Trevors

Hello everybody,
I was searching for solar panels available in South Africa and came across the following article. Thought it might be useful info:
http://www.worldofrenewables.com/ind...s-100x-thinner

I haven't heard anything in the media about these panels being availble here (SA) yet, But they might already be available in your neck of the woods.

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ericgibbs

hi,
I saw a recent TV documentary which mentioned these super panels, but it said they will still in the development stage... it could be some time before they are released.

Perhaps Eskom might have sorted out its problem by then.

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Eric
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Trevors

I hope so, but it would still be a good idea to use these and go 'green'

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"Better to have tried and failed, than to have failed to try"

ericgibbs

hi Trevor,
I agree with the idea of solar panels, but in my limited experience in their use, I would consider the biggest drawback is the Invertor and the storage batteries required.

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Eric
"Good enough is Perfect"

PIC tutorials:
Nigel's: www.winpicprog.co.uk/
Gramo's: www.digital-diy.net/
Bill's: www.blueroomelectronics.com/

Trevors

Yup,
Maybe someone will develop better batteries and more efficient inverters to make it a more 'attractive' solution

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"Better to have tried and failed, than to have failed to try"

Nigel Goodwin

Modern inverters are already pretty efficient, low efficiency of the panels is the main problem.

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mneary

But you can't get them yet.

killivolt

CES was desplaying the new (Silver/Zinc) battery's. Re-chargable and re-cyclable for laptops do you think they might have an impact in the effort to go green?

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mui4love

please,i need a 1000watts inverter circuit diagram

JIvemaster

You will certainly buy a 1000w inverter more cheaply than making one

mneary

The "1000watts inverter" is discussed repeatedly here, learn and use the search tools.

It's apparently a popular homework assignment.

bryan1

Hi Trevor,
Those claims of super efficient PV panels at this moment are just snake oil salesmen trying to gleen $$$ out of unwise investors.

To give you an example of what it costs to a fully RE house going

1. Soler panels 14 kanela thin film @ 65watts $6500
2. one mppt the top of the range @ $2500
3. The batterybank 12 2 volt 600 amp/hr sonnenscheins @ $11,000
4. Selectronics SA32 inverter @ $4500


As you can see it aint cheap to get into RE but my system has been going now for close to 5 years. So For the blokes on the grid cost out your bills over the last 5 and next 5 years as my investment in RE will I reckon pay off cheap than living on a crappy over-charged prone to cutout grid anyday. Oh and by the way I'm in Oz.

Cheers Bryan

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rjvh

hi bryan

is 10 years for the batterys not a bit to much wishfull thinking?

especialy with the climate you're in (high temparatures are not realy liked by batterys)
annyway i hope for you they last that long

Robert-Jan

Nigel Goodwin

For that matter what about the panels?, they lose efficiency as they get older.

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Analog

Your title of "highly efficient solar" is misleading. One of my consulting jobs is with a leader in thin film photovoltaics, and these devices are still not as efficient as a silicon solar cell (old variety). Their advantage is that they are thin and durable. The US government is funding an effort to even make roofing shingles out of them. BUT they are NOT as efficient as regular old solar cells, at least not yet. And the article makes absolutely no claims about the efficiency, as they cannot (at this point in time) - otherwise they would look bad.

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