Anyone built a solar power/heating system @ home?

I've messed around with it a bit and had a bit of success. Making an emergency solar power system for my radio equipment was the most successful experiment as the power requirements were pretty low. The solar heating worked reasonably well in a small shop I had. I managed to get a useful amount of hot water to wash my hands and stuff and some nice warm air flow on sunny days. It would probably work great if a person was in a sunny area of the country. The problem I ran into was when I needed heat or hot water it would inevitably be cloudy and I had to use a heater after sundown. Heck we may never even see the sun in November some years. I kept it in the shop but didn't attempt anything on a larger level. It just wasn't reliable enough.

I would love to be off-grid but until something other than wind and solar comes along it looks like I'm out of luck. Wind was good for keeping water in the stock tank but I had no luck trying to generate my own power. Overall it was something fun to play around with but not up to the task of powering everything or heating my home.

Here is a link to a Parabola Calculator that I have used several times. It is a simple, free download and works on all Win 95 and up systems.

http://mscir.tripod.com/parabola/

A little sidenote of caution. A properly designed parabola can reach temperatures in excess of 1400 deg. F at the exact focal point... that means a misplaced hand can become a charred stump in a flash.

GA

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Bob,
Thanks
I did use a foil backed insulation in the pannel. Since posting this, I found MEN plans showing just black plastic, no metal. The box just had sides, and the window was clear plastic. I bought enough material to make another, so I will add an absorption plate to see if I can get a difference in the output temperature. I wish I had one of those lazer temperature guns.
Gary