you would like to see this section expanded next, please use the voting poll to the right. Thanks!

DIY Lye

In this section I will discuss the process for making lye at home. Lye can be used for making soaps, cleaning products, and bio-diesel. The process in simple and inexpensive.

The following is a list of materials required for this project:

- ash acquired from burning hardwood (700 or higher on the Janka hardness scale e.g. Maple, Cedar, Cherry, Oak, Ash, Beech, and Walnut. Not softwoods like Fir, Pine, Alder, Juniper, etc)
- 2 buckets
- straw
- river rock
- rainwater (not tap water, surface water, or well water due to dissolved mineral content)

Optional:
- a potato (to roughly check pH)
- pH meter, test strips, or aquarium test kit
- bulkhead fitting and ball valve with inorganic gaskets
- 2 bricks

Note: It is important to not use metals or organic components is the lye bucket as these materials will quickly corrode from the lye.

Thank you for visiting. This section is currently under construction. As you can see, this website covers several topics. If you would like to see this section expanded next, please use the voting poll to the right. Thanks!