The case off the Open Solar panel controler - 1

Here it is - a real beauty. It so simple I can make it (alone - no help). Its cheap, no micro-components.. Its build on the Arduino project. Its scalable (if I have a large solar-panel array). Its open hardware.
Oh and its for controlling the charging of lead-acid batteries with solar-panels. If you don't control the power coming from the solar-panels it ends up cocking all the water out of the batteries (and that kills the batteries for good). I want one of these and I do in fact also need one one for my 2 55w solar-panels.
A nice fellow - Tim Nolan has put a lot of effort in this project and I really like the documentation.

Then comes the hard part - finding the right parts. Tim live in the states and he shoppes from shops there, in the states. I could do the same (same shops), but that have drawbacks.

• Difficult to return parts if parts are defect and its expensive.
• My packet could be intercepted in customs. Beside for the 2 week extra delay, there a possible extra cost. 
• The packet could be lost somewhere in transit (it happens).

So I opt for baying as close as possible to home. Then comes the problem - parts are parts are parts. Very often parts in USA is not called the same as the same part in EU. Then there is the problem of resellers naming the part something else so you can't compare prices with another reseller.

• An example: The project needs a MAX4173H ic-chip. Very well.. its a chip for charging batteries.. where to find? 

• Elfa don't have MAX4173H, but they do have MAX4172ESA and it seems to be doing the same... but i don't know for sure.. I'm not an electric engineer. The chip cost 4 euros and it feels like a very stupid problem.
•  If I google MAX4173H:.se and uk and dk and de and no - no hit. 

Its the tower of babel all over again..

More later (when I have tracked down the elusive parts).