My 10 watt panel with using solar-tite 384 encapsulant instead of sylgard

[pleppik]

Why people want to continue on with the fantasy of building a panel when factory made is cheaper, legal, has a warranty and is safer I will never understand.

I'm guessing much the same reason some people keep 50's-era cars in running condition, or do their own gunsmithing.

Contrary to what some economists think, not every decision is financial.

[russ]

Build solar thermal for water - much more efficient

Why people want to continue on with the fantasy of building a panel when factory made is cheaper, legal, has a warranty and is safer I will never understand.

Building one or two as a learning experience or a science project is great - to build them for power production makes no sense.

[Praedor]

Homemade panels

Open a ROTH IRA and put that same money in say 1000 per year and buy the time you retire it will pay your electric bill. After 7 years and you can take out what you put in as it will have quadrupled still paying your electric bill and you can go on a cruise with what you invested.

FWIW you cannot use your homemade panels on your home as they are not UL listed. No city would approve permits, no inspector would approve inspection, no POCO would connect you, and no insurance company would pay for damages.

Fortunately, I do not live in a city and I CAN use my own panels on my home. Actually, they are going to go on the huge south-facing roof of my barn for a grid-tie system. My intent isn't to run my entire home, just reduce the electric bill, though ultimately I will add a battery bank for use as emergency backup power. For each panel I build/add I look at it as the equivalent to shutting off a different appliance permanently. My panels will partially offset the water heaters I have to run for my livestock in winter, cover the power used by my PC, etc (overall). That's good enough for me. As for rebates on "real" panels: not so fast. First, I live in red-state hell where they despise anything green so there are no local benefits/rebates/grants, etc, for installing solar. Fed benefits are not, by themselves, enough. Second, the cost of installation of everything commercial costs so much the repay period will be as long as the mortgage and you'll never make up the installation fees in utility bill reduction. Third, it's FUN to make your own panels and charge controller, etc.

Make your own panels if you want people. Do it carefully and it will last as long as any commercial product. Wont be as pretty (I cannot totally eliminate some air bubbles in my encapsulant) but will work fine.

[russ]

The very FACT this is a dedicated sub forum called Do it yourself solar panels yet people posting here are instantly attacked when they dare mention the difference between on brand and another is disturbing indeed.

Just goes to show the dumbing down effort took.

ACG - Lots of chatter from you that is nothing but whining.

[SunEagle]

The very FACT this is a dedicated sub forum called Do it yourself solar panels yet people posting here are instantly attacked when they dare mention the difference between on brand and another is disturbing indeed.

Just goes to show the dumbing down effort took.

Is your intent by throwing crap toward people just to increase the number of posts?

Sunking has more experience than a lot of other people on this forum. He has probably forgotten more information than you will ever learn concerning solar panels?

If you want to learn more about solar then stick around and learn otherwise stop posting your crap.

[ACG]

Abssolutely Amazing.

The very FACT this is a dedicated sub forum called Do it yourself solar panels yet people posting here are instantly attacked when they dare mention the difference between on brand and another is disturbing indeed.

Just goes to show the dumbing down effort took.

[ACG]

I have been trying to build about 4-5 200 watt panels for the past 2 months now to see if I can do away with these ridiculous charges from the power company but was put off by the total expenses, I mean the best I could do was $3/watt so it didn't seem to be worth the effort to me. It seems that encapsulating the cells (ie. sylgard 184) is the biggest contributor(I would have needed about 4 jars of the stuff for each of the panels). Using epoxy just didn't seem appropriate, for starters it yellows over time and it is too rigid and at this level of investment that was not going to work. I did a search online and came up with this

http://www.ecrater.com/p/9635338/solar-tite-384-silicone-kit-like?keywords=solar+encapsulant

They claim that this solartite is just like sylgard but it is much cheaper(they are offering one jar for about $35) so i decided to try it out. I also bought some 1.5x3 solar cells to test this solartite in a 10 watt solar panel diy. The mixing of the stuff goes like sylgard, 10 parts of the base to 1 part of the curing agent(even smells similar). So I built an aluminum frame(bought from home-depot), integrated the usual lexan sheet and poured the stuff in. It started to get thicker and set after a few hours and when it was done, the finished stuff was just like sylgard, couldn't tell the difference between the two. The 10 watt panel is looking very nice. I'll upload some pictures when I get home.

Now that the initial test of this solartite is complete, I want to move on to the main project but I'll appreciate some input from those with more experience with this kind of stuff, in particular if you have ever used this solar-tite before or if you have past experience with building solar panels, please help

And with that this thread ended. The rest is the typical flaming and mud slinging. OP thought a comparison between 2 products was going to be discussed. Wow was that person wrong.

[ACG]

You might want to seek some professional help with that problem if you let people on the Web get under your skin when they disagree with you. Otherwise you are going to spend your whole life being offended and become a very bitter person

Now I see why you post as you do. Self diagnosed very well.

[ACG]

So please tell how building your own panels going to save you 1 dime? If you could build 5-200 watt panels that actually work and last more than a year or two will generate about 40-cents worth of electricity per day or about $12 per month, $144 per year.

You could have bought commercial panels for about $2 per watt, and they will work and last for 20 to 30 years. Plus you could have had your neighbors pick up most the cost. I am sorry to be rude, but I just do not follow the logic. Going about it the way you are is going to cost you more money than just buying power from the utility.

I do not remember the thread being titled "Do all you can to smite and not answer the OP question". I find it extremely strange for some much angst to spawn from inside a forum titled SolarPanelTalk. Why toss of mud at a person without provocation? Must everything be VS mentality.

And by the way your $0.40 cents a day is incorrect. Another assumptive rant of yours.

[ACG]

...and they will not qualify for any federal or state rebates.

You have to be kidding me. The Feds are the only reason worth doing something now ROTFLMAO.

[russ]

I agree its not hard to build a great panel for $1/watt that can last 25-30 years.

(this post was supposed to be in materials.....)

Impossible - you can maybe come close to that for something with limited use or you can buy one that is UL listed with a guarantee for not all that much more.

[mas7539]

Thanks jrloar, These solar panel retailers were starting to bum me out!

I agree its not hard to build a great panel for $1/watt that can last 25-30 years.

(this post was supposed to be in materials.....)

[Mike90250]

You use the unloaded (open circuit) voltage. And be sure to allow for it to rise even higher in cold weather (frosty mornings, if you get them in your area) The inverter is connected to the unloaded panel for 5 minutes as it wakes up, and tests the grid, before it starts pulling power. Cold panels produce higher voltage, but you need to keep your hot panels (lower voltage) above the inverter shutdown point.
That's why most mainstream, code approved inverters have a 300-500V input window. (vary's between brands)

[conntaxman]

connection of panel

My question.How many panels to connect in series. I got a 600 watt grid tie inverter.Input is 22-60. my panels are 65 watts x18 volts each.[36. 3x6 cells] I know with nothing hooked up to the panels the voltage goes higher, and when you hook something up to them the voltage drops. So do I use the voltage of the panels when they are hooked up to the Inverter? or with no load on them.
tks
John

[Slidegate]

Russ when I get my check in June I will scan it and show you the proof. I have already put my first quarter check in the bank. I was not boasting that I was in the military I was just giving a little back ground on myself.

By the way thanks for welcoming me to solar panel talk.

Keep on plugging. Ive got my own off grid panels working nicely here in Pa. It just takes good cautious assy. I think Mike has been standing in front of his grill to long. FIRE . Everthing here is home made