<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 10pt; ">Carrizo had a grade of modules that did not see concentrator use, and they sold an assembly of 3 of these called "Super Gold Tri-Lams." I sold a truckload of them, and they are still kicking butt today.</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 10pt; ">The VOC is 20 or 21V. They were rated at 105W but performed as well as the AstroPower 120W modules I was selling at the time. </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 10pt; ">I never had a single failure with Carrizo products; not even the well cooked quad-lams that indeed required 4 modules for year round use.</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 10pt; ">I can't say the same for the "Solar Value" 120W modules I was selling at the same time or shortly afterword. These are beginning to have interconnect failures which I am able to repair. Luckily my clients aren't too demanding.</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 10pt; "><br></div><div><font face="verdana, geneva" size="2">Just a bit of history/</font><font face="verdana, geneva"><span style="font-size: 14px;">reminiscing</span></font><font face="verdana, geneva" size="2"> - the "unusual module" is clearly not one of these.</font></div>
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-------- Original Message --------<br>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Unusual Module<br>
From: Kent Osterberg <<a href="mailto:kent@coveoregon.com">kent@coveoregon.com</a>><br>
Date: Sat, March 24, 2012 4:35 pm<br>
To: <a href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com">Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</a>, RE-wrenches<br>
<<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>><br>
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Allan,<br> <br> Your right about the modules from Carrizo being made by Arco. And weren't they mono-crystalline? Three of these modules in series would be 30 cells and not enough voltage for charging a 12-volt battery. But I think that's the biggest similarity to a Quad-Lam. <br> <br> <divre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
<a target="_blank" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.bluemountainsolar.com">www.bluemountainsolar.com</a>
</pre> On 3/24/2012 12:27 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:4F6E203B.7030706@positiveenergysolar.com" type="cite"> Hilton,<br> The only issue I take with your suggestion that these are Carrizo modules is that as far as I know, all of the Carrizo modules (used at the Carrisa Plains PV power plant near Paso Robles CA from 1984-1990) were made by Arco, not Solarex.<br> <br> Also, the Carrizo Quad-Lams required four in series, not three. A few of the better modules could reach 16V in hot weather in sets of three, but the vast majority couldn't, especially after premature degradation caused by the use of reflectors on most of the tracked arrays. They were called Quad-Lams by Carrizo Solar (who bought the plant and cut them up for resale) for this reason. Photocomm sold some as sets of three (and called them Tri-Lams) in the early 90s, but after haranguing by Richard Perez of Home Power and others, supplied a fourth module to purchasers, as sets of three had insufficient MPP voltage to EQ a 12V battery during summer heat.<br> Allan<br> <br> <div class="moz-signature"> <font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><b>Allan Sindelar</b></font><br> <small><a target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><font color="#000099" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><u>Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</u></font></a></small><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer<br> NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br> New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br> <b>Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br> 3201 Calle Marie<br> Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br> <b>505 424-1112</b><br> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/" target="_blank"><u>www.positiveenergysolar.com</u></a><o:p></o:p></span></font> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 722.25pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:state w:st="on"></st1:state><st1:postalcode w:st="on"></st1:postalcode></st1:place></font><b style=""><br> </b></span></div> <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br> </span> </div> <br> On 3/24/2012 12:22 PM, Hilton Dier III wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:4F6E10E0.3060903@gmail.com" type="cite">Kent, <br> <br> I had modules like those back in the early 1990s, when I first went off grid. They are designed to be wired in sets of three for 12V nominal, 18Voc. If the EVA encapsulant is a bit browned it is probably leftover from the Carrizo project, the largest of its time. The Carrizo project had reflectors to increase output but they cooked the adhesive. The owners eventually lost their beneficial rate and realized they would make more money selling off the modules than selling the electricity. Many homesteaders benefited. <br> <br> Hilton <br> <br> The label looks like a shiny piece of foil, but with light angled on it <br> just right way the name Solarex is visible as are many words on the <br> label template. None of the values are legible. It is a little smaller <br> than a MSX-60. It has 40 cells that are wired in four parallel strings <br> of ten. Open circuit voltage is about 6 volts. Shorted it put out 4 amps <br> in bright but very overcast conditions. I suspect that it would put out <br> 8 to 10 amps at STC. There are two j-boxes, one on each end, with very <br> substantial terminals. It still operates, but obviously it isn't much <br> use for charging a battery, even a six volt one. Anyone familiar with a <br> low-voltage high-current Solarex module. <br> <br> <br> </blockquote> </blockquote> <hr>_______________________________________________<br>
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