Sun power E-19

System

Are Sun power E-19 panels available yet?

SolarLurker

Re: Sun power E-19

The 318 are available, you have to work with a sunpower dealer to purchase the panels.

boB

Re: Sun power E-19

Where does one find Sunpower's module spec sheets ? I cannot seem to find a link on their web site for any data sheets.

boB

BB.

Re: Sun power E-19

Here Sun Power's PDF download for their 315 Watt panels (E19 version?).

Ratings:

Peak Power (+5/-3%) Pmax 315 W
Rated Voltage Vmpp 54.7 V
Rated Current Impp 5.76 A
Open Circuit Voltage Voc 64.6 V
Short Circuit Current Isc 6.14 A

Woodyotto,

Are you looking for Grid Tied or Off Grid use of these panels... They (if I recall correctly) require a positive grounded GT Inverter to work well (not a big issue--major vendors offer both Negative and Positive grounded GT inverters or you get the ones private labeled by Sunpower directly).

Positive Ground Off-Grid systems are relatively rare and can be a bit of a nightmare to configure.

-Bill

System2

Re: Sun power E-19

I'm using microinverters.

SolarLurker

Re: Sun power E-19

I believe sunpower has a policy that you have to purchase their inverters with their panels. The Sunpower panel is manufatured by SMA. Sunpowers tolerances are good, unless you have partail shading I doubt you would see much gains with microinverters.

System2

Re: Sun power E-19

Thanks, unfortunately shading is a problem.

drees

Re: Sun power E-19

woodyotto wrote: »

I'm using microinverters.

Where are you getting micro-inverters compatible with the SunPower E19 panels?

jcgee88

Re: Sun power E-19

SolarLurker wrote: »

I believe sunpower has a policy that you have to purchase their inverters with their panels.

SunPower would like you to purchase their inverters with their
PV modules. No one can force you to buy something you don't
want, though.

Enphase has certified with certain SunPower PV modules, although
their wording for the certification is strange. In any case, the
combination is valid from the Enphase warranty perspective.

Lastly, my contractor - an authorized SunPower dealer - happens
to be bidding a SunPower/Enphase combination right now to an
aquantance of mine. That site has shading issues.

John

dmiller

Re: Sun power E-19

I'm curious why some would do a grid tie system if there are shading issue? Doesn't that push the economics too far towards the negative?

niel

Re: Sun power E-19

dmiller wrote: »

I'm curious why some would do a grid tie system if there are shading issue? Doesn't that push the economics too far towards the negative?

power is power, but it just depends on what one is willing to sacrifice for the costs. let's face it, when it all boils down to it we all have shading problems to one extent or another even if it is only nightfall.:p

solarhours

Re: Sun power E-19

Don't the Enphase microinverters help with shading issues? The way I understand it is if one module is shaded and all the modules have microinverters, then the only module to be affected is the shaded one. With string inverters one shaded module brings the performance of the whole system down. If that is the case then I could see how someone could grid tie with shading issues. Just depends on the severity.

BTW, I am scheduled to get a 4.56 kWh system from Sunpower and they will be using Enphase microinverters on the project. They warranty everything for the first 10 years. The microinverters are warrantied for 15 years. Good luck to all.

BB.

Re: Sun power E-19

Interesting, last I read, Sunpower was not using Enphase inverters--So there appears to have been a new change here.

Can you design a central inverter to run with some shading about as well as an Enphase system--probably in many (most?) cases.

For systems with heavy/mottled shading through out major portions of the day--It does not matter which system you install--Neither will pull much energy from heavy shade / less than open sun for most of the day.

-Bill

tallgirl

Re: Sun power E-19

You can always just buy their panels and not buy their (rebranded SMA) inverters.

My understanding is that SunPower is very expensive when you =don't= buy all the kit from them, which makes me wonder why anyone would mix their panels with anything else ...

As for the shading issues, it's a shame Enphase doesn't support any thin film panels because thin film is relatively immune to shading issues. If half the panel is shaded, you make half the power. Not like mono or poly where if one (or two) cell is shaded, the entire panel is lost.

tallgirl

Re: Sun power E-19

BB. wrote: »

For systems with heavy/mottled shading through out major portions of the day--It does not matter which system you install--Neither will pull much energy from heavy shade / less than open sun for most of the day.

-Bill

That's more a function of the type of shade and type of panel than just being shade. Hard shadows -- not much can be done, there's no light at all. Mono- and poly-crystalline panels -- same deal. For chronic shading problems the only solution is a chain saw, backhoe or dynamite or else going with high voltage thin-film panels like the Kanekas.

