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Forum Index : Solar : Where to get cheap panels.
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| George65 Guru  Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
I have got transporting them down pat now. I lay a ratchet strap flat in the back of the ute, one length ways, one crossways. Stack the panels alternate facing carefully on top of one another. Nip the ratchet straps up so they are like one big block. Brought the 250's back the other week over 200KM including a good 80K at 120.... err 110 on the freeway and they never moved. If there is an inverter and rails, that goes down the sides and I carry a rag and tape to put on the overhang which isn't usually much. I usually wrap a couple of turns of another strap around the rails and tighten them up and they never move either. Never had any problems so far and I have fetched home 100 panels all up now. The ratchet straps are great. I can tie knots, I'm very good at them in fact but the ratchets are easier and neater and being flat, don't pinch the panels like rope. I am also big on tying stuff down well. I always thought its better to spend an extra 5 minutes tying and untying stuff than 30 min picking whats left up off the road and looking like a dickhead while doing it. Never lost a singe thing with anything I have carried in over 30 years. Never cease to be amazed at other things I see though. People tying down full IBC's with thick string or motorcycles with Clothes line cord.  If what i'm tying something down with isn't strong enough to crush it if I pull down on it with the rope or a ratchet, then it's not up to the job far as I'm concerned. I remember helping a mate move a lathe once. Some twit pulled out on him and he hit the brakes instead of hitting them which would have at least allowed him to claim on their insurance. The lathe pulled on the ropes I had it pulled down with so hard it bent the trailer, Badly. Thing lifted at the back and the sides pulled way in. Rope and knots never gave way but the trailer did. I think that panels may be less popular in the south than more northerly due to the weather. not sure what the multiplication factor is for KW to daily yeild. Here it's 4x. IE, 5 Kw of panels should give 20Kwh a day power generation. I regularly exceed 5X with my panels which seems unlikley from what I have read but I do it over and over. My setup does not like clouds though. Tends to make the voltage go way up due to cloud edge effect and the inverters trip out even though I have miles or room on the panel to inverter max voltage. |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
Ratchet straps are good, love em A good thing to grab is some of those angles used with pallets and soft loads, you can often find them being thrown out at Bunnings etc, they use them to stop the strapping digging into timber- local trucking firms might have some lying around too The best ones are the thick (about 1cm) plastic ones- stops the sharp edges of things like panels chaffing your straps, and also spreads the pressure from the straps more evenly so you dont bend your panels frames The cheap cardboard ones are easier to find but obviously dont like getting wet, plastic ones are rarer but better These are what I'm talking about at pallet protectors |
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Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Missed out on 12 250W panels today for $80, I rang the guy thinking it was a typo but it was $80 for the lot, not $80 each as I suspected. Even came with the rails! trouble was someone else was 2 minutes ahead of me.  There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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Revlac Guru Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1023 |
That would have been a great buy  The last lot we bought here where 8 270w panels $75 each they were on a house for just a month. (new estate new house and they upgraded) Now I'm running 7.5kw on the house and 3kw on the shed. Cheers Aaron Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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