I found a guerrilla solar installer set up right next to Walmart. Interesting juxtaposition-a company so large, Walmart, next to a one woman, do it yourself solar installer. After I met 3 Walmart store managers (and talked to them about reducing use of plastic bags!!!) I saw a petite woman with some crooked and some chipped solar cells soldered under glass that looked like a picture frame.
I'd never seen a solar panel like this! it really caught my attention- She explained that solar panel manufacturers sell these broken but functioning solar cells by the pallet. They can be assembled into functioning solar panels.
These panels can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of traditional solar panels. Soni, pictured here said that the panels cost less than $300 for a 60 watt set of panels.Over the summer, there will be workshops that teach folks how to assemble these solar panels. I am tempted to purchase some of the imperfect solar cells to check them out. There are some for sale on Ebay.
Posts
