Author Topic: Ebay cells and glass (Read 2641 times)

Volvo farmer · « **on:** January 25, 2005, 05:36:51 PM »

Got my 2# of Ebay solar cells yeterday. This guy must be getting better at packing because I have yet to find a broken one and I opened about half the packages.

So anyway. I'm racking my brain, trying to figure out whether to mount these on plywood or glass, and where I'm going to get cheap materials. Then I remember I have some old glass pieces that have been leaning on the side of my shop for the last ten years or so. I find two pieces that match and measure them. 30"x26.5". Just about right for a 36 cell panel. Then I notice some writing on them and wipe the dirt off one of the corners. Yep! Tempered glass! Unbelievable. I guess if a person collects up enough junk and can remember where he put it all, things like this are bound to happen.

Now I have to move enough junk out of my shop so I'll have a place to assemble this thing.

picmacmillan · « **Reply #1 on:** January 25, 2005, 11:09:40 AM »

hello volvofarmer....i have already completed my 5 lbs. of cells, if i might make a couple suggestions....make a little board to solder your cells together and put and edge on the board so the cells will rest aginst it as you solder them....this also keeps them nice and straight.......put something under the far edge of the board so as to tip it up...the gravity will help keep the cells lined up at the bottom...also, i kept my solder on the ground and pulled it up...you can make a little hole or something to set the solder in if you need to put it down...then it is easy to grab again.....i found that when i kept the solder on the table, every so often it would catch on a corner of a cell, and i broke a couple like that....lastly, make a hanging bard for when you are done a group of cells....make the board long enough to hang say 1 panel worth of cells....the trick is to put your nails or screws the same distance apart as the ribbon is on the cells..this will not allow the ribbon to tear off if it were wider.pictured below is the board i made for hanging...it shows the broken cells i used to make a panel....and also a finished panel.....i am real happy with the way they came out...hope they work well...i got 7 panels from 5 pounds.....hope this helps...pickster

picmacmillan · « **Reply #2 on:** January 25, 2005, 11:29:51 AM »

forgot to mention the size of my glass was close to yours.. mine was 26 1/2" x 28"..below is a picture of all the panels stacked and while i was in the room, i thought i would put a picture of my bear and moose....the bear was harvested in my yard up north....so, come on up and get yourself one! :)pickster

tcrenshaw · « **Reply #3 on:** January 25, 2005, 12:28:35 PM »

Well I'm enjoying the many different configurations that are being used with these cells. It's pretty impressive what everyone has come up with. I also hope that my second 5Lbs box of cells which I haven't opened is in as good a condition as you've found yours to be.

I was easily able to produce enough juice from my five panels to light up a 60 watt light bulb. Actually there was enough power to light up over two of them but this was just a test and for fun.

Good deal on the tempered glass. I tried ordinary glass and it didn't take long for the heat absorbed by the cells to crack it so bad it became useless along with dangerous!

DanG · « **Reply #4 on:** January 25, 2005, 12:51:55 PM »

>>Now I have to move enough junk out of my shop so I'll have a place to assemble this thing.

Back in 1984 I found loose PV cells for 10¢ on the dollar, and as you said "moved enough junk out of my shop..." to get the array started.

Then I made the mistake of turning my back on them for a day. When I returned I found a chain reaction had cascaded like dominos across my wall to the shelves then chased overtop the steel drawers to finally deposit a soda-pop bottle size chunk of steel on top of the stack of 85 or so 'whole' sorted cells. There were 14 remaining after the accident.

Give the project your total attention and don't take too many shortcuts

I got the old PV cells out again last month and I see zero aging after 20 years of storage, and am looking at the wee little short stack of them now - sitting next to 1000 Ebay cells like you've just purchased

juiced · « **Reply #5 on:** January 25, 2005, 12:55:15 PM »

Just curious about how much the ebay cells come to per order?

picmacmillan · « **Reply #6 on:** January 25, 2005, 01:18:33 PM »

hi juiced...they say you get about 50 cells per pound and i found that to be true....so, they charge 35 u.s. per pound when you buy 5 pounds...plus all the charges and i don't want to get started again on how many of those there are

...i actually just emailed brian about the cells this morning...he will sell you a 50 lb box for 20 bucks u.s. per pound...so thats $1000 u.s....i beleive it to be a great deal, but.....the cells are unculled and in the box as they are shipped to him.....he also thinks there will only be enough cells for about 1 more month of sales...just a heads up about that...pickster

