Last week Lowe’s, the nationwide home improvement company, announced that it is now stocking and selling home solar panels in 21 of its California stores. Lowe’s plans to make the panels available across the country starting next year.

Akeena Solar, Inc. is the manufacturer of the panels. Their system was designed with the do-it-yourselfer in mind. CEO Barry Cinnamon said, “It’s really not a big deal. The most dangerous thing is learning about ladder safety.”  

Producing AC power, panels plug directly into a home’s circuit breaker. In daylight hours they perform like a large battery, distributing energy through the breaker to the home’s appliances. At night or on overcast days, homeowners would need to draw electrical energy from the grid.

Approval of installation is necessary from your municipal utility company. Each Lowe’s store provides an information station to assist homeowners with questions concerning their energy needs and about Akeena’s products.

The panels are priced at $893 each. Weighing in at 40 pounds per panel, the system is set up for installation of one panel at a time. Additional panels can be snapped on to the first, “kind of like Legos.”

To learn more about Akeena residential solar panels, visit their web site.

TALK BACK: Would you consider installing DYI solar panels on your home? Why or why not? Post your comments below.

Posted by Sharon Walker

Tags: lowes diy home solar panels

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Home Improvement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.