Some large PVs for rooftops were at a street market for €35 each. I’m not deeply knowledgable about them… I just know that there are two varieties of solar panels and that the kind that are used from small appliances (e.g. calculators, speakers, lawn lights, etc) are junk. And that junk variety is sometimes used in large rooftop panels. What I was looking at resembled the kind I see on a bluetooth speaker with a slight blue tint so I was skeptical. The info on the backside of the panel indicated “1000 V”. The other thing is, all solar panels degrade over time and reach end of life after like 15 years (though this is improving). They may have been a good deal but I passed on them because I didn’t want to buy them on a blind risk.

How would I know how much life a used PV has left? Would a volt meter give that info, assuming it’s sunny when I encounter them again?

  • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
    0·
    4 months ago

    If it has a model number on it, you can probably find out when it was first released to get a maximum age.

    PV panels can have defects that are invisible to the naked eye tho so its not easy to check without actually testing it out. Afaik measuring the voltage without lab conditions would tell you if it were completely dead but not how healthy it is.

    For 35€ i would personally just buy them, but you didnt write anything about the inverter to turn the DC into usable AC… Is there one that comes with the panels? If not you would have to buy one and that can range from like 100€ to much more depending on the total power output / wattage the panels have.