Sunpower T5 305W Roof panel 10,000 Pcs

[jasonhc73]

Not these panels, no.
You would have to take them apart and remove all the legs that are built-in.

 

[BenQ]

I bought some and am thinking of making something out of pretreated lumber and “replacement knobs” from Lowes.

 

[Pacer]

I bought some and am thinking of making something out of pretreated lumber and “replacement knobs” from Lowes. View attachment 11835View attachment 11836

Nice! There are some of these for sale locally. I was considering them, and was brainstorming how I could utilize the existing frames and securely mount them to my roof. Is this crazy or not?

Having them in hand, can you tell me if you think that they would be ok on a roof with a mount that ties into the knob part you are looking at? I’m thinking a quarter turn stainless bracket that’s attached to the existing frame mount point, and secured to the roof via an aluminum tile mount. In my mind, securing like this on top and bottom of a 2x2 row would be very secure. The extra benefit is that I would gain proper positioning with the built in 5* tilt.

 

[BenQ]

I completely agree, in my mind that should work perfectly! Then it’s just a matter of getting the permit to slap it on the roof!

 

[solarHandyman]

Hey yall, found this thread through Google. Has anyone got these working? I have 12 of the t5 panels purchased from a solar liquidator in Texas. They are in three strings of 4 installed on my roof with pressure treated lumber framing, and I am getting very low output back to my MPP 5048 inverter. The aluminum version of the Sunpower panel uses positive grounding. I'm just wondering if these panels have issues from not being grounded at all. I read there could be low output if you didn't ground positive ground panels. I actually got another set of aluminum framed SPR 305 watt panels and the voltage output is 60 volts in full sun, vs 54 on the T5 panels. Specs should be the same. Still, 12 panels 54 volts should be pushing some power. I guess the difference in voltage is age, but less than 1 watt PV input from 3600 watts in full sun? Geez

 

[gnubie]

Is solar the only power source for the inverter, ie no grid connection? What sort of load is there on the inverter? What's the charge state of the battery? Without a load or not-fully-charged-battery to use the electricity produced you won't see any significant wattage on the inverter's display.

 

[solarHandyman]

voltage, 220 volts. Batteries aren't connected yet. I have a load connected, a dehumidifier, but even in full sun it won't run for more than a couple minutes. Then I get error 15, not enough PV input.

 

[solarHandyman]

What is the best way to measure amperage coming off a solar panel? I tried using a CL380 clamp meter but the reading was 0.045.....

 

[gnubie]

Are you saying you have 220VAC connected to the inverter or is that your PV Voc?

Clamp meter is the easiest. That you can run a dehumidifier says you are able to get a lot more than 1 watt out of your system, even if only for brief times. Remember that without a battery you rely entirely on the solar array, any passing cloud will knock your supply around.

What's the power rating of your dehumidifier? 300 watts?

 

[HRTKD]

What is the best way to measure amperage coming off a solar panel? I tried using a CL380 clamp meter but the reading was 0.045.....

Make sure you're measuring DC amps, not AC amps.

 

[BenQ]

Watch this, I think it’s what you’re describing!