[Elecraft] Solar Panels

[Randy NV0U]

I use some of the panels from Harbor Freight. They are okay - have a
bunch of 5 watt panels and a few months ago I hooked up some of their
15W panels. Not sure how the 15s are gonna do yet, but after 5 years
outside in the Kansas City weather, the 5 watters are working - but
they need some work. Lots of rust in places I dont want rust, and some
sort of mold/fungus is starting to grow inside the panels. I don't
think these panels are meant to be continuous outdoor panels.

For a solar controller, I use one of the CirKits controllers:
http://cirkits.com/. They work very well and can handle up to 20A. Not
bad for $50.

My whole station, minus the computers, is solar powered, including my HTs.

I will point out that unless you have plenty of panels - somewhere on
the order of 2X the power you use - you want to really keep an eye on
your power management. No sense having the batteries in there if there
if they are constantly empty.

$100 seems really high to me for a 5W panel. Especially since all it
will do to a K2 is let it be a receiver.

You might want to also check out Home Power magazine:
http://www.homepower.com. You can always download the last issue for
free there and check panel prices that way.

I also got to thinking about something - some states give rebates on
solar systems (mine is not one of them). Depending on the rules, you
may be able to really cut your solar price that way, though I doubt
having something that you only use to go on FD would count.

On 7/3/06, Douglas Todd <toddd1 at cox.net> wrote:
> I'm interested in using solar panels to power the K2 for emergency/field day operations