[CRAPRS] Fw: [Biodiesel] Harbor Freight solar panels

Mon Mar 5 09:39:08 CST 2007

This is a forward from a different list... but since we were on the topic
of solar cells, I thought I would toss it out.
Also, along these lines, I have a contact at one of the local hospitals who
claims to be able to get their UPS batteries on change out.  ~100 lbs each,
some quantity up to 40 units per change out.  They load test them every
week, float them continuously, and change them in mass every 5 years.  I
told him this weekend I would take all he could acquire.  Stay tuned.  A
couple with a solar cell should work for a remote site.
Attached is the Harbor freight solar panel note:
bsm

Bryan,

I haven't had the chance to do anything more than inspect them out of the
box.

I'd like to do some benchmarks on the panels before I install them on my
garage roof.
I would like to measure the panels individually before I connect them
together in an array.

Do you know where I could find a multi-channel datalogger that can log
voltages?
-Adrian

----- Forwarded by Bryan S Mc Coy/CedarRapids/RockwellCollins on 03/05/2007
09:33 AM -----

             aahill at rockwellco                                             
             llins.com                                                     
             Sent by:                                                   To 
             biodiesel-bounces         biodiesel at rf.org                    
             +bsmccoy=rockwell                                          cc 
             collins.com at rf.or                                             
             g                                                     Subject 
                                       [Biodiesel] Harbor Freight solar    
                                       panels                              
             02/19/2007 09:08                                              
             AM                                                            

Not really biodiesel, but definitely alternative energy.

I picked up one of Harbor Freight's 45 Watt solar panel kits this weekend.
The kit includes three 15 Watt solar panels, charge controller, and two 12V
fluorescent lamps.

The kit was on sale for $199.99 (printed off the internet price and the
local store honored it) which puts the panels at $4.67/Watt which is much
cheaper than anything I've found online without buying 100+ Watt panels.

Here's my 15 minute review of them:
      The panels look to be of pretty good quality.  They've got long
      terminations and a nice extruded aluminum frame around them.  Each
      panel is supposed to put out 22 VOC (Volt Open Circuit) with a
      nominal 12V rating.  I've only performed a visual inspection of them.
      I also haven't checked to see if they've got integrated blocking
      diodes.
      The charge controller is very cheap on the inside.  I saw one place
      where a solder blob from the factory was nearly shorting a three
      terminal regulator (78xx).  I don't think I'd trust it with anything
      but a cheap Walmart battery.  Cheap as it looks it did seem to work
      out of the box with a bench power supply.
      The 12V fluorescent lamps have a standard base.  They are supposed to
      be 5 Watts each.  They both worked out of the box.  The power
      supply's uncalibrated ammeter indicated that they were drawing a
      little less than advertised.  They are sealed so I didn't try to open
      them.  I do wonder how long they will last on their own.  I'm a
      little concerned about the standard base as I don't think 120VAC
      would be very good to them if they were accidentally placed in a
      normal socket.

Overall, I'm happy with the kit.  I'm excited about the chance to jump into
solar electricity without having to spend thousands of dollars or build
arrays out of calculator sized panels.

I'll post updates as the experimentation continues.

-Adrian_______________________________________________
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