Would you send these panels back??? Just got two in today.

Virtuousdesires

Below is some pics of what looks like a couple cracks and one of the pics has what looks to be a brownish tan spot right on the edge of cell. Those tan spots are on a lot of the cells. They look like burn marks. I darn near feel forced to get an MPPT controller to get higher quality panels!

Virtuousdesires

Virtuousdesires

littleharbor2

The fine lines (traces) on the cell surface are printed onto the cell. Pic.# 1 looks like a a smudge of the wet printed matter. Doubtful it will affect performance. The second pic isn't real clear so it's hard to tell where the flaw is. I will say this, many cells these days have those small brown marks on the edges. I believe they are inherent to the manufacturing process.

I have added a pic of these typical marks. Notice I have labeled the pic "solar cells flaws" this is to locate this shot, I still think this is just part of the particular mfg. process.

Virtuousdesires

littleharbor2 said:

The fine lines (traces) on the cell surface are printed onto the cell. Pic.# 1 looks like a a smudge of the wet printed matter. Doubtful it will affect performance. The second pic isn't real clear so it's hard to tell where the flaw is. I will say this, many cells these days have those small brown marks on the edges. I believe they are inherent to the manufacturing process.

I have added a pic of these typical marks. Notice I have labeled the pic "solar cells flaws" this is to locate this shot, I still think this is just part of the particular mfg. process.

I get that the fine lines are are supposed to be there. Take another look, there's marks that go across the fine lines. I can try one more pic for clarity.

Virtuousdesires

In other areas the camera won't pick up, I can't tell if there's a couple of pieces of hair or if those are cracks. Oh, and the new panels cells look completely different than the original one I bought last month from the same company! Lol

Virtuousdesires

Come to think of it, would these renogy panels even pass code?

Photowhit

I think Renogy are ETL inspected to UL rating, cheaper than getting a direct UL rating. So they should pass "code". You can check the label on the panel for certifications, UL or ETL


Did you get these through the Home Dept. sale? I think they had them at $110+ tax, it would be easy to return.

The first one might be a "snail trail" which might be from a fine crack in the cell, but if it's a straight line, I would think it's more likely from the printing process. The cell works on the current passing through the cell, top to bottom. The marks look to be errors in the 'printing' of the trace lines. I don't thin it would effect the function of the cells, other than minor shading of that area. Were they considered grade 'A' panels or having minor cosmetic flaws (grade 'B' panels). I personally might compare it to your current panel and if they are very similar, not worry about it. But then again my major panels purchased have been grade 'B' panels, the first had no visible flaws and the second had some coverage when flashing, so have some areas that are grey rather than blue. All have worked fine, going on 10 years now.

Virtuousdesires

I just went ahead and got the return label to ship them back to Amazon. I just shipped another one back earlier this week for similar problems AND Amazon was gracious enough to grant me a refund on the original panel I bought that has a scratch on the glass that I was going to keep but later found out that can cause problems.

So it seems I am now without solar panels...

Is Topoint solar panels any good? A guy has new ones on Craigslist 225 watt 60 cell poly panels for a 100 bucks new. Says he works for a company that installs commercial systems.

Blindowl1234

Photowhit said:

I think Renogy are ETL inspected to UL rating, cheaper than getting a direct UL rating. So they should pass "code". You can check the label on the panel for certifications, UL or ETL


Did you get these through the Home Dept. sale? I think they had them at $110+ tax, it would be easy to return.

The first one might be a "snail trail" which might be from a fine crack in the cell, but if it's a straight line, I would think it's more likely from the printing process. The cell works on the current passing through the cell, top to bottom. The marks look to be errors in the 'printing' of the trace lines. I don't thin it would effect the function of the cells, other than minor shading of that area. Were they considered grade 'A' panels or having minor cosmetic flaws (grade 'B' panels). I personally might compare it to your current panel and if they are very similar, not worry about it. But then again my major panels purchased have been grade 'B' panels, the first had no visible flaws and the second had some coverage when flashing, so have some areas that are grey rather than blue. All have worked fine, going on 10 years now.

Does Home Depot sell Renogy? I got my Grape solar panels from Home Depot....they didn't sell Renogy brand about a year ago, unless I missed something. 

mcgivor

Does Home Depot sell Renogy? I got my Grape solar panels from Home Depot....they didn't sell Renogy brand about a year ago, unless I missed something.

Home Depot, Costco, Walmart and the like get the lowest price bid for their supplier, they seem to have ever changing brands one month it's Grape the next it's Renogy then Wang Jing next who knows , they are not dealers carrying a particular line, they are low price outlets without any brand loyalty.

Photowhit

Blindowl1234 said:

Does Home Depot sell Renogy? I got my Grape solar panels from Home Depot....they didn't sell Renogy brand about a year ago, unless I missed something. 

I guess it must have been a grape panels, I recall having posted a sale in another thread about 100 watt panels recently, off sale now;

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/comment/368375#Comment_368375