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264 comments on DrumBeat: May 30, 2008

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Dr Moody on May 30, 2008 - 8:47am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I'm currently building my own solar system (not the planet type) thus far I have managed to build 6 70W panels at a cost of $170 each. Not to difficult and I'm saving a fortune. For commercial panels with the same output your looking at $800-$1000.

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rogue on May 30, 2008 - 8:54am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Would you email me at rogue@rogueriver.net? thanks.

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Durandal on May 30, 2008 - 9:20am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Building panels? What are you doing? Soldering individual cells together? If this is the case, please post details on how you are managing to accomplish this, as $170 for 70w is cheap! I just purchased two 160w panels at $500 each, and thought I was getting a fair deal! :P

~Durandal (http://www.wtdwtshtf.com)

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Marco on May 30, 2008 - 9:29am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Best i've seen in UK is roughly £2.70 /W. I would only start buying at £1(2$) per Watt.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/180-Watt-Mono-Crystalline-Solar-Panel-24-v_W0QQite...

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Dr Moody on May 30, 2008 - 10:39am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Simply buy groups of individual cells on ebay and build the panel yourself, it's not rocket science. A simple panel, and charge controller/inverter design can be found here http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html but you may want to build yours to last. I believe most of the cells come from factory seconds or damaged panels. If you have the time it's well worth it. Enjoy.

Feel free to email me steven.j.moody[at]gmail.com if you need more info.

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Durandal on May 30, 2008 - 10:53am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

If you were to have the cells seperated enough, you could use fresnel lenses to increase the output per cell, although you would then need to add a heat-sink to the back of the cell to avoid frying it. An example of such a thing I found was at:
http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au/

You could also use mirrors to amplify the output as well, for less of an effect...

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Dr Moody on May 30, 2008 - 11:02am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Indeed. I've also started scraping old rear projection tv's for their Fresnel lens. Great for cooking and potentially a valuable barter item in the next 15-30 years. Typically you can pick up a 50" lens for $10-$40.

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jokuhl on May 30, 2008 - 9:25am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Yeah, that's a good price/watt. ( $2.42 )

Would you mind tossing out a few more details? Where do you get the source materials, and what are you embedding them in? (Assuming Silicon PV here)

Hope you're venting your solder fumes!

Best,
Bob Fiske

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