about 23 hours ago - 3 comments
Question by : how large must a solar panel be to power a train? If the schematics of a solar train were drawn, what would they look like? Would the train be large or small? Where would the panels be placed? And if so, how large must the panels be to fit the roof? Even
about 2 days ago - No comments
Question by Ashley J: How much solar energy (kJ) would have to be…? How much solar energy (kJ) would have to be transferred to a 145.0 foot length of asphalt highway that is 49.0 feet wide and 25.0 centimeters deep in order to raise the temperature 5.00 oC ?The average density of asphalt is 721
about 3 days ago - 2 comments
Question by : How do I make my own solar panel? How do I make my own solar panels and generate my own power cheaply. The commercial one’s are just too expensive. —————————————— Answer by mugikuyuIts very easy but the entire process is quite lengthy. You will need to purchase some materials and then assemble
about 4 days ago - 2 comments
Question by elrodvoss: What Solar Panel Efficiency would replace Coal? A friend sent me an article that a company called Fraunhofer has produced solar panels that can achieve 41.1% efficiency. Now taking into account the fact that solar do sent work during storms or night and greatly reduced during winters, what % do you think
about 6 days ago - No comments
Question by Jake P: Are there any Universities that have programs about solar energy? I wanted to know if there are any Universities in North America that have programs that teach about solar energy and using it for electricity in a home (mainly installation). —————————————— Answer by Dr. Clandestine:)Many dude, they have a nice supply
about 1 week ago - 1 comment
Question by GorgeousLilThing: I want to conserve energy, Is there anyone out there who knows how to make solar panel the simple way? What are the key materials needed to create a solar panel and the simple steps to assemble it. What would be the desirable size of the panel enough to run a desk
about 1 week ago - 1 comment
Question by : why not people use solar energy for their daily need? I am observing that normally we need electricity for lighting purpose then why not people use solar energy for lighting in each room. —————————————— Answer by DifdiMost people are not millionaires. Solar energy systems equal to what you can get via normal
about 1 week ago - 2 comments
Question by : What is an issue or something interesting about the solar panel technology? I’m hoping to do a science fair project on solar panels. Since energy has been a large issue lately, I was hoping to research on this topic! What are some things that I can possibly do or experiment on? Thank
about 1 week ago - No comments
Question by jayB: Are there any grants for converting homes and or swimming pools to solar energy? my pool is heated by gas.I can’t afford to heat the pool with the price of gas. also I would like convert the houses to solar energy. I need to become absolutely energy efficient with solar energy with
about 1 week ago - No comments
Question by viva_mexico321: How to increase current to charge battery faster? 80 watt Solar panel? I have 80 watt solar panel, solar control and two batteries. A marine deep cycle battery and vehicle battery. Am test how long does it take to charge the batteries completely. Im on day two and still nothing. Is there
(out of 17 reviews)
about 1 year ago
Review by D. M. Harman for Northern Industrial High Wattage Solar Panels – 15 Watt
Rating:
I purchased 6 of these for a backup system for my home. Two Northern units and 4 Sunforce units all 15 watt. ( these are the exact same units btw, northern’s are cheaper). With two inverters, a 2500 watt, and a 300 watt pure sinewave for computers and such. Hooked through a 7 amp charge controller to a pair of 110 amp hour deep cells in parallel for a total of 220 amp hr’s.
I first hooked two panels up to see how they did, they worked well in very low light but couldn’t ever get the batteries to “full” on the controller. I then hooked up a third panel and that gave enough to bring the batteries to full after a full day. With six panels hooked up, it will bring the batteries to “full” in a very few hours from a 30% drained condition.
These units are less then optimally placed and rarely get full sun, but do very well even without that. Two panels in full sun may very well have been able to bring the batteries to “full” but location is a problem for me. One other product of note is the P3 international “Kill A Watt” electrical useage meter. Doing a survey of electrical useage in my house to get ready for this project was an eye opener to say the least.
