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

[Mike90250]

fire

[russ]

Hi Rich - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

Regarding solar PV and fire - It has happened and can be found easily if you type in 'solar PV fire' - I don't know how you searched but ----

So PA allows non - UL (or equivalent) certified electrical equipment to be connected into the grid electric system - no problem? Insurance company has no problem with that? I didn't realize that PA was so backwards - what I have seen of it is a modern state.

You get a check from the utility every month - what size system etc?

No mention of any facts except a lot of smoke and a poor search.

DIY has it's place - makes a wonderful science project.

You can buy individual factory built and guaranteed panels for under 2$ per DC watt today. Your DIY costs are not at all attractive.

You can buy grid tie systems (including inverter) with all except mounting hardware and cable for 1.81$ per watt DC.

You are blowing a bit of smoke as best as I can tell! Your indignation and attempt to throw in military background (I put in 4 years as well) is quite something!

Russ

[richevie]

As I said in my post if the diy panels are built and installed correctly they can be as safe as UL listed ones. Let's see how many wrongs I can find with this picture. Panels not encapsulated,(which may have caused an arc from them), panels mounted directly on roof with little or no air flow under them (first thing I learned was how hot panels get), plastic sheeting used, looks like something for the big box stores to me, I could be wrong on that one. I am sure there are more I just don't want to get into a debate about all of the wrongs. If you do all homework first these DIY panels can be very safe.

In 2009, U.S. fire departments responded to 362,500 home structure fires. These fires caused 12,650 civilian injuries, 2,565 civilian deaths, $7.6 billion in direct damage.

*

92% of all civilian structure fire deaths resulted from home structure fires.
*
Cooking is the leading cause of home structure fires and home fire injuries.
*
Kitchens are the leading area of origin for home structure fires (41%) and civilian home fire injuries (36%).
*
Only 4% of home fires started in the living room, family room, or den; these fires caused 23% of home fire deaths.
*
8% of reported home fires started in the bedroom. These fires caused 24% of home fire deaths, 21% of home fire injuries, and 15% of the direct property damage.
*
Smoking is a leading cause of civilian home fire deaths.
*
December, January and February were the peak months for reported home structure fires and home fire deaths.
*
Almost two-thirds (63%) of reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
* Most fatal fires kill one or two people. In 2009, 9 home fires killed five or more people. These 9 fires resulted in 59 deaths

This came from the NFPA fire statistics
The 2010 stats are not in yet so I had to use the 2009 stats.



UL listed solar panel fire

http://www.nctimes.com/business/article_8a32fb03-9e3f-58ca-b860-9c7fe1e28c7e.html

Here is the proof that even UL listed items and professional pv systems can cause fires as I said before you still need to know what the heck you are doing when building these but they can be safe. I have found way more UL listed pv fires than I have with correctly installed DIY pv systems.

[richevie]

Hi Rich - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

Regarding solar PV and fire - It has happened and can be found easily if you type in 'solar PV fire' - I don't know how you searched but ----

So PA allows non - UL (or equivalent) certified electrical equipment to be connected into the grid electric system - no problem? Insurance company has no problem with that? I didn't realize that PA was so backwards - what I have seen of it is a modern state.

You get a check from the utility every month - what size system etc?

No mention of any facts except a lot of smoke and a poor search.

DIY has it's place - makes a wonderful science project.

You can buy individual factory built and guaranteed panels for under 2$ per DC watt today. Your DIY costs are not at all attractive.

You can buy grid tie systems (including inverter) with all except mounting hardware and cable for 1.81$ per watt DC.

You are blowing a bit of smoke as best as I can tell! Your indignation and attempt to throw in military background (I put in 4 years as well) is quite something!

Russ

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.

[Tescalada]

Did anyone read the original post?

So, political and financial opinions aside, does anyone have any experience with SOLAR-TITE?

@Energy_freeloader, Have you gone ahead and tried it? How did it work out?

[electricsuperduty]

So, political and financial opinions aside, does anyone have any experience with SOLAR-TITE?

@Energy_freeloader, Have you gone ahead and tried it? How did it work out?

Yes I've used solartite. The first batch failed terribly ruining my panel. It set up in like 2 minutes. No time to seep around cells. The supplier said I got a bad batch and wanted too send me more but the damage was done. I don't know who makes it but quality control is not there.

[mudmagnet]

Hi All,
I'm in the process of gathering information about building my own panels.
I looked at the site that had the panels a <2.00 a watt and if I could go there and pick them up I would be out the door already, but as 5000 miles is a little out of my way and shipping was more than double what the panels were going for, I guess I'll just build my own.

@ Electricsuperduty, Did you only try the one batch or did you go with Sylguard? I've read were the setup time is about 30 minutes or so with the Solar-Tite.
@Richevie, I too was a pole jockey and am happy not having to work for anyone. what is the largest panel you've made and how did you build your frames?

[electricsuperduty]

the guy sent me another batch and it was ok, but it was too late, the first crappy batch had f'ed up the panel.
Ive never had any issues with Sylgard.

[Pylonman]

I'd try a little of the Solartite on a broken cell and test it out first. I too have used another product and it totally wrecked my panel.

In hindsight, if you take a bunch of time building your own panel, spend the extra bucks and just use Sylgard. You could save money else where. (Like use a single pane window with a frame. $10 at a New or Used Building supplies. Instead of building your own frames) I've purchased it 3 times and each time I was please with the outcome. In our high humidity did take about 3 days to set up. Do it in a room wear bugs or cats won't land on the sticky surface.

[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

[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

[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)

[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.....)

[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.

[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.