Hey guys,
Hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes with this post but I have been frequenting this website
BuildItSolar: Solar energy projects for Do It Yourselfers to save money and reduce pollution for a few years. It's a good one for home projects. I haven't seen a link to it in any of the threads I've read here so I thought I'd toss it out as food for thought. There are a huge number of DIY projects with instructions listed.
They also have a number of links to material suppliers, helpful government websites, and analysis tools.
JJ