Anyone have a comment about the HarborFreight 45w Solar Panel Kit ....
I assume that there is a similar package available through ?? in Oz / NZ / UK.
Ordered the kit as an experiment to replace a set of raw ( amorphous type - 1' x 3' glass plates only - no contact assembly or housing ) panels that I purchased at a ham radio flea market some 15 years ago. Spent a good deal of time building a housing for them and they worked fine for a year or so, but I've had constant problems trying to maintain the contact assemblies. Guess I'll give them one more try before I give up on them as I saw a comment recently ( here? ) about using some old S100 Buss connectors to make the contact .... found an old card cage with wire wrap S100 Bus connectors, so may give that a try.
The foam packing tray for the HF panels had "TOPRAY SOLAR" embossed in it ....
Google'd TOPRAY = GlobalSpec = "Shenzhen Topray Solar Co Ltd manufactures thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells and consumer products based on photovoltaic (PV) energy technologies." .... Try that in 10 time quickly ....
http://www.topraysolar.com/Products_txt.asp?title=2004107142827.htm
Produces a page that shows what sure looks like the 45w 3 panel kit that I just got from HF.
Look through the site .... you may find that Garden Light that you just bought at ( >insert your favorite discount outlet here< ) ....
http://www.topraysolar.com/Products_txt.asp?title=20041027114432.htm
Looks like the info on the panels that make up the kit .... first one on the chart looks like the panels ....
Did not find much additional information .... but then I did not really expect to find any ....
Did not really expect much from kit at the price, but its a starting point ....
My impression so far is that the panels themselves are not bad for the money .... seem to be decently made .... not sure how they will hold up over time.
Not the best sun yesterday .... some clouds .... ( NW IL ) .... but managed to get 2.5A into a 75ahr SLA that was sitting unused for a while.
Checked the voltage on the battery after an hour or so ( 10am sun - panel pointed toward the sun ) and it was pushing up there at something like 16.5v.
Time to shut that puppy down! The controller was showing the 10.5v LED only .... Charge LED was out .... hum this does not sound good .... think that the smoke got out .... and I just used my last bag of replacement smoke ....
Opened up the controller ( what - you expected me to leave it alone ? ) .... total fecal matter .... hardware loose on the regulators and the P75N06s .... think that it cooked itself .... but then I'm not really surprised or upset .... just means that I have to build up or order something sooner that originally planned.
Sounds like a PicAxe project to me ! .... may as well include that sun tracker .... and that zone controlled LV shutdown only takes .... may as well start with a 40x .... I can use those 7 ADCs for .... wait a minute, this is for lights on a Garden Shed .... oh hell, how much was that Morningstar ....
The screw in 12v/5w CFLs that came with it look interesting, no brand name or ID on those ( nor are they on the Topray site, though they supply them with the kit .... is there a message in that ? ) .... HF does not seem to offer them by themselves.
Not sure that I like the fact that they use a standard 110vac lamp base on them, as that could lead to some very interesting situations.
.... But they are clearly marked 12dc .....
Are these the usual 30 day wonders, or do they actually last ? .... assuming that you are not using the provided HF/Topray (Un)Controller .... I would guess that these REALLY want to see 12v .... period .... end of conversation .... rather than wind or solar battery swings on a cheap controller.
Just looking for some comments on the expected life on the panels and the supplied CFLs.
Russ