Solar Heating Panels: Yes, You Can Build Your Own

When people think of solar panels and their usage, most think of the storage and use of electricity. However, what they don't know is the wonderful way they can heat their homes simply by using solar heating panels. In fact, several smart mobile home buyers are doing just that, saving themselves a ton of money on heating bills, while also helping out the environment. What can be better that that?

Now if you are like me, you're probably thinking to yourself just as I did that there is no way you could possibly build anything that deals with harnessing heat from the sun. In fact, you probably are thinking even if you could build your own solar heating panel, the materials would cost too much in time, labor and money. However, just as I learned, you're about to know that this is far from true.

I will admit, building my first panel was not the simplest thing in the world, but it wasn't so hard that I needed a degree either. I went online, found some great how-to plans and information, and then drove down to my nearest home improvement store. According to my list, I needed to buy some 1x4 and 2x4 pieces of lumber, a 1/2" plywood sheet, some 4x8 foot, 3/4" thick insulation panels, and a roll of aluminum flashing. The last piece I needed was a sheet of Plexiglass, which was the most expensive part of the entire kit.

Before I get into how I built this, let me first explain how it works. Imagine a rectangle frame that has three to five slats, called baffles, interspersed left, then right, then left, and so on. This forms a snake-like mechanism of a long S shape. Now, there also is a hole in the upper left and lower right corners. One hole brings air in, and the other lets the air out. What happens is that the air coming in, while traveling through this S maze, slowly gets heated, which is then placed into the home, heating it just like an electric heater. Pretty cool, huh?

So, I did just that - I laid down the plywood sheet and made a frame around it with the 2x4s. I then placed the insulation panels inside, saving some to insulate the sides of the frame. Finally I laid down the aluminum flashing - which is how the air gets heated by the sun. Once all was set in place, I glued strips of insulation the the sides. Then I took the 1x4s and cut them lengthwise the make 2" strips, then screwed them in place to make the baffles. Almost done! Once the maze was created, I cut out the two holes, about 5" in diameter. The frame and panel was complete!

Now, there is more to using this panel, such as installing the air delivery system to the panel and in your home, but I wanted to write this article to show that you can build your own solar heating panels, truly.