bang good or ebay for small solar panels?

[large_ghostman]

Never used bangood before, i am looking for small solar panels, pref under £10. Anything from 5V 0.5W upto 12V 5W. Hard to tell them apart these days but ebay seems to be pricier than bang good. These are not for me as such but for this mad enviro 'expo, fun day... whatever thing' our local council wants to put on.

I am unsure if i am going to take part myself, but the local primary school wants to do a couple of things. Personally i get the feeling they are after clever ideas without paying for them. Its free entry etc and a bit like a motor show with concept cars, they want people to come up with new ideas and build models of the idea.

I got a few totally off the wall ideas that would fit what they are after, but something about some of the wording puts me off entering myself. The primary school i do stuff with wants to enter. SO i might have to come up with a gizmo for that for them.

Which brings me to question 2

Heating wire, i cant remember the name of the none nichrome stuff used in hotplates etc with a heat resistant cover!! Or where to get it from. I got a nice simple idea for them if they do decide to enter this summer. Fabulous budget of £35 all in lol. They have a new head teacher who lives on another planet budget wise.

 

[Joe G]

for the wire, check out the electric cigarette vapor shops and supplies, all sorts of heating wire, ie; Kanthal, titanium, stainless.....etc....

 

[large_ghostman]

Good idea thanks

 

[tcmtech]

Bangood has been added to my book marks.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Never used bangood before, i am looking for small solar panels, pref under £10. Anything from 5V 0.5W upto 12V 5W. Hard to tell them apart these days but ebay seems to be pricier than bang good. These are not for me as such but for this mad enviro 'expo, fun day... whatever thing' our local council wants to put on.

Ordering off Ebay is probably the same anyway, as it's almost certainly going to be a Chinese seller - and quite possibly the same one as you access via Banggood

I use Banggood a LOT and find them excellent, and have introduced my new employer to them as well. You might also try looking at Aliexpress, they have a much wider range than Banggood, and often prices can be better (it's as well to compare them both if you have the option), but the website is less user friendly.

Work wise we've just received a Hot Air Soldering/De-soldering station from Banggood at a nice low price, we're waiting for a Battery Spot-Welder from AliExpress (a core part of our business is making up battery packs for commercial equipment, so this will be a major help) - personally I'm waiting for a Function Generator from Banggood https://www.banggood.com/FY6600-Dig...-p-1171428.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN I've ordered the 30MHz one, I'd have been quite happy with the 12MHz one (as I essentially want it for audio and lower) but the 12MHz one was out of stock. It seems to do everything I want, and a great deal more besides.

Work wise I'm currently designing and developing a new product for us, and this will be stuffed full of Banggood/Aliexpress modules, as it's far cheaper to buy a ready built module from them, than to buy the components and fit them on your own PCB. For an example, I'll be using two of these: https://www.banggood.com/10X-DC-Boo...28V-Adjustable-Regulator-Board-p-1103708.html you're not going to be able to buy either the chip or the coil for less than the complete module. Currently I'm working on charging the Li-Ion batteries which will run the product, and the PIC software for controlling it - the actual project itself is trivial, battery control is the more complicated part - I'm very disappointed the MAX471 is discontinued, although modules are still freely available from China. While I'm currently using a MAX471, I'm waiting for INA219 modules to use instead, and will probably build that actually on the PCB eventually.

Anyway, I thoroughly recommend Banggood, but as with all Chinese suppliers delivery time is longer than you would like - so you need to order more than you need, and order stuff you 'think you might need' so you have it if you ever do need it

 

[Mickster]

I also order a lot of stuff from Banggood, and thanks to Nigel, I just ordered that FY-6600 Function Generator, plus some other stuff.

 

[large_ghostman]

Ordering off Ebay is probably the same anyway, as it's almost certainly going to be a Chinese seller - and quite possibly the same one as you access via Banggood

I use Banggood a LOT and find them excellent, and have introduced my new employer to them as well. You might also try looking at Aliexpress, they have a much wider range than Banggood, and often prices can be better (it's as well to compare them both if you have the option), but the website is less user friendly.

Work wise we've just received a Hot Air Soldering/De-soldering station from Banggood at a nice low price, we're waiting for a Battery Spot-Welder from AliExpress (a core part of our business is making up battery packs for commercial equipment, so this will be a major help) - personally I'm waiting for a Function Generator from Banggood https://www.banggood.com/FY6600-Dig...-p-1171428.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN I've ordered the 30MHz one, I'd have been quite happy with the 12MHz one (as I essentially want it for audio and lower) but the 12MHz one was out of stock. It seems to do everything I want, and a great deal more besides.

Work wise I'm currently designing and developing a new product for us, and this will be stuffed full of Banggood/Aliexpress modules, as it's far cheaper to buy a ready built module from them, than to buy the components and fit them on your own PCB. For an example, I'll be using two of these: https://www.banggood.com/10X-DC-Boo...28V-Adjustable-Regulator-Board-p-1103708.html you're not going to be able to buy either the chip or the coil for less than the complete module. Currently I'm working on charging the Li-Ion batteries which will run the product, and the PIC software for controlling it - the actual project itself is trivial, battery control is the more complicated part - I'm very disappointed the MAX471 is discontinued, although modules are still freely available from China. While I'm currently using a MAX471, I'm waiting for INA219 modules to use instead, and will probably build that actually on the PCB eventually.

Anyway, I thoroughly recommend Banggood, but as with all Chinese suppliers delivery time is longer than you would like - so you need to order more than you need, and order stuff you 'think you might need' so you have it if you ever do need it

Ebay seems to be getting more expensive, but between them and paypal the fees are high, aliexpress i find the site a nightmare but will give it another try. I got some chemistry glass from China no so long ago, normally this is a no no, but the quality has been really good.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

aliexpress i find the site a nightmare but will give it another try.

Yes, Banggood is far more user friendly, but Aliexpress is often cheaper and has stuff that Banggood doesn't.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I also order a lot of stuff from Banggood, and thanks to Nigel, I just ordered that FY-6600 Function Generator, plus some other stuff.

Well mine came to day

I was well impressed with the speed, less than a week since I ordered it, and (so far) I've not been collared for VAT or import duty (you usually have to pay first, so I'm looking OK).

Pretty cool, although I've not had much time to play with it yet.

 

[Mickster]

Lucky so and so!
Mine will likely take a few weeks and I also will have to pay customs their slice of the pie. (22.5% or 25% on electrical stuff - can't remember which)
I do have a 2MHz func gen from the same company, but I managed to screw up channel 1, which has more functions than channel 2.
Swapped the op-amps over and channel 1 is working again, but 2 is dead. Need to get hold of a new THS3002 to fix it.

 

[Mickster]

Oooh, oooh, oooh, it's been posted!
https://makeagif.com/gif/homer-simpson-spinning-gHhEQL

 

[Cicero]

Also recommend BangGood.

I also get a fair bit from Elecrow who you may want to check out.

 

[large_ghostman]

Oooh, oooh, oooh, it's been posted!
https://makeagif.com/gif/homer-simpson-spinning-gHhEQL

You do know we are very sad people don you?
I am exactly like that when i get a posted message