everyone wants to be a comedian……constructing your own solar cells is not possible to do and still make them cost effective. I have about 400 watts on top of the roof right now, and I am powering one room. its pretty expensive to get started, but after the initial investment the cost goes down, and so does your utility bill, I have the added advantage of still having lights and being able to power my fridge and have tv and phones when the power goes out during a storm,
I didnt start doing this to save the planet, and I dont hug tree’s, I did it for more selfish reasons, my wallet! I gave up on trying to find deals on ebay, even bought a few books on how to make your own solar panels, I came to the conclusion that I personally could not build them for under 7/8 bux a watt, I get my panels from a company in New Mexico called affordable solar, most of the time I buy brand new panels from them for 4.50 to 6 bux a watt, WITH a warranty 
you can find them here
www.affordable-solar.com
hope this helps
everyone wants to be a comedian……constructing your own solar cells is not possible to do and still make them cost effective. I have about 400 watts on top of the roof right now, and I am powering one room. its pretty expensive to get started, but after the initial investment the cost goes down, and so does your utility bill, I have the added advantage of still having lights and being able to power my fridge and have tv and phones when the power goes out during a storm,
I didnt start doing this to save the planet, and I dont hug tree’s, I did it for more selfish reasons, my wallet! I gave up on trying to find deals on ebay, even bought a few books on how to make your own solar panels, I came to the conclusion that I personally could not build them for under 7/8 bux a watt, I get my panels from a company in New Mexico called affordable solar, most of the time I buy brand new panels from them for 4.50 to 6 bux a watt, WITH a warranty
you can find them here
http://www.affordable-solar.com
hope this helps
References :
For Solar thermal energy you can clip narrow bore copper pipe to the back of a matt black panel.. and use a small pump to circulate it throguh the tube, and into the bottom of an old, but well insulated hot water tank, so that the heat is transferred into the tank, and the water in the tube stays in the tube.. remember that both the water circulating in the tube, and the water in the HWT will need to be in an open circuit, to prevent explosion!.. but this is very inefficient, and you would be better placed to use vaccuum tube solar collectors, with a failsafe shutdown… and further to the last respondent.. check out nanosolar.com, who have just gone into production with a $1 per watt solar Photovoltaic panel .. either system will rely on an optimum pitch.. I wrote a calculator for this, where you simply enter your angle of latitude, and it calculates it for you in the blink of an eye… about 3mb download from http://www.earth.org.uk/note-on-solar-tools.html which also has some other solar panel info (page written by a solar enthusiast, and my spreadsheet is a ‘freeware’ contribution
References :
http://www.nanosolar.com
various books on self sufficiency.