[RE-wrenches] Panel Fire

Fri Feb 13 08:09:19 PST 2009

Joel, Living IN MAINE & interacting w/ Richard Komp I have to disagree on
your statement below. RC is very smart & has worked in solar MANY years but
he is NOT very helpful to those of us trying to make a living doing PV here
in Maine.
I was asked to size an inverter( probably the 4th person he contacted) for a
local radio talk host that  was buying "60 Watt solar modules" from
Richard's guys that were building them in NY at a prison.
These modules were costing this guy $300.00 I looked at a couple to try &
establish Isc & Voc to match them w/ a grid tie inverter, needless to say
their power characteristics were all over the place. The modules were found
to have ~46-54Wts, NO  outdoor rated wire for that matter there was NO
listing on the wire.A tube of caulk per module. I brought this to the
attention of both this guy & RK only to hear something like we need to
address our QC a bit better. I suggested that using an Enphase Invt + Sanyo
modules I could sell him UL listed products w/ a warrantee for ~$6.90/wt.
Please understand that I do know rk & there IS a place for his work in 3rd
world countries  BUT not here in the USA where we are trying to establish a
profession that you too Joel have worked long & hard to develop.
As for the Maine sun there is very little that address the real PROFESSIONAL
world of solar nor has their been any discussion about the need for limited
license or certified installers. Its a rag that promotes DIY & his work in
Central A.

-----Original Message-----
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Joel
Davidson
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 11:01 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Panel Fire

There are good people who make and teach other people how to make solar
modules.

Richard Komp, co-author of the 1983 edition of The New Solar Electric Home,
author of Practical Photovoltaics, President of the Maine Solar Energy
Society, etc. See http://www.mainesolar.org/

Tor Allen, founder of the Rahus Institute, etc. See http://www.rahus.org/

and many more well-informed, good people around the world.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Matt  <mailto:gilligan06 at gmail.com> Lafferty 
To: jryago at netscape.com ; 'RE-wrenches'
<mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>  
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Panel Fire

Hi Jeff,

Somebody should keep an eye on that neighbor of your friend. There have been
any number of "DIY" publications and scams out there. Here's just one of
many that basically lead to the same thing....
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/hsh/1031018343.html  The C-list ad has a
link to this place:  http://www.solar-panel-kit.net/  

What this one is is a $50 book that tells you how to build your own
windmill, PV module.... Yada Yada... This particular one is a guy named
Michael Harvey. Anybody know him?  This is only 1 bright idea away from the
guy who rented the shop next to your friend. As in, that guy bought this
book thinking he was gonna "beat the utility". When he went to Ebay to buy
his 1st batch of cells, he saw that they weren't all that scarce. He beat
Travis C out on an auction and built a couple for himself. Then he had the
bright idea! What if he did this for a bunch of people and sold them? 

It's not necessarily that the guy with the bright idea was evil... Not
necessarily. He could just happen to be a guy who isn't fully informed and
thinks that there's just no reason for why everybody else charges so much
and wants to do right by everybody. But, as the old saying goes, ignorance
is no excuse for the law.

I'm wondering if this is really the brainchild and "factory" for
CitizenRE... Independent dealers all over the country buying surplus cells
on Ebay... That would be a mahvelous concept... Until they burn, of course.
That kinda puts a kink in the residential PPA model. But hey, if all you
gotta do is buy $30 worth of slotted angle, 64 each 1/4-20 x 1" bolts &
nuts, 20 lags, a tube of caulk, and some wire for BOS and the modules cost
you $0.50 a watt and you don't bother faking a label on them, you probably
don't have to even apply for a rebate. You could have your kids just
slapping cells onto plexiglass and putting clear shrink-wrap over the front
and sticking them onto 1-1/2" aluminum angle for a frame. 

Just a thought.... 

Matt Lafferty
gilligan06 at gmail.com

  _____  

 Jeff Y wrote: 

The other day a guy rented a warehouse near a business friend of mine and he
went over to say Hi.  My friend later told me this guy told him he was
planning to  "build"  solar pv modules that he was going to sell and
install.  Although my friend was no engineer and didn't really know what to
look for, when I described some of the typical equipment that is required he
said it was mostly just work benches and hand tools.  

I am betting your first reaction was the same as mine which was  - how could
he expect to hand build solar module's to compete with commercially made and
certified solar modules?

Anyway, after reading this thread I am wondering is this more common than I
thought?  Is this some kind of trend?  Are there others out there trying to
build solar modules?  And finally, with all the different commercially made
and certified solar modules out there in any size, wattage, and shape you
want, how can they expect to be competitive, assuming their home-made
modules don't catch fire?

  _____  

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