Allan,
Your right about the modules from Carrizo being made by Arco. And
weren't they mono-crystalline? Three of these modules in series would be
30 cells and not enough voltage for charging a 12-volt battery. But I
think that's the biggest similarity to a Quad-Lam.
Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
www.bluemountainsolar.com
On 3/24/2012 12:27 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
Hilton,
The only issue I take with your suggestion that these are Carrizo
modules is that as far as I know, all of the Carrizo modules (used at
the Carrisa Plains PV power plant near Paso Robles CA from 1984-1990)
were made by Arco, not Solarex.
Also, the Carrizo Quad-Lams required four in series, not three. A few
of the better modules could reach 16V in hot weather in sets of three,
but the vast majority couldn't, especially after premature degradation
caused by the use of reflectors on most of the tracked arrays. They
were called Quad-Lams by Carrizo Solar (who bought the plant and cut
them up for resale) for this reason. Photocomm sold some as sets of
three (and called them Tri-Lams) in the early 90s, but after
haranguing by Richard Perez of Home Power and others, supplied a
fourth module to purchasers, as sets of three had insufficient MPP
voltage to EQ a 12V battery during summer heat.
Allan
*Allan Sindelar*
_Allan@positiveenergysolar.com_ <mailto:al...@positiveenergysolar.com>
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
*Positive Energy, Inc.*
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
*505 424-1112*
_www.positiveenergysolar.com_ <http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/>
*
*
On 3/24/2012 12:22 PM, Hilton Dier III wrote:
Kent,
I had modules like those back in the early 1990s, when I first went
off grid. They are designed to be wired in sets of three for 12V
nominal, 18Voc. If the EVA encapsulant is a bit browned it is
probably leftover from the Carrizo project, the largest of its time.
The Carrizo project had reflectors to increase output but they cooked
the adhesive. The owners eventually lost their beneficial rate and
realized they would make more money selling off the modules than
selling the electricity. Many homesteaders benefited.
Hilton
The label looks like a shiny piece of foil, but with light angled on it
just right way the name Solarex is visible as are many words on the
label template. None of the values are legible. It is a little smaller
than a MSX-60. It has 40 cells that are wired in four parallel strings
of ten. Open circuit voltage is about 6 volts. Shorted it put out 4 amps
in bright but very overcast conditions. I suspect that it would put out
8 to 10 amps at STC. There are two j-boxes, one on each end, with very
substantial terminals. It still operates, but obviously it isn't much
use for charging a battery, even a six volt one. Anyone familiar with a
low-voltage high-current Solarex module.
_______________________________________________
List sponsored by Home Power magazine
List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
Options & settings:
http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
List rules & etiquette:
www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
Check out participant bios:
www.members.re-wrenches.org
