After the 3rd homemade solar panel of the polycrystalline cells, decided to make a higher amp solar panel of the monocrystalline cells. I was told by the neighbour that this type of cell does better on the cloudy days.
Found a seller on ebay for a bulk buy of (110) 6″ x 6″ cells with minor chips. Took out good cells and sold the rest to recoup the cost. The next step was to find a window that was big enough to fit 36 cells for a 12 volt system. Ended up finding a shower door made from tempered glass. It also had a stainless steel frame and picked it up for $30.00
The cells were difficult to solder and very, very fragile. If I pushed to hard on the soldering gun or leaned my hand across the side of the cells, they would crack. Highly suggest you use a cork board to solder on. The soft surface is more forgiving and does well with heat.
Used Sylguard 184 to encapsulate the cells, vinyl for the backing and a waterproof junction box with 10 amp blocking diodes.
Mounted it on my DIY “top of pole” mount and it works like a dream. This panel ended up costing about double ($250.00) of the smaller 60 watt panels, but it’s a work horse.
Not exactly sure of the wattage, tested it in mid day sun and got 19.88 volts at 4.65 (not under load) so, 92.44 watts. It’s hooked up to a $60 MPPT charge controller and I hope it’s squeezing as much juice out of it as possible. Should mount a meter to it for real time results.
More info? Go to http://www.cedarworkshop.net
Post time: Jul-01-2017