Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:20:50 -0300
Reply-To: David Etter <detter@MAIL.AURACOM.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Etter <detter@MAIL.AURACOM.COM>
Subject: Re: Solar panels for your Vanagon..
In-Reply-To: <d0c.128354cc.33a672e8@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Hi Frank:
Kyocera - Sharp - BP Solar** and any one of a number of mfr.s
are suitable. There are square cells and round cells; there are
"film" panels, crystalline panels etc., - - - -
Mono-crystal silicon; Non-ribbon multicrystalline silicon; Ribbon
multicrystalline silicon
What the gentleman was talking about was the manufacturing
method, of course square cells pack more density, film is more
versatile and very expensive, yada- yada..
A primer in solar cells:
http://www.solar-electric.com/Solar_Panels/solar_electric_panels.htm
I found that buying from an RV dealer or Cdn Tire, you were
paying for advertising, not better quality and certainly not
knowledge. Check the specs for each 120 watt panel (whatever wattage)
and compare. There are certain values to look for. Go on e-Bay and
buy a Brand Name at the cheapest Price from a reputable seller.
This one's a steal: http://tinylink.com/?ZK5ErBKqGz but it
is for a local pick-up only.
Unfortunately, Canada seems behind the times and ahead in
price gouging.
I found that a 120 Watt panel was about as big a panel as I
could comfortably fit on the top. Mine is quickly removable and
usable with a 15 foot, 10 Gauge extension cord.
I stuck with 10 gauge because that was the largest gauge size
'quick disconnect' plug I could readily find. I would have preferred
8 gauge throughout but the difference between 10 and 8 gauge over 15
feet was not worth the current loss, or handling and storage
characteristics of the wire itself.
David (dsl82westy)
** One of several oil companies branching into solar fuel...
News Flash: BP Petrolum has just applied for exclusive rights to
harvest the energy coming from the sun. ;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> So.........back to my original question...........what's a "GOOD" solar
>panel ? I have seen so many and so many different prices, I'm confused ! I
>was told by one salesman the difference in price of the same watt panels is
>due to the quality of the chips. He said there are first, second and third
>quality chips on the market and therefore the cheaper panels are using the
>lesser quality chips and may fail sooner. Anyone know about this ?
>I have seen
>120w ~ 150w panels from $500 to $3000, so what's that all about. I see
>Canadian Tire has a 120w on sale this week for $935 and RONA has a
>130w on sale
>for $1225. Anyone know about these ? My question is where is the
>best panel
>for the least money ! ? ! ?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Frank Condelli
