DIY solar projects are becoming increasingly popular. You can get some basic supplies for any solar DIY project you may have in mind in your local community. Solar kits can be found at home improvement stores and at RV and marine stores.

Here are some typical supplies you may need. Be sure to make your list and get the parts you need so that you can do the solar project that you have in mind with ease and enjoy your new found ability to harness the sun for your own needs in no time.

Of course you will need the basics like a screw driver, a pair of pliers, a wire cutter and some screws and wire connectors. You might want some alligator clips as well. Most solar projects will require a micro-ammeter too.

Now we have to reach out and grab some of that wonderful energy of the sun and store it for our needs. So first off we need solar panels. You can purchase these panels in kits now from the marine or hardware store or a RV store. You can get great deals on them and find them used online as well. Many larger cities have solar supply stores as well. Just search online for solar supplies and your larger local city name to find them.

The nice thing is these days you can get solar panels that come in kits that can be connected together to grow to the number of  panels you need for your project. You take the power you need and select enough panels to output that power based on the ratings provided by the manufacturer. It will say right on the kit how much power to expect from the panels in maximum   sunlight.

Now you will need a place to store the energy you harness. So you will need one or several batteries depending on the power you are going to need. Get deep cycle batteries as these are better for long term use and continuous use. You can get good deep cycle batteries at your RV store or marine store. You can also find deals on these batteries online.

Now you need a power inverter. Since these panels are often used in RV or on boats they produce power in DC and you will need to convert the power to AC to use for home or shop use or whatever you may need it for. You can get inverters at many different places. You can purchase them at any place that provides RV or auto supplies for sure. Now you will need to connect the system together. So make sure you check the kits and see if there are any special items needed for the solar panels that do not come in the kit. Usually you will have all you need but not always if you purchase used cells.

Now you may also need a battery box depending on the application. Since batteries can leak when they go bad you may want to put them in a special box to protect people and your environment from them. You can build a box or buy ones specially made for batteries. If you build it make sure that you use materials that won’t break down quickly from battery acid should they leak.

Ok you should be ready to head out and get the supplies you need for your solar project. Have fun! Solar projects are a great way to spend time with family and friends too. People seem to have an immediate understanding of the value of harnessing sun power and are often keen to help. So ask around and you may be surprised at how many people are interested in your project and would like to assist you.

Sometimes students want to demonstrate solar power for school projects. Solar projects are fun and can vary in difficulty so that you can pick something easy or more complex depending on the age and skill level of those doing the project.  Here are some ideas for solar projects that you can do for school. A number of simple projects can be done to easily demonstrate solar power and uses.

One simple project can be done by purchasing a solar cell kit at a local marine or RV store. You can use this kit to do a variety of experiments and projects. One basic project is simply to document the setup of the solar panel that is purchased and then show how the panels charge the batteries and what some of the possible uses are. You can document this process with video.

Another project is to get a small solar panel with an inverter to convert the power as needed and remove the batteries from an old radio. You pull the batteries from the radio then use the wires that go to the battery terminals to connect the wires from the inverter. The idea is to provide the same amount of direct current power the radio would use from batteries to power the radio. This is a pretty simple project as you simply have to connect the same color wires in the radio to the wires on the inverter. Many times you can get a small panel with a simple DC inverter connected to it for small solar projects.

You can do projects that show how to heat a room with solar heating by building on a small scale. Cardboard can be used to create a simple green house room next to another room. You use clear plastic or glass pane at an angle to create the green house room. Using a heat lamp or even a 100 watt bulb in a desk lamp you can simulate the sun above this tiny room you have created. By covering the top with a clear material you can show the results using a thermometer.

An easier option is to purchase a solar kit that has a series of experiments in it. One such kit is called Power House and allows you to show different ways solar can be used to power the small model house. The kit is small enough to sit on a table but versatile enough to allow you to demonstrate a number of possible uses of solar power.  In fact there are 90 experiments involved.

One more simple project you can do pretty easily is to create a cone out of reflective metal material like a piece of sheet metal or you can make it out of cardboard with aluminum foil inside the cone so that the light is all reflected directly toward the middle of the cone. In the center of the cone you place a nail to be used as a simple way to skewer food. You can then put a hot dog or a potato or whatever food you want to roast on the skewer and watch it cook with nothing other than sunlight. It needs to be a hot sunny day to do this but it is a fun quick easy project. Enjoy!

Solar pool heating is one of the simpler solar projects. There are very elaborate and impressive systems that can be built but in many cases you can be well served by purchasing a simple solar heater for your pool for under $200.00. This is generally for smaller pools but often is more than adequate especially if you do not live in a colder climate.

If you have a larger pool you may want to use a more elaborate system. Some of these systems can range in the thousands of dollars but can be very effective at keeping your pool comfortable under all sorts of conditions.

These two systems work on basically the same system. The smaller kit involves a coil of hose that is set up on a reflective surface. Water from the pool is continually pumped through the coil of hose which is black and collects heat in the sun. This way warmer water from the hose coil is continually being pumped into the pool.

The more complicated systems work basically the same way but can be on a much larger scale. The hose may become a network of black polypropylene hose that is sometimes flat and is often set up in a grid. It can be purchased in grid panels and you can connect them together based on the number of hundreds of gallons you want to heat at any given time.

Typically these grids are placed over the roof of your home. The grids collect heat. This involves quite a bit of water as the grid is full of hundreds of gallons of water and so is the large swimming pool. Over time the pump system slowly cycles the water from the grid to the pool and back out again in a cyclical fashion. These systems require a powerful pump and often have a temperature management system that monitors the temperature of the pool to cycle the water as needed to maintain the temperature you want.

In most cases these types of systems need to be professionally installed unless you have some experience with large projects of this nature and are comfortable taking on this sort of thing.

Some points to consider are the impact that the black grid panels or hoses will have on the look of your home and the overall cost to implement such a system. But if you need a heated pool it is probably your best bet since it will be more effective in the long run.  It is definitely better for the environment and more cost effective if you are going to use the system over the course of years.