I was skeptical of those Green Wash Balls. Our Staber solar powered washer only uses 1 oz of detergent and 15 gallons of water, 145 watt/hours of electricity. The Green Wash Balls were $30 apiece! For 1000 washes.
Well, I got three on Ebay for $15!!! I just did a load and the clothes came out cleaner and fresher smelling!!! Wow!! Some are up to $10 singly, but well worth it, economically and environmentally.
We also decided to add two more panels because in winter, the battery banks don't charge fast enough in cloudy weather days between sunny days. The US (Unisolar) 64s(originally $289 apiece, 16.5 Vdc) that we have are no longer available but found some glass panel 70 watters (17.2Vdc--close enough!) new on Ebay for $130 apiece shipped!! They will be about 30% less efficient in our fixed at the 40* latitude angle, south, because of reflectivity losses. But heck, all we needed was a little more boost in the winter. Glad we 100% over-sized our charge controller to keep it cooler and for expansion! The self-made 1"x1"x1/8" Al "Ls" with 3/8 lag and short bolts with lock washers have worked well for mounting and at 40* they will be hail proof. I was worried because the US64s are unbreakable and these aren't. The US64s have a textured surface so perform better off angle (flat on the south facing 6/12 (27*) roof. These will be mounted sideways on the garage roof. No tornadoes, please!! It is all insured, anyway, but I don't want to be hit!! It must be noted that glass panels are rated to be hail resistant at 30* angle or greater and 1" or less hail.
Going green now is cheaper than ever before thanks to Ebay!!






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