Flexible solar panels?

[Learjet]

Anyone have any experience with these? I'm afraid curiosity got the better of me and I bought one. Of course I went to the cheapest dodgiest no good seller on evilbay for my ripoff purchase. The panel is very thin, only a couple of mm. It's also very light weighing in at about 2.8kg. It took me ages to remove the blue plastic coating on the front. There's another coating of some sort on the back but it can stay there. The connector box is pretty dodgy, with one inline diode. This panel is supposed to be 120 watts. I'm also the king of France. Output is rated at over 6 amps, but a dead short with high noon Sun barely yields 4.5 amps. It would be lucky to be an 80 watt panel. I should have checked the dimensions first because it's too small for a 120 watt. Still, it seems I got value for money (for a flex panel) going by the other flex panel prices out there.

My evil plan was to screw it directly under the roofing bolts, or worse hold it on by attaching neodym magnets and throwing it on the roof, because I'm dodgy also. I wonder how long it will last compared to a glass panel? Don't think I will get another, not good value for money, but this one should help power the fridge.

[Uncle Fester]

This panel is supposed to be 120 watts. I'm also the king of France. Output is rated at over 6 amps, but a dead short with high noon Sun barely yields 4.5 amps. It would be lucky to be an 80 watt panel. I should have checked the dimensions first because it's too small for a 120 watt. Still, it seems I got value for money (for a flex panel) going by the other flex panel prices out there.

Looks like YOU are the pioneer here but not the king of France. He's dead.

80W for a 120W panel sounds fairly spot on considering the 130W I realisticly get from a 200W Marsol flat panel.
High noon in summer also means a hot panel and less power. I noticed sometimes in the late morning 2 amps more when it was cloudy and the sun suddenly peaks out only to drop back again a few minutes later.

So how much did you pay and have you got the link?
I only find them for $269 in Ebay which is too much for 120/80W.

[Learjet]

Yep, that's the price, and yep it's too much. My flawed reasoning was that with a light panel I could haul it on the (highset) roof with a stick and hold it on with neodim magnets without actually getting on the roof. The shed roof where I have the other panels requires too long of a cable run to reach the fridges, and there's no good real estate left on the shed roof anyway. All the good spots have been taken. Now that I see more clearly in retrospect, I should have made a ground frame mount for extra panels out the back, which I will probably do now with regular glass panels. Curiosity made me do it.

[Uncle Fester]

Ground frame mount is the way to go... and don't forget to provide an option to adjust the angle. Use solid hinges to mount the bottom of the panels.

The panel for my pool chlorinator is working now great at only a 10° angle in summer. In winter I keep it at 40°. Those two seasonal settings work fine for me. Where you are 0° and 30° might be better.

No need to track the panel angle, huge effort for a small benefit.

120W/80W is not enough to power fridges.
I am interested in doing something like that too. Just panels for the frigde in the day and a 20 min time delayed switched to mains in the night/cloud.
I want to override the fast freeze setting when the panels have power so the compressor can run as long as possible until the freezer reaches -26°. At the same time it should freeze larger bodies of water as a form of storage so night time power use can be minimised.
LiPo batteres will supply the start up surge, defoster and about 1 hour running time but it will switch to mains after 20mins no sun.
This will be using a 24V 240W panel that costs as much as your flex panel.
6s LiPos are dirt cheap at Hobby King.
I hate lead acid for too many reasons.

[Learjet]

Yes, angle adjustment would be useful for seasonal changes. I'll see what sort of nightmare design my warped imagination can come up with. There needs to be a dodgy component in the system like flower pots or bricks.

[Uncle Fester]

Would this be dodgy enough

[Learjet]

Lol that's Perfect. The panel even has water runoff to water the pot plant in winter and shade it in hot summer. You're not related to me are you?

[Learjet]

It's up. Couldn't get the pole as deep as I would have liked as I hit rocks. The panel is mounted with an old satellite dish back plate and is adjustable. Held on with wood of course. Hopefully this will do until I get a garden shed (roof) to mount it on.

[Tiny]

Where is the pot plant

[Learjet]

I used a pot to take the rocks away if that counts. Plus I think I have enough pots and bricks on the other panels to save my reputation.

[Tiny]

I used a pot to take the rocks away if that counts. Plus I think I have enough pots and bricks on the other panels to save my reputation.

Cool, thanks for that.

[Uncle Fester]

I used a pot to take the rocks away if that counts. Plus I think I have enough pots and bricks on the other panels to save my reputation.

We should be neihbours and use our synergy to save the world