Anyone here got any experance with solar panels ? I have been doing some research on DIY panels and been looking around to see if anyone is running any solar panels . Looking for a cheap place to buy the cell's .
Not to sound obvious or hetorical, but, you get what you pay for. Keep up with reasearching and doing your homework. Checkout what manufacturer (and make) in Germany, there is one (with a particular batch of cells) that had a bad problem about 4 or 5 years ago.
Only other word I stress you take from me if nothing else, I know this past winter the industry has been trying to unload older-technology panels as the forseable flood of newer ones is rolled out this year. It's now 6-months later, so I would assume said shipments of newer/better stuff is already here or sitting on the dock until they make room for it in the warehouse. This has generated some great opportunities in solar (check the end of my post), but I know it's gonna also flood the market with old crap. But, again, on the plus side, especially to first-time solar DIYers like you, used panels should be flooding the market for cheap.
Some good batteries (well maintained) and a decent inverter though should never need replacement, but as such are probabley the most expencive components. The fact you've already gotten them is fantastic, but it also has me concerned.... do you know for sure the condition/operability of your betteries and inverter? I got a neighbor that picked up an inverter second hand via ebay for a steal because it had a faulty/finicky auto switch for switching to the batteries from an alternative source of power, but since he's pure solar with no alternative - perfect. Hit or miss on batteries, really depended how well the last owner cared for them before reselling them.
My family has had two independent arrays for almost 8 years now, not down here in so cal. If you're shopping by price, go as cheap as possible as going that route it is likely they won't last more than a few years. If you can though, eventualy, or for whatever reason - invest in newer and more expencive pannels, you really do get what you pay for. You'll get longer life, higher durability, and much greater power generation in even poor solar conditions (weather).
I got these mitsubishi (I think made in Korea) pannels about three years ago as, previously, the most recent purchase. The things are just wooparse, so much so that afterwards I ran the cable necessary so it diverts excess charge to the main system. The main system on the other hand isn't even 10-years old, was never as productive as I wanted it to be for ~300sq. feet even on a good warm clear summer day, and its pannels cover 4-5 times the same square footage as my two mitsubishi pannels (which were for an independent system dedicated solely to the well/water, and that was all fine until they prooved so productive it was almost a waste until I devised diverting the excess to the main system). The mitsubishis on the other hand, a fraction the size (and probabley about a hair less than the combined total cost of the other pannels, brand new), produce over 2x as much power as the other array on the same good day, and well over 3x as much power on a hazey or cloudy day.
Recently our neighbors up there (no grid for all of us) have a buddy that works for a panel distributor/manufacturer, and he had some surpluss or connection. Us and a number of other neighbors are going in on a large shipment of pannels. I won't really know for sure until they're delivered, and even then probabley not until I get the time off to go up there and work on installing them, but I know they'll be a lot/ton better than the 10-yo cheap-o pannels on the main array that I'm replacing them with. I'm hoping at least 2x as much as the mitsubishi array given the size and my understanding of the age of the technology used in these panels (not as good as the mitsubishi, but a whole heap better than the older ones), which has been kicking the older/sorry array's butt into shame for years now.
