How heavy are solar panels?

[Zarostulus]

And is it something that's improving at all? For example, putting solar panels on a variety of moving objects seems like a good idea at first, but would the weight of them almost make it a moot point, as the added weight means more energy is required to move the vehicle and a secondary engine such as a combustion engine then has to work overtime anyway?

As an example, how much can I expect a small solar panel, say 30cm by 30cm to weigh?

[Jemappelle]

At a stab in the dark I'd say 250-500g. They are suprisingly light, and won't cave your roof in as some people seem to fear.

[CuriousGeorge]

Solar roofing is 2-4 lbs per square foot or 10-20 kg per square meter, but that's including all the mounting equipment as well. Solar panels must be efficient for transport, as there is a solar powered aircraft that's flown around the world!

[img width=250 height=166]http://cdni.wired.co.uk/1240x826/a_c/colar-impulse-2.jpg[/img]

[JamesH]

[quote author=CuriousGeorge link=topic=210.msg534#msg534 date=1449158497]
Solar roofing is 2-4 lbs per square foot or 10-20 kg per square meter, but that's including all the mounting equipment as well.
[/quote]

Indeed, integrated panels in car, laptops etc wouldn't weigh as much, because they don't have all the mounting. The panels themselves are pretty lightweight.

[LucidEnergy]

The silicon wafers are extremely light, so potentially very light, it's the plastic and other stuff that normally adds weights, but when built into a laptop it weighs almost nothing, and sometimes may even make an item weigh less.

[allegrif]

[quote author=LucidEnergy link=topic=210.msg547#msg547 date=1449193050]
The silicon wafers are extremely light, so potentially very light, it's the plastic and other stuff that normally adds weights, but when built into a laptop it weighs almost nothing, and sometimes may even make an item weigh less.
[/quote]
How would it make it weigh less? If it's simply less dense, then wouldn't that mean we're making the laptop more fragile?

[BootBoyer]

As per my knowledge Solar roofing is 2-4 lbs per square foot or 10-20 kg per square meter, but that's including all the mounting equipment as well. Solar panels must be efficient for transport, as there is a solar powered aircraft that's flown around the world.