Buying Solar Panels

With54

I will be purchasing solar panels in the near future and is looking for a little guidance. What are the things to look at when considering which panels to purchase?

Thanks

niel

Re: Buying Solar Panels

that, i would deem as more of a personal preference thing just as long as the ones you pick fulfill your required needs to function just like picking out a car. i know this may not be of much help to you in your decision, but what i just said is quite true. if you can state more exacting requirements we can generalize for you or give an example. beyond that it is your personal choice.

BB.

Re: Buying Solar Panels

Will this be for Grid Tied or Off Grid use? For grid tied you will need UL/NRTL Listing and at least 600 volt system rating.

For off grid use, you don't need Listing/600 VDC rating--but some unrated panels are rated at 70 VDC or so--For MPPT charge controllers, you can get upwards of 150 VDC on your array (depending on how you do the series/parallel connections and your battery bank voltage)...

In theory, UL and NRTL listings have nothing to do with how well a device is built--just that it will fail "safely" if something goes wrong. However, UL does test with cycling temperatures and moisture (including sub-freezing). The Listing tests are pretty extensive and severe--So, any company that takes the time and money to pass this tests (required for NEC/Grid Tied systems in the US/North America)--Is probably a better panel than the "unlisted" vendors.

Also, it depends on how much power you will need... Generally, panels > 100 watts have a better $$$/Watt price.

Physical size of panels may also matter to you... 135 watt panels are fairly easy to move around and store (portable use). 175 watt panels are about as large as you you can manage alone... 200 watt and larger panels probably need two people to carry safely.

Also, look at shipping costs/issues with size... If you are shipping to the middle of no-where, look at ~135 watt panels to give you a better choice of shippers.

As to who is a good manufacturer--I would stay away from Thin Film (and possibly Sanyo HIT hybrids) and Plastic Panels unless you find a really good $$$/watt pricing and/or you have people with rocks nearby other such special needs.

Otherwise, for good/bad brand names, you will need to talk to a retailer/wholesaler about their experiences. NAWS does seem to do a good job of weeding out poor suppliers from their suppliers. So, I would start looking there for "good brands".

-Bill