One of the biggest drawbacks to installing a PV solar system on a house is the price, specifically the price of the pv panels. PV panels are responsible for around 60% of the price of a new PV system.
What if you could find them for free? or atleast VERY cheap? Well you may drive by just such a source for PV panels every single day.
Solar powered road signs are part of every day life. Road construction, speed checkers even school zone lights are everywhere in America and abroad and usually are solar powered. Because the solar panels are located where they are, along roads, intersections or in construction zones, the panels get hit sometimes. Cars, road debris, construction zone materials are usually the mortal enemies of the signs, and the solar panels on them. When these panels get damaged, no matter how minor the damage is, they are marked as UNSAFE and usually get relegated to the back of the shop to be canibalized for other signs or to end up in the trash can.
Many times, if you contact these places, they will give them away for free, or at a very discounted price. These units will not be as efficient as new units, sometimes that can be fixed by buffing or cleaning the glass, sometimes they can’t be fixed because they are damaged to the point of being unrepairable.
So how do you find them?
The best way is to start out with google and do a search for construction signs/equipment dealers in your area. If they are big enough that they have their own repair facility, which most do, then they probably will be the people you want to talk to. You can also try the Yellow Pages for the dealers in your area. I’ve found so far that you’ll probably get a better response if you actualy go there in person.
Here are a few things you need to look for when buying used panels:
* Avoid the panels with obvious damage unless you plan to fix them. Cracked glass, broken connections and physical damage are the most common types of damage. Most of them can be fixed, some of them are damaged to the point that fixing them isn’t worth the effort.
* Panels that are brown may or may not be bad. A few years ago, Carrizo panels were the hot ticket. These were panels that were in the Carrizo solar plant in California. The 177 acre plant was dismantled in the late 80’s and its panels became market fodder and are still being resold and reused throughout the world. Brown does not mean bad! The reason the Carrizo panels are brown is because they were used with mirrored concentrators that basically cooked the plastic substrate of the panels. While these panels aren’t going to be putting out peak efficiency, they should still have a bit of use in them. Just be sure to check them with an amp meter before buying. Should you use them on a home installation where asthetics is a concern? Probably not. Should you used them if you don’t really care about the looks of the panel? If the output is good..absolutely.
* Broken connections between solar cells are usually a big cause of problems. If you don’t see any obvious damage, but the output of the module is much lower than expected, most likely its because a couple of the cells have been somehow disconnected. This is good for you for 2 reasons. 1: You can get ‘lower output’ cells cheaper, 2: They can be fixed with just a little bit of soldering.
The bottom line is output. If the solar modules have great output, and their damage is minor, they will probably be a good buy in comparison with newer panels.
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