Rahus Exp Modules
In 2005, The Rahus Institute acquired
a batch of solar electric (photovoltaic) modules through
an arrangement with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).
These modules had previously lived
on residential homes as part of the 1993 "PV Pioneer I" Research &
Development project.
The Sacramento County program
was the first in the nation to install large volumes of PV on residential homes.
To limit technology risk to
SMUD's ratepayers, the District retained ownership of the PV systems. At the
conclusion of the R&D project, the PV
hosts are being offered the opportunity to purchase the systems which will
be refurbished and reinstalled. Some customer/hosts are selling their homes,
have had changes in plans and other factors and have simply opted to have the
systems retired from their roofs. Other homes were simply not suitable for long
term PV -- too much shading, poor site orientation and other factors. These
are the panels that have been made available to Rahus.
We've coined these modules the Rahus
Experienced Modules (aka Sacramento Alumni). These are great modules, with
many more years of productive electricity producing life in them. They just
need a new home.
We are looking for educational related
projects to provide new homes for these wonderful
photovoltaic modules. This can be single module applications such as solar fountains,
or
a standalone battery charger for garden power...to multi-kW offgrid applications
for reliable power...
or small grid-tie systems for schools.
The modules have been tested and cleaned. Some remain on the original aluminum rails in groups of 6 (msx60) or 7(m55)
The modules are Siemens m55 (55 wattdc)
and Solarex MSX 60 (60 watt dc)
Siemens is now Shell Solar, and BP bought Solarex a few years ago.
Original spec sheet for modules [pdf]
Images of the modules.
Contact Tor Allen with questions - 925-370-7262 or tor@rahus.org
Siemens m55 - single crystal silicon
Solarex modules - polycrystalline silicon
on racks
stack of siemens m55
3 racks of Siemens m55s at Brawley project [Spring 2005]
the siemens m55s come attached to 2 aluminum rails (show above). Brawley students
are shown here
testing and rewiring the modules.