Kaneka 60 for 98 cents per Watt: WHATTTT???
 

I have been waiting, looking, reading, searching panels and prices. The price for the 60 watt Kaneka panels looks to good to pass up. Kaneka G-SA060

I'm going to call today and get the "cost to the door."

You can find those pretty cheap nowadays.
I tried to buy some, but the shipping was more than the panels..
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/solar-...llar-watt.html

The new Kaneka 110w model should be set for release this month (If they got their UL label).
Kaneka Thin Film Solar Panel 110w



I'm thinking of something smaller and lighter for my tracking mount.
Maybe $2.68 per watt delivered.

WHOLESALE 125 Watt 12 Volt SOLAR PANEL- 2 PCS - 250W - eBay

It's kinda weird to think that shipping charges can end up being
such a major factor when deciding to buy PV.

If I can get foreign made panels for $2.68 per watt, I should be able
to drive up to the Evergreen factory (23 miles up the road) and buy
panels for $1 or $2 per watt.. But no! Those are priced outta sight!
I think the local made panels are the same price here, as on the west coast,
3000 miles away..

Put my 5000 Btu air conditioner on a timer and plugged it into my solar to day. 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off per hour. Total of two hours on per day. Well it worked, OK today.

Need more Solar panels.


Solar Panels - $0.98/W solar panels! Free Solar Panel Survey

That doesn't sound like much AC to me..

I've had my Sanyo mini-split turned off for the last few days and I think in Standby mode,
it's using more power than you used with your 2 hours of cooling!

In Standby mode, the power monitor shows about 60W, / 1.3 kW per day.
I'm wasting around 27 cents a day, just to keep the circuits warm! :mad:

If we get a lot of mild days like this one, I'm going to start going down
stairs and flipping the circuit breaker..

Oops, just checked the forecast and it's going to get cold this weekend..
Gonna need some heat.. :o

Or maybe I need a 60w PV panel to off-set the waste??
Here's a couple of 125w panels for $2.64 per watt delivered.
WHOLESALE 125 Watt 12 Volt SOLAR PANEL- 2 PCS - 250W - eBay

I own one of the smaller 5-10w UL-Solar panels and it looks like it's
pretty well made. Sturdy anyways.. http://ecorenovator.org/forum/projec....html#post5677

I'm trying very hard to use every watt of power I can from the panels. Started to develop this nagging fear or obsession in back of my mind that the charge controller might see the batteries full and shut down.

On the other hand I'm very content with all I've been able to do with the 270 watts of panels and a few batteries.

Good price for the two panels.

I'd go with the circuit breaker. It's better to not waste energy, than to use resources (PV in this case) to balance the waste. The rule of thumb is something like $1 invested in energy reduction is equivanent to $5-$10 invested in renewable energy.
Maybe install a switch between the Sanyo and circuit breaker, so that you don't have to go downstairs?

I'm sitting here this morning looking at 68 degF and thinking about turning on the Sanyo.. But, my wife is saying No.

What I don't like about going to the breaker box is having to step over the plumping for the back-up (water-powered) Sump pump.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/Xringer/D004.jpg

So a switch would be the best way to go. But, since it's a 230 volt romex cable, installation is more complex..

I should put the current probe on the other hot side, and see if it still uses 60w.
That would show me if there was a 120v load inside the Sanyo..

I'm wondering why the parasite drain is so high.?.
Maybe the power monitor is in error, or the Sanyo engineers decided to keep the compressor oil warm all the time.?.

~~~

What I would really like is about 470 watts of grid-tie PV to offset the Sanyo during those hot summer days.
And a dump-load inside my hotwater source! :D
Something like this!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1.../mcintyre1.jpg

I have 3 of these little chargers
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...rPVcharger.jpg
on one little 5-10 watt panel.. Two of them are old car batteries that I can
use for lighting etc, in case of grid failure.
The other is outside, charging the tracker battery..
And, there are times when all the 'Charged' green LEDs are on..
Yeah, I do think about the 5 or 6 watts that's not being used.. :o

But I don't think it's ever going to be an obsession,
unless I start buying some real wattage! :)

Cheers,
Rich