Great panels, at a good price, that do what you pay for…all you can ask for.
about 1 year ago
Review by jfk for Northern Industrial High Wattage Solar Panels – 15 Watt
Rating:
No problems with delivery (of two panels). Worked right out of the box, getting great wattage out of it. Only nit is I would have preferred a seperate power cable, vs. attached.
Mounting holes made it easy to build a PVC stand.
Haven’t found another panel with these specs at this price.
about 1 year ago
Review by Peter B. Nelson for Northern Industrial High Wattage Solar Panels – 15 Watt
Rating:
Got mine undamaged from northerntool for $92.40 (with shipping and tax). A quick DVM reading (laid out flat on ground in full sun at 2PM June 19th 2007 in Minnesota): 21 volts and 0.8 amps = 16.8 watts. Now $92.40 for 16.8 watts works out to $5.50/watt, which is a very competitive price these days (note that they only warranty up to 80% of rated output). I plan to use this to drive a 12V fountain pump. According to the specsheet, “Yes, this panel is fully weatherproofed.” Nevertheless, I wish it came with a plastic hail guard, as the glass feels delicate. Looks like the same product as the Sunforce 50032.
about 1 year ago
Review by W. DEMEDIO for Northern Industrial High Wattage Solar Panels – 15 Watt
Rating:
Puts out 24 v in Sept PA sun @ 15 w power. With voltage regulator and deep cycling storage battery with or without inverter will keep your house/ shed/ workshop low amp tools and lights running from sundown to bedtime. I have cut my electric bill $10 per month with this unit so in two years it will have paid for itself including all accessories. Great panel, great shipping.
about 1 year ago
Review by Thomas H. Lawler for Northern Industrial High Wattage Solar Panels – 15 Watt
Rating:
I’m 95% sure this unit and the Sunforce 50032 are the same thing (except for maybe the boxes they’re placed in). The phamplet that came with this on how to wire it up was identicle to one that came with the Sunforce 7 amp controller and shows several other panels including what appears to be the sunforce 50044 kit (I ordered the panels I have from Northern Tool but the controller from Amazon). So everything is hinting they’re all the same thing in different packages. I didn’t actually see any “Sunforce” names or logos on the products, but the boxes were the only thing saying “Northern tools” specifically likewise.
I got 5 of these about 2 years ago and didn’t do any tests at that point (except plug them in and see that my battery voltage did slowly rise). I recently became curious about how much power am I really getting from the panels I got, so I set up a test. On a fully sunny day I placed a panel in direct sunlight, aimed it to get as much power as I could (watching my Fluke meter that was measuring the amps going from the panel to a small battery) and I could only get ~0.3 amps (which is ~4 watts). I thought maybe the battery was near fully charged and not accepting much power, so I plugged in a heater that draws at least 5 amps off of the battery, but that only increased the output of the panel to ~0.4amps (or ~5 watts). I tried another panel to see if it was just that one, but the 2nd one had about the same performance. I don’t know if the lack of output is just because I’m not living in the south or didn’t try that at high noon, but I wouldn’t expect that big a difference (especially when I gave it the benefit by doing my best to aim it to get the best sunlight/power). So if these are really supposed to be able to give you 15 watts of power, I’m left wondering what are the ideal conditions that you need for such (or to at least be getting something close to 1amp output rather than just 0.4 or 40% of it’s label)?
I’ve also since done some math on the cost of solar panels versus the power they give. If you really want to get into solar power, a panel (or set of panels) that can give you 1000 watts (or 1 kiloWatt) costs ~$5000, yet that can save me as little as $0.10 on your power bill per hour of use. So that means it’ll take 50,000 hours of use for them to pay for themselves (which is over 15 years at ~8 hours of full power per day). To get enough power to fully run a house can require you to have panels adding up to 10,000 watts available and get into costs like $50,000+ (especially if you need to store up enough power to last you thru the nights & days that are cloudy where your power is greatly reduced). The panels put out DC power, so to store that power and convert it into household power requires batteries and power inverters as additional costs (in up front and maintenance).
So unless you have a lot of money you’re willing to put into such and realize your return will take more than a few years, solar power doesn’t seem like a great solution for the energy problem.