I built a Solar Table

I really wanted to install some plug-in solar modules, and the simplest option for me seemed to be to build a "solar table":

• My balcony table surface was happily rotting away and needed replacement
• There didn't seem to be any good option to mount modules elsewhere

So I bought a Wattstunde Daylight 94x94 cm 100 W module and a cheap inverter.

The module comes with a sturdy aluminium frame.

In order to be able to attach it to the old table frame, I pushed some wooden boards into the frame and secured them with screws.

Then I attached the old table frame to the boards attached to the frame.

The inverter fitted below the suppost structure that used to carry the table top.

The finished product, connected to an outside power outlet below the table.

Unfortunately, I can't really count the project as a big success:

I didn't really take shadows into account... Basically, I was assuming that if the module is partially shadowed, it would still produce power with the remaining area.

What I didn't know at the time is that the power output would drop dramatically as soon as a small area of the table is covered. And there are a lot of sources of shadows, in particular the balcony above and a big column supporting it.