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work quite well in diffused light, such as hazy
humid weather or cloudy skies. The crystalline
cells will lall flat on their faces under those
conditions.
Antennas West makes use 01 the scvonce
P·201 panel. It is rated al23 Watts under peak
sun conditions. This eons down to about 1.6
Amps for battery charging. The P·201 measures
one fool wide by four leet long, and
weighs under five pounds. Antennas West
supplies a 3O-100t cable that is attached at one
end 10 the P-201 panel. This is a four conductor
cable in which two sets of the wires are
connected together. This reduces loss from
the penei-tc-ccnncuer cable.
SettIng Up the Panel
Enough on the theory 01operation. The Antennas
West solar module kit was extremely
easy 10 set up and gel running. When you
first open the box you'll be greeted
by the Sovonics P-201 panel. If you
have ever seen one of the crystalline
cell panels, all covered with
tempered glass and framed in 1/4­
inch thick aluminum angle stock,
you'll be in for a shock.
The panel looks like it is made of
printed cardboard. You can twist
and bend the entire panel. Give the
center 01 the panel a good thump
with your hand and it yields to the
pressure applied. You will also find a bag full
01 all kinds of things. Terminal strips, nuts,
bolts, and various other goodies. The Antennas
West solar package is very complete. All
you need is a radio and battery. They even
included a tube 01 RTV sealer for repairs and
for gluing the panel down on a flat surface.
Since the connecting wire between the panel
has already been attached, all you need to do
is insert the cha rge controller between the
panel and the battery. You will also lind a
ralher large technical manual.
Instructions
The manual needs some attention. It is
printed directly from a dot matrix printer. Instead
of opening like a book or magazine, the
manual opens end to end , much like the Old
" Thunder Chief" yellow tablets of my school
days. The pages of the manual are gummed
together at the top. I worry that the pages will'
fall out under constant use. Unlike the manual
that came with your tribander, there is so
much information for the new user of solar
power, I can envision many a newcomer reading
and re-reading the manual. My manual
had several typos, and on several pages,
some of the print was unreadable. Perhaps
the ribbon in the printer got out 01 its guide
when the manual was printing. All and all
however, the manual is quite complete. In
fact, I talked with Jim Stevens, of Antennas
West, about changi ng the layout of the manual
so it would open like a magazine. I also
suggested adding three hole punch-outs to
each page.
I was very glad to find out what you can and
cannot operate from the 23 Watt P-201 panel.
23 Watts is not much power, unless you know
how to put it to use. And I'm not talking about
56 73 Amateur Radio • June, 1989
running DRP equipment, either, but also 200
Watt radios. The manual goes into great detail
on computing your power consum ption at
your location. A very good section on battery
selections, along with charge control, rounds
out the manual. The technical manual is 41
pages long.
The Antennas West solar kit also comes
with a series switch charge controller. This
will keep the battery(ies) trom overcharging.
By monitoring the terminal voltage of the
battery, a relay will open up and stop alillow
01 current to the battery, preventing overcharging.
The controller will then mo nitor
the voltage 01 the battery and will turn on
the series relay to main tain the lull charge
terminal voltage. This "pulse" charging will
reduce battery gassing consi derably. The
controller works super well with the sealed
gell/cell balleries. The controller was de-
"It's lightweight, vandal resistant
(repeater operators take note),
and should provide year after
year of trouble-free energy
generation. "
signed by KA8IDB. It is potted in epoxy and is
quite small-about two inches square. Wiring
the unit, panel to battery, is quite simple. Only
lour wires are used , The charge controller can
be mounted on a wall with the wood screws
supplied or with some double-backed tape ,
also supplied.
Since my entire station operates from solar
power, I isolated some 01my gear to operate
directly from the Antennas We st solar kit.
I used my Argosy transceiver and a KDK
2 meter mobile. A 50 Ah gell/cell battery
was used for energy storage. I mounted the
P·201 alongside my other panels on the
array rack . This rack is tilled to optimize my
location.
The P-20 1 is rated at 23 Watts peak output.
This happens when the isolation from the sun
is 1000Wfm 1 at 42°C, a widely accepted standard.
In real life, we can count that amount of
sun on one hand, (il you live in Ohio). Using
digital current and voltmeters, I measured
maximum current of 1.4 Amps several times.
Depending on the state of charge of the battery
and the isolation of sunlight, you may not
see the rated 23 Walls. In mid-March, I averaged
close to 18 Watts. No question, had I
lived in the Sun Belt, I would have received
higher WattsJday.
Operating my 100 Watt Argosy and 2 meter
FM radio, I had no trouble maintaining commu
nications. I ope rated several hours a week,
mostly on CWo The FM gea r was used more,
abo ut 10 hours per week . Had I operated
mo re, or cha nged to a higher power radio, I
could have added more panels in parallel to
boost charge current. No question about it, 23
Walls is not much, but thaI is the beauty of
solar power-YOu can add panels as your
needs grow .
For larger power req uirements, I would
recommend the use of a larger Sovonics
panel, along with a charge controller that
will handle the higher current. You can purchase
additional P·201 panels from Antennas
West lor about $200. That breaks down to
about $8 per peak Wall. You can do better,
if you know what to buy and how to interconnect
the different systems together.
Drawbacks
Were there some things that I did not care
for? The Sovonics panel, as super tough as it
is, is a little rough around the edges in quality.
I have talked with the people at Sovonics and
they acknowledge the quality control problem.
New equipment is being installed to improve
quality control. The panel that came with the
review unit, while working perfectly electrically,
had some workmanship defects. There
were holes that were drilled off-center
on the back side of the panel.
Since the panel does not have a
frame as such, the aluminum sheet
that the laminate is bonded to was
not lolded over properly.
You should be aware 01 some of
the down sides to amorphOus silicon
solar panels. Since Sovonics
panels are made using amorphous
silicon, they suffer (as do all amorphous
silicon solar cells) from a
small degree of degradation. The panels are
not as stable as their crystalline counterparts.
The power output will drop as they age and
then level off, usually within the first 3D days
or so. Sovonics panels degrade about 10%
of their rated power. The stainless steel
substrate used by sovoocs has an " annealing"
ettect on the cells. 11 seems that after an
initial drop in power, the panel will come back
up slightly. That is why Sovonics rates their
panels lower than other manufacturers. This
gives the end user a more realistic power
capacity.
Because amorphous silicon panels are less
efficient, you'll require twice the surface area
tor the same amount of energy produced using
a crystalline cell panel.
All and all, I was very happy with the
Antennas West DRV solar package. After you
get used to the strange appearance 01 the
Sovonics panel, you 'll find it a strong perlormer.
It's lightweight, vandal resistant (repeater
operators take note). and should
provide year after year 01 trouble-free energy
generation. Even if you don't want to limit
yourself to only 23 Walts, just keeping the
module in the closet will provide emergency
power lor those times when you may need
electricity most. If you like the idea 01 using
solar energy to help power your shack but
don't want to spend a lot of time and money,
the Antennas West DRV solar package is
ideal. And if you want to keep con nected to
the grid, but like the idea of a small emergency
power supply, again this solar package fits
the bill.
The Antennas West ORV solar package is
the most complete and thought-out design lor
the newcomer to solar electric power on a
small scaleS