Thin panels, thin budget...

System

Good sunny day , I have read about this new process of printing solar panels vs silicon conductors, that lowers the price consistenly of the panels, but I dont find someone who really sells them to the general public..this product is restricted to government wholesalers..?we are far from the solar dream..?thanks for any clue to my efforts to save the planet in the way of my posibilities .

dwh

Re: Thin panels, thin budget...

sierra wrote: »

this product is restricted to government wholesalers..?

That is correct - not available. All production is currently reserved for big projects.

BB.

Re: Thin panels, thin budget...

Nobody outside of a few "big" corporations/installers (in places like Germany) appeared to have seen/tested/installed these panels yet.

Another reason you might not want to jump into this "investment" for your home... As I understand (and I am certainly no expert)--"printed" panels are very sensitive to environmental contaminates (i.e., water, oxygen, etc.)--so they must truly be hermetically sealed.

To get true hermetical seals that will last 40 years on a glass panel exposed to sun/weather/thermal cycles is not easy.

It would not hurt to wait until these panels have a bit of a track record before jumping on the band wagon.

There are 200 watt panels out there (blems, not UL approved, overstock) that are hitting the $4 to under $3 per watt--with full 20-25 year mfg. warranty.

But watch shipping/shipping charges--shipping thin glass panels via truck can cause problems--especially if it is just a couple panels vs a full pallet from the mfg.

-Bill

n3qik

Re: Thin panels, thin budget...

Well was going to say look at Uni-solar, but they stop all production as of May 7.

BB.

Re: Thin panels, thin budget...

The Uni-solar details:

United Solar Ovonic (Uni-Solar), a whollyowned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices and one of the largest manufacturers of flexible solar laminate products, has been forced to temporarily shut down its Michigan production operations in Auburn Hills and Greenville, while also delaying the planned ramp at its second facility in Greenville. The s-Si thin-film specialist cited the economic conditions and weak demand for the shutdowns, which will last 4 weeks at Greenville through to June 17 and 3 weeks at Auburn Hills, which will reopen June 7.

Energy Conversion Devices had also responded earlier this week to news that a major end-user of its solar laminates, Solar Integrated Technologies, was having financial problems after ending talks for a US$25 million line of credit and had retained Thomas Weisel Partners to look for potential buyers of the roofing specialist.

The company had previously implemented a two-week production hiatus that began on March 22, making this the second time production has been halted to reduce inventory and preserve cash in the current economic climate.

-Bill