FLEXIBLE SOLAR PANEL

[Ken A Hood]

Found a company(Canadian) that manufactures flexible solar panels. They have 3 different sizes presently, 25,50 and 75 Watt models.

LINK

[bdosborn]

How much and where can you get them?
Bruce

[Ken A Hood]

I don't have any more info, I just spotted the company in a PSA for "green" products put out by the Canadian Government.
But there is a page for more info...
http://www.spheralsolar.com/7_contact-u ... equest.asp

And their homepage:
http://www.spheralsolar.com/default.asp

Like I said, I just spotted them today, and haven't emailed them yet for more info. If you(anyone) get more info before I do please post it here for he group to read..

[mikeschn]

I'd like to know more about the flexible panels too. I have a rigid panel now, and it's hard to mount on top of a teardrop (to say the least)!

Mike...

[catrinka]

There are some solar panels on the Canadian Tire website. Go to http://www.canadiantire.ca to check them out. This is a new territory for me so I can't recommend anything beyond the website.

[denverd0n]

Here's a link to a reputable company that sells them over the internet...
http://www.absak.com/catalog/product_in ... cts_id/128

The problem is cost. For the same amount of money you can get a solid solar panel with 50% greater generating power.

[Nitetimes]

The problem is cost. For the same amount of money you can get a solid solar panel with 50% greater generating power.

This is why they are so expensive "Triple Junction spectrum splitting amorphous silicon cell design". That part of the sentence has to be worth at least $250 in itself. If they just gave the explanation in plain english they would be much cheaper

[R Keller]

Or try this: a few years back I got a warrantied remaindered solar panel at: Solar Electric Inc. in San Diego http://www.solarelectricinc.com/. They have some really good deals on all sorts of factory-second photo-voltaic (PV) panels. I got one of the Unisolar 32 watt (2A at 16V) flexible panels.

The cool thing about this type of panel is that it is unbreakable, you can roll it into a pretty small radius and store it away. You can mount them on any flat or curved surface. Move them around, walk on them, whatever. And then roll them up and store them away when you're done.

The Unisolar panels (including their rigid panels) have a series of internal diodes that allow the panel to keep producing current, even when partially shaded. They do have a lesser rated output for their size than some other panels, but they do work in partial shade and so will produce more energy than some other rigid solar panels in real-world situations. And of course, the flexible panels are a bit more expensive, but not outrageously so.

You can also put it away from your trailer if necessary (I attached an extra-long cord) to get maximum sun. With a permamently-mounted panel, you've kind of resigned yourself to parking in the sun...

Rik

[Juneaudave]

Here's another link from Arizona...they have a lot of supplies, including RV mounts, and a pretty decent technical section on designing and installing a system http://store.solar-electric.com/

[txturbo]

http://www.coolightwest.com/rcProd1.asp ... 1=37&c2=63

[Q]

The problem with amorphous solar modules is that they don't last as long as the monocrystaline or polycrystaline modules. I used to have a couple amorphous modules but they degraded so much in 6 years that they became pretty much unusable. All my mono and poly modules are still going strong after 17 years. If you buy an amorphous module, be sure you get a good warrenty.

Q

[John Foote]

The problem with amorphous solar modules is that they don't last as long as the monocrystaline or polycrystaline modules. I used to have a couple amorphous modules but they degraded so much in 6 years that they became pretty much unusable.

Q

Q, I've heard this before, and would like to know the amorphous brand that died young. At the price, that's unacceptable.