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-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@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:gilliga...@gmail.com> Lafferty To: jry...@netscape.com ; 'RE-wrenches' <mailto:re-wrenches@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 gilliga...@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? _____ _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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