Jeff7 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 25, 2005, 01:19:01 PM »

A thousand of them? Wow. 20 pounds, right? Don't drop those things now.

iFred · « **Reply #8 on:** January 25, 2005, 01:53:15 PM »

Ok, now thats interesting.. They told me about a couple weeks ago, not to worry, we got lots, no problem. Maybe they just mean for this month ending..

juiced · « **Reply #9 on:** January 25, 2005, 02:24:26 PM »

Any chance i could get Brians email or a 1-800? Or even ask him to contact me? Thank you.

pyrocasto · « **Reply #10 on:** January 25, 2005, 02:40:12 PM »

iFred, his supplier may be shipping to china, because he cant buy all of their cells and pick them up in pallets. If I live closer, I have a forklift and boxtruck, but that's hard to do when you live 900 miles away from him. He said he has about 1500lbs left when I talked to him.

picmacmillan · « **Reply #11 on:** January 25, 2005, 02:41:55 PM »

his name is brian kass.....email cusdn@comcast.net... http://www.enginecom.com take care pickster....

juiced · « **Reply #12 on:** January 25, 2005, 03:04:25 PM »

Thanks Alot!

old55olds · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2005, 08:13:56 PM »

Has anyone tried encapsulating them in an epoxy like Envirotex EX-74? I was thinking that with a backer board for strength and then encapsulating it.

Ken

juiced · « **Reply #14 on:** January 25, 2005, 08:28:26 PM »

I dont suppose the gentleman lives in Canada?

picmacmillan · « **Reply #15 on:** January 26, 2005, 05:40:13 AM »

nope , juiced he's near boston. u.s.a.....i have a map program..gave me directions ..you go through the bridge to new york, and then straight across..it's 1100 kilometers from windsor ..sorry for jumping on this post...it is a good post..pickster

Barnac · « **Reply #16 on:** January 26, 2005, 08:12:32 AM »

Hi Pickster,

In the end do you think that buying these cells on Ebay was worth it. I mean if you include the shipping cost ? I am dealing with the idea to buy some but I am affraid of the shipping cost !

My younger brother have a lot of window thermal glass that I could use.

Congratulation for your moose. If you look in my file you will see my fisrt ever whitetail deer !

Also I really like your log homes.

Regards

Barnac

picmacmillan · « **Reply #17 on:** January 26, 2005, 09:02:14 AM »

hi barnac...i am going to buy more cells for sure....i had a moment in the middle where i didn't know what i was going to do, but now i am going to buy as many of these things as i can afford...pickster

Jeff7 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 02, 2005, 01:04:24 PM »

I just picked up a load of cells from this guy. I told him what I was willing to spend, and he was very good about cutting me some excellent deals. I got to pick through some boxes he's got that are simply too time consuming for him to go through. Some cases he gets are as pictured at his auctions. But some, the cells just come in a jumbled mess. A few cases were utterly smashed, complete with silicon dust on the cells. But a few others, I took a sampling of (checked for breakage), and if a lot looked to be in good shape, he let me buy the whole box at a good discount. I have yet to sort them.

All told, I came home with close to 65 pounds of semi-unsorted cells. By semi-unsorted, I mean that I'd sample several ounces of each case, checking the breakage-vs-survival rate, and then he'd approximate that and charge me for close the survival rate.

Some of the super-smashed cells he sells to some other buyer that already got dibs on them, so they aren't available.

I'm just glad I live somewhat close - I'm in eastern PA; it was about a 630 mile drive, round-trip. Even with a hotel stay and the gas used, it was still well worth it. I've just got a big load of these suckers to sift through and test. I am building a test rig right now too so I can just find good cells, pop them on the rig, do an amperage test quick, and sort them that way. I'll post pics of the simple little thing in another thread once its epoxy has dried and I can see if it actually works.

pyrocasto · « **Reply #19 on:** February 02, 2005, 01:19:25 PM »

I'm working on saving some money, and I hope to get up there soon. I just pray that his supply remains in the end.

If you dont mind me asking, just out of curiousity, how much in the end was your 65lbs?

Dont have to answer if you dont want.

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Author Topic: Ebay cells and glass (Read 2641 times)