Solar panel survey
 

Wanted to start a thread and see which brand panels are being used by members/installers. Seems to me that a majority of panels being manufactured World Wide are held to and maintain a certain standard.

Brand names like Silfab, S-Energy, Risen, Neo Solar Power, etc are being used with good reviews and seem to cost a lot less than bigger brand names LG, Panasonic, etc.

So, if cost is a factor when DIY solar whether grid tied or not, which panels are you using.

Tom

Hi Tom,

I'm using Kyocera KC125-G2. These are 125 Wp panels.
I'm using them for over 15 years now. And there's no sign of deterioration.
See the efficiency graph (over the years) on my (Dutch) website: https://geen-energierekening-meer.we...e-panelen.html[/url]

The solar panels themselves are now dirt cheap relative to the full cost of a system. Right now the highest cost of a consumer purchased system installed by a professional is currently the professional. It's been that way since about a decade ago when the major solar module manufacturers were charging under $1/watt and inverter manufacturers also went under $1/watt. There is also the permitting and electrical work with a professional install but usually the people are costing twice the cost of the equipment being installed.

What is the price difference between a decent panel from a known company versus the others you've listed. 20 cents per watt? For my system the difference isn't even a 4 digit number and I'd rather not need to climb on the roof to swap out bad modules if things start going south.

My 220W panels manufactured by the bankrupt company: Evergreen generated 19.3kWh today. (panels were installed in 2013) Evergreen may have gone belly up, put their product still works 6+ years after their company went bankrupt...

I've got another 5.6kW of Canadian Solar 270W panels on a pallet in the garage. I expect they'll work like the Evergreen panels...

There's no guarantee any panel manufacturer will be around to warranty a panel some day down the road. Evergreen was bankrupt when I bought my panels, so I knew there was "No Expressed or Implied Warranty". If a manufacturer is still around should you have an issue, great. However, I wouldn't expect them to have a warehouse of "new old stock" panels lying around waiting for you to have an issue to ship you a direct replacement.

I have 53 (315W) LG panels and 15 (320W)Solaria panels installed. The LG panels were installed in 2017 and then with the tarrifs in place I could not buy additional LG panels, so I went with Solaria in 2018.

I have 33 JA Solar 300W Mono Black Panels (9.9kWp total) on the roof pointing in two directions (S-W and S-E) giving good coverage over the day.

2 Solax Inverters and 4 Strings.

They were installed just a month ago, so can't tell anything about reliability yet. So far best day was 62.7kWh produced. Worst day was 14.9kWh. Producing around 42% of my power used, 25% of the produced energy is self-consumed, the rest is fed into the grid.

My oldest panels (installed in 1982) are Arco 35 watt, and I'm sure there is deterioration but I can't accurately measure it even with good Fluke meters due to sunlight variation. I also have some 85 watt Solavolt that are about 25 years old, same thing. Then is an array of 125 watt Kyocera panels that are 15 years old and the occassional maximum power output is within a few watts of my readings when they were new. And the newest arrays are Evergreen, purchased when panels finally dropped under $1/watt--and they usually produce 5% more power than their rated output during some cold sunny March days, since we installed them in 2012--no noticable power loss yet.

40 Canadian Solar panels 230 watt
10 Lightway 240 watt

Our system is SunPower 327 panels. The whole system is warranted for 25 years, and is rated for 1" hail.

4 Sharp 175's bought in 2009 for $898.00/ea $5.13/w
2 Sharp 175's bought in 2011 for $498.00/ea $2.85/w
24 Sharp 240's bought in 2012 for $337.00/ea $1.40/w

The reason I went with Sharp was they were Made in the USA, Memphis, TN to be precise. My complete array best day performance was a tie at 48 kWh on 2/17/17 and 4/15/19. The 175's use Enphase Inverters, the 240's use a Sunny Boy 5000. By my subjective math, our array is 75.964% paid back and I can't tell that they've lost any power output.

Price is always a factor. Your solar panels are going to be with you for a very long time, don't let the price of your solar panels control the entire decision.

Our company has 128 panels @365W, made by Jinko Solar
We are using 2 Solar Edge 20kW 480v 3 ph inverters

I know its not simple home type system but it sure drove home the affect it has on our billing. Net metering is active and easy to watch and monitor.
I would love to get a similar (but smaller!) system at home.
My research indicates 8kW would give me everything...I'd be happy with less so I could afford it!

Good survey :) I am amassing my PV capabilities one panel at a time. I used to DIY 60W panels by buying the separate PVs and soldering for hours. That was 8 years ago and I figured making them myself cost around 65.00. Since then, panels have come down so far in price that I am buying 100W Monocrystalline panels from Renogy for around $115.00/ea. I also bought a no-name brand 'flexible' 100W mono on eBay for $105.00. For my battery bank, I use 'Duracell' 6V batteries form "Sam's Club" for around $85.00/ea - I've had these batteries for 6 years and they are still working fine. My goal is to amass 17 - 100W panels to run my house hold eventually. :)

Kudos to you, to have your energy demands low enough that 1700 rated watts of solar can power your home!

