Lowe’s Starts selling DIY Solar Panels

For everyone who wants to install solar panels at their home or office diy style . Lowe’s is the first major retailer who will begin offering DIY Solar panels from Andalay AC.

Lowe’s has already begun offering these panels in 21 stores in California and many more to come. The purchaser though will be responsible for all permits and handling state and federal refund papers.

The Andalay AC panels have integrated racking, wiring and grounding, which Akeena solar says reduces the overall parts count by 80%. Andalay panels also have built-in inverters that produce household AC power, so they can be plugged directly into a home’s circut breaker. They can be easily modulated so home owners can start small and add more and more panels as they grow. Each panel will cost around 899 dollars and produce 175 watts of electricity.  a typical home would require though about 20 panels.  So it would cost about 20000 dollars to have your home optimized with solar energy. For those with high electrical bills maybe not a bad trade off. For those doing it to help the environment and stop our dependence on fossil fuels it is well worth it.

Plans to go nationwide with these panels through Lowe’s is underway.  This will offer many electricians and HVAC contractors additional potential income stream.

This is I think will be one of the biggest leaps for solar power and clean energy for the year 2010.  It is a major step in bringing solar and alternative energy into every home.  As solar energy and panels become a bigger and bigger business competition should heat up and bring the cost of production and equipment way down along with the efficiency of the equipment.

In order for solar energy and green energy to become a bigger resource for our electrical needs it will have to grow to become a major economic earner.

The future sure does look greener.