The Belize modules story [RE-wrenches]

Doug Pratt dpratt at pacific.net
Sun Jan 7 21:35:00 PST 2001


Hi Folks,

  This is Doug Pratt, I'm on the list now (and a tip of the hat to those
who supported me).  Let me start right off by saying I'm not here to
defend, or take responsibility for Real Goods corporate actions.  I only
happen to work there, and disagree regularly with RG management (the
wonder is that they still want me).  I've also got a thick skin, and a
better than average sense of humor.

  As my first contribution, here's the Belize modules story:

  Here's the skinny on the Belize modules.  They're coming from a resort
called "The Essene Way" on Ambergris Caye, and were part of a 101kW
array.  They're PC-4-JF's, (the module that became the SP-75), they're 4
to 5 years old, and they should have about 21 years of warranty left,
although Siemens is waffling and wants to inspect them first. They will
NOT be eligible for rebates under the CEC program. They got hit by a
hurricane the beginning of Sept., and the idiots running the resort
didn't spend 1.5 hours to lock all the arrays flat, they were left at an
angle. Most of the arrays got knocked down and mangled. Many broken
modules! They didn't have insurance (?? beat's me??), so they're
salvaging what they can, and will probably sell the resort. It's a
really weird scene. I didn't design or install any part of it
originally, but I spent 10 days on-site a couple years later fixing some
installation wiring problems. It's a christian-theme resort, and there's
never anyone using it, other than the family that owns it. It's got "tax
write-off" written all over it! The solar part has worked fine, since my
visit, but it doesn't come anywhere near meeting their total energy
demand, nor was it ever expected to. They've got huge AC loads, thanks
to some really awful building design, and zero energy-awareness
mentality. I never saw the base load drop under 20kW, even at night, and
it spiked 75kW nearly every day. They run everything on a
huge 240v battery pack and an AES 120kW inverter. Batteries get charged
by solar, with diesels making up the shortfall. Before the solar install
they were running entirely on diesel, as the utility power on Ambergris
Caye
isn't very reliable (and these bozos were using enough to power half the
island).

There's 700 some modules that are in first class condition. These will
sell thru quickly at $299 ea. There's another 500 some that have j-box
corrosion or other problems. Siemens initally said they'd warranty the
j-box problems, but now is really waffling since they found out there's
over 500 of 'em. So the one's that need fixing may or may not ever hit
the market, we honestly don't know yet.

Yes, these are the same modules that The Solar Guys were trying to pull
together a deal on. RG simply offered cash to the sellers. Sorry Kurt.
We did step on your toes, but the sellers preferred cash up front.

Doug Pratt
Real Goods Technical Editor





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