3 Beginner-Friendly DIY Solar Kits to Get Your Renewable Energy Journey Started

Solar panels are a great way to reduce your carbon footprint by lowering the amount of energy you're using from gas and electric. However, adding solar panels to your house can be a big project, and sometimes that means spending a lot of money to get started.

But for those handy people who like to take these types of home upgrades on themselves, they may be interested in knowing that there's another option.

The internet is full of DIY solar panel kits for beginners, and most of them offer you the ability to tackle this job entirely on your own. Interested? Take a look at some of the popular kits we found online and see if you can't find one that meets your needs below.

There's good news for those looking to buy a kit and get started on their solar journey; there are several options online, and they each come at different price points. For those who want to start small and work with a tight budget, there's a 12-volt option on Amazon from ECO-WORTHY. This kit comes with a junction box, wiring, panels, mounting brackets, and more.

Designed for smaller batteries — like the ones you'd use for a golf cart or electric scooter — this will only set you back $99.99.

Those who want to spend a bit more can head to Lowe's to purchase a Renogy 4-Module option. For $369.99 you'll get 400-watt solar panels that will pack a bit more of a punch. This option can put out a little more power, and it can be used to run your small RV.

For those who want to splurge — and who want a bit more power, including enough that could serve as a backup energy source for their home should they lose electric — there's the ECO-WORTHY 1.6KWH Complete Solar Panel Kit.

Priced at $799.99, this 1100-watt solar panel set is made for high efficiency and can operate on approximately four hours of sunlight a day. According to the website, that's enough to run the typical appliances you'd find in your home, including an air conditioner, TV, water heater, coffee maker, fridge, and other AQC 110V devices.

Of course, many people opt to try solar power because they want to go off the grid, or at the very least, reduce the amount of energy they are using. While DIY solar panel kits for beginners are a good start, most of them won't allow you to run your entire home full-time.

Solar panel sets like these typically need to be much larger for the traditionally sized home, and they also need to be tied to a grid, which is often much more challenging (and dangerous) than what a novice DIY-er can do.

If you're looking to get more info on these types of solar panel kits, you'll want to reach out to a professional to get more information before getting started. This will not only help keep your home safe, but it could prevent you from making a dangerous error that could end with someone getting hurt.