How To: Cheap or Free Solar Panels
 

Saw this today and had to share. Good write up on finding used panels for cheap or even free. Gotta remember this come road construction season in good 'ol Wisconsin.

How To: Cheap or Free Solar Panels : CleanTechnica

I have always my project in mind to have renewable power (solar or wind) to nullify a part of my constant consumption.

As buying new material will never pay back (50+ years is never), I was thinking about looking for 2nd hand material as it looks to work very well for jwxr7 : http://ecorenovator.org/forum/solar-...pv-set-up.html

Denis.

The article doesn't mention automotive grade panels. I heard a rumour that VW was giving away .33A 12v panels that shipped with its new cars. They put one in each car to keep the fancy electronics from draining the battery while parked for weeks/months in dockyards, dealerships etc.

I visited a dealership, asked if this was true. They said they're supposed to collect and ship them back to the factory, but got the impression they didn't always do this. The parts manager said "hang on a second" and sent a gopher into the back to get one for me.

He gave it to me for nothing. And I gave it to a friend.

Some good ideas in that article though. I know of a place that maintains navigation buoys, the lights of which are all powered by small solar arrays. I'll have to see if I can track down someone who works there...