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Old 06-07-11, 04:09 PM   #11
Travis
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The rated Isc is 5.1A. In Absorb mode I've measured 4.95A, which is higher than Imp nameplate(4.69A). I've got no complaints about the panel. Just wish I would have purchased two when I had the chance.

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If you just stick your Amp meter across the output, you pretty much get the rated amps..

If that's 5 amps, what is the voltage? Watts= amps x volts.
If you have 12 volts across your load with 5 amps of current, that's 60 watts..

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Old 06-07-11, 04:21 PM   #12
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I've got three very small panels that are rated at 5 to 10 watts...
At least that's the way the first one was was described on EBay..



All three of them do a good job of keeping my 12v batteries charged.
So, I really don't care what their wattage is, because they are going
exactly what I need them to do..
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Old 06-07-11, 05:17 PM   #13
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I started out that way as well, with a 5 Watt panel from local hardware store. By itself, it kept my spare car battery at around 12.3 volts. Then adding a cheap charge controller brought it's float voltage up to 12.8 VDC. Going to the 85 W panel brought float up again to 13.2 Volts, but this was the controller's limit. I got a great deal on matched deep-cycle batteries which needed 14.4 V rate, so that's where MorningStar came in. The deep cycle bank is maintained at 13.7 VDC, and I can truly tell the difference.

Car battery - 12.8 VDC @ 675 CCA = 20 Inverter minutes / 5 Amp cooling fan.

Deep Cycle - 13.7 VDC @ 80AH = 4.5 hours Inverter / 5 Amp cooling fan.

That's several times longer than what I usually need, so the extra investment was worth it. I run lights, radio, cooling fan, and vent fans for the couple of hours that I need them(not always at the same time). My shed has been converted to a 'shop', and is not unpleasant.

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Originally Posted by Xringer View Post
I've got three very small panels that are rated at 5 to 10 watts...
At least that's the way the first one was was described on EBay..



All three of them do a good job of keeping my 12v batteries charged.
So, I really don't care what their wattage is, because they are going
exactly what I need them to do..
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Old 10-18-11, 12:53 AM   #14
smithbell81
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I would love to be running a solar panel and battery system but the wife says they are ugly and doesn't want to spend $65,000! There are many solar sites and companies out there. Most States require a State approved system as do many local utilities that offer power buyback and incentives. State and the local utility incentives in Texas are quite friendly.
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Old 10-18-11, 07:20 AM   #15
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I am so envious of people with 5 or 6 kw of PV on their roofs..


Around here, almost everyone who gets a roof full, has a grid-tied system. No batteries.
So when the grid fails, their systems stop working. Luckily, the grid is very reliable here.

I was looking at this house (above) on Sunday, and thinking about the deep
snow that everyone had on the roofs last winter.

If something like that happens again, these folks could be in for trouble.
The gutter and the strips of shingles right above it, are going to hold snow and ice.

It's what we call an Ice Dam area. Whereas the PVs are slippery.
When the weight of 2 feet of snow gets to be too much, it's avalanche time.
The gutter will be torn off as a couple tons of snow and ice, slide down.
Anyone in the front yard had better run for it!

If I do a PV install on my house, I'm going to let the PV panels over-hang
the roofing about 3".
So the rain running off the bottom edge will fall into the gutter,
but during an avalanche, the snow & ice will be able to slide over the gutter.

If the mounts are holding the panels up 4 to 6 inches off the roof,
the sliding action after each snow storm will likely allow the snow to keep sliding off.
Not allowing it to accumulate and become hard-pack underneath.

We had a thin layer of ice over about 2 feet on our roofs, but our backyard
panels were too slick to hold much..
Even ice won't last when the sun hits any part of a PV..

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