Our 6810w would cover our usage for about 10 months of the year until we converted our gas furnace to electric, and it fell to about 7 months of the year. Then, we bought our Bolt. Now, maybe 2 or 3 months. I have plans for an off-grid array of about 3600w, connected to a critical loads panel on a transfer switch, mostly to entertain myself as I head towards retirement. I'll have to have something to keep me going.......:o

I should be clear that I'm only interested in running all of my lighting, computer, WiFi, a couple of 115V outlets for use if needed, and 'emergency' use refrigerator or appliances. The only thing I'm not prepared for is a keeping my 220V deep well pump going during an outage. I have purchased a 'hand-pump' and plan on spiking that into the ground for emergency water source. I heat with wood and that would be my source for 'hot' water if ever the situation unfolds. Ideally, my house would run most everything on 7.5 kwh but that's a bit of a reach for my financial situation. That scenario would be to install about 30 X 250W panels or 75 X 100W panels - and a battery bank big enough to deliver.

Where purchased?
 

In addition to the price being paid, I'm also interested in where folks are getting their solar equipment. Right now I get email from Renvu, and it looks like there are good deals with them. There must be other places.

Thanks,
Mike

MAB,
I have been looking at Renvu for awhile now and they have good prices but you should look at CivicSolar. I am getting ready to pull the plug on a grid-tied 14kw system and will keep this forum updated.

Thanks SgtNarc. I take a look at them.

Mike

The Renvu's of the world tend to sell at a higher cost per watt.
Cheaper is to find deals locally. Most areas have a guy or six making some extra money by selling solar panels and equipment. Usually there are local companies making a living selling solar equipment. A local dealer will supply both a better price and better advice.
For instance. Those 100w mono from Renvu for $115usd mentioned. You are much better off buying larger panels at 300w or up. I'm "one of those guys" and I sell 305w for under $200 canadian dollars. Really, if you're paying more than 65 cents a watt for A class panels you're paying too much. I have panels from .53 cad right now (B grade, 285 mono).

I like Canadian Solar. A customer put in a 9 panel array for his cottage (I do off grid systems only) and he's pulling 344w off of the 305s. I like it when customers are happy.

Silfab is also an excellent brand, scoring in the highest watts/$ in industry polls.

In Canada we look at 2.50/w installed on grid tie. I think in the US its around $2?

Thanks creeky, I'll look around.

I've got parts that came from CivicSolar, parts that came from Renvu, parts that came from SunElec (in Miami), and some other places. My last major order came from Renvu, and I hope they fired the first guy who packed my order (the first time). The second pallet of panels arrived in fine shape. The first pallet of 20 panels were a broken, jumbled mess that would make anyone on this forum cry, because I'm sure they were in great shape when they left the Renvu warehouse in California, but when the common carrier showed up at my house with the pallet of 20 panels that obviously were not stacked with corner blocks between panels, not stacked on a proper sized pallet, and not properly strapped down to be moved with a fork lift?? When the first shipment arrived, it was a jumbled mess of broken glass and twisted aluminum frames that I took photos of and refused to sign for!!

Deal with whoever you want for this PV gear, but pay very close attention when you take delivery of your panels. Even reputable places who deal in warehouses full of panels (like Renvu), can hire people who don't understand what happens to freight in transit using common carriers. Make no mistake, Renvu replaced my entire shipment of 20 panels, but I'm glad I had the freight insurance, and glad Renvu was able to provide a replacement set of panels out of their warehouse that matched what I originally ordered. (Florida has a limited list of panels they accept for use on systems in FL, even for personal home use. As a result, I really have to pay particular attention to what I'm ordering before I pull the trigger.)

In the end, I certainly have no issue with using Renvu again. They acknowledged their mistake in the original shipment packaging, and replaced my entire order. If I had been using them as my supplier to make a great deal to a client, the situation would have been vastly different than me buying gear for my own personal projects. :thumbup:

Certainly Creeky's advice of supporting a local supplier also gets you in touch with locals who can potentially support your new "habit", because honestly these PV arrays are addicting. :eek:

Thanks where2.

Just purchased panels.
 

It was nice to see all the feed back on the type of panels everyone is using and I finally bought my panels from Civc Solar.
Renvu was giving me a hard time. I bought (44) JA Solar 370w panels for $0.51/watt and 2 SMA Sunny Boy 7.7 inverters.

On another note, I dragged my feet in applying for a construction application from the local electric company and now they are charging a $300. engineering fee and want a "load calculation" done for the house. No idea why if I am installing a grid tied system with net metering.

Anyhow, I keep everyone posted and when the installation starts I will start a new thread with pics as I go along.

Congrats, getting everything on order.