As technology progresses solar energy becomes easier to integrate into your everyday life. Solar energy has dropped by more than 60% in terms of returns in the past 10 years. However, many homeowners are tentative to install the renewable energy source. The fear of difficulty and cost is a thing of the past. Read on to see how you can make solar energy work in your home.

Many homeowners stick to the electric grid by default – the term “solar energy” often comes with mental images of large panels or assumed extensive, necessary renovations. However, cheap and easy solutions are available to allow your home to be a little less DWP dependent, and they can help alleviate power demand for things as large as your home’s HVAC system and as small as a single lightbulb. Solar energy is more feasible now than ever when considering the recent innovations in installation and the availability of materials. If you’re thinking of renovating or just looking to make your space a little more environmentally friendly, check out the various ways that you can make solar energy work for your home.

With a little elbow grease, you’re able to harness solar power without calling a company to ship or install it for you. Some of today’s solar panels can simply be plugged into one of your home’s outlets and placed in an area that gets plenty of sunlight throughout the day in order to provide the same amount of energy as the solar panels of previous iterations. A number of competing solar power companies have made this an affordable product as a kit, and it can provide a much less cumbersome source of energy than the large solar panels often seen on roof lines. With installation fees removed from the price, plug-in solar panel kits are often a cheaper energy solution than the standard power grid.

If you have a penchant for making your own things, putting together a solar panel is easily within your grasp. There are a number of instructional articles and videos online that give you shopping items and directions to build your own for roughly $100. Many of the items are available online and at general hardware stores, and the whole fabrication can take place without any special hardware. Of course, by creating one for yourself, you can design it to accommodate very specific spaces and rooftops. Though previous homeowners have been turned off by solar panel technology because of its standard dimensions and lack of flexibility, customizable solar panels can make energy efficiency more appealing.

If you’re not quite sure you’re ready to make a solar panel for your home, think smaller: you can make a mini solar panel to charge your cell phone. You can create one as a weekend project – as it requires fewer materials than one for a home or larger appliance – by looking at one of several tutorials online. If this works for you and you want to apply it to other electronics, you can try scaling up and see what you learn.

In the 21st century, you’re only as dependent on the power grid as you want to be. Solar panel technology has advanced so much over the decades that it is finally feasible to apply to your own living situation without breaking the bank or committing to a radical life change.