The other solution is going with high-power, low-voltage panels, such as the Evergreen 195's -- it's a 114 cell panel that's apparently wired as three series strings. So if one cell is shaded, you only lose 1/3rd of the output, rather than 1/2hf or all as with high-voltage panels.

solarhours

Re: Sun power E-19

"My understanding is that SunPower is very expensive when you =don't= buy all the kit from them, which makes me wonder why anyone would mix their panels with anything else ..."

I think it depends on the dealer. I asked for quotes from 7 different dealers/installers and only one had a lower price than the Sun Power dealer I choose and, that was only by about 100 dollars. My system consists of 20 M 190 Enphase Micro-inverters and 20 Sun Power Serengeti 228 solar panels. The system will be installed using the Uni-Rack 60 ballast system. My system also includes 5 years of Enphase monitoring. Plus, Sun Power will warranty everything, including installation for 10 years. Which means that even though Enphase has 15 years on the inverters themselves, they don't have a warranty on the installation and removal. Sun Power covers that. The second longest warranty promise I received was for 4 years. Oh yea, Sun Power also offered 12 months no interest no payments, which means I will recoup some of the PV cost through no longer having an electric bill payment and through the payments I receive from my local REC program for the first 12 months. Sun Power handles my utility REC paperwork and all my tax rebate paperwork. I think the reason people think Sun Power is so expensive is becuase they are buying Sun Power's high end modules. Serengeti is only rated at 13.9% efficency. But since I have the roof space, I don't really care. I only care about the price I pay for the kWh's I am quoted. Now tell me how much you would pay for all that and I promise you, if you are honest about how much you would pay, the price I will pay will be less than what you are thinking and probably much less. BTW, I got a quote from another Sun Power dealer who had never heard of the Serengeti Panels. His quote was 9K more. That is some difference. The Serengeti are new but their warranty is very good. They were meant for commercial use and I could not be happier with the deal.

JJones

Re: Sun power E-19

solarhours wrote: »

"My understanding is that SunPower is very expensive when you =don't= buy all the kit from them, which makes me wonder why anyone would mix their panels with anything else ..."

I think it depends on the dealer. I asked for quotes from 7 different dealers/installers and only one had a lower price than the Sun Power dealer I choose and, that was only by about 100 dollars. My system consists of 20 M 190 Enphase Micro-inverters and 20 Sun Power Serengeti 228 solar panels. The system will be installed using the Uni-Rack 60 ballast system. My system also includes 5 years of Enphase monitoring. Plus, Sun Power will warranty everything, including installation for 10 years. Which means that even though Enphase has 15 years on the inverters themselves, they don't have a warranty on the installation and removal. Sun Power covers that. The second longest warranty promise I received was for 4 years. Oh yea, Sun Power also offered 12 months no interest no payments, which means I will recoup some of the PV cost through no longer having an electric bill payment and through the payments I receive from my local REC program for the first 12 months. Sun Power handles my utility REC paperwork and all my tax rebate paperwork. I think the reason people think Sun Power is so expensive is becuase they are buying Sun Power's high end modules. Serengeti is only rated at 13.9% efficency. But since I have the roof space, I don't really care. I only care about the price I pay for the kWh's I am quoted. Now tell me how much you would pay for all that and I promise you, if you are honest about how much you would pay, the price I will pay will be less than what you are thinking and probably much less. BTW, I got a quote from another Sun Power dealer who had never heard of the Serengeti Panels. His quote was 9K more. That is some difference. The Serengeti are new but their warranty is very good. They were meant for commercial use and I could not be happier with the deal.

That's because you don't have real Sunpower panels. They marketed you a Lexus and sold you a base model Toyota. Serengeti is generic Chinese nonsense, overpriced at that. The way that Sunpower dealers call them "Sunpower Poly" is extremely misleading.


You can get better quality Yingli and other Chinese panels for a much better price. Serengeti are low end panels that SunPower is buying on the cheap, branding them, then selling them for more than anyone would normally pay for lower-end Chinese panel. If you paid more than $4.90 a watt for them, you paid too much. I almost fell for this con until I did some research and discovered how mediocre the Serengeti panels actually were.


You can get SolarWorld mono's, top of the line quality, American made with a long warranty, for about 20 cents more per watt than what the average going price for the Serengeti's is.

solarhours

Re: Sun power E-19

Actually, I know exactly what I am getting. The Serengeti come with the same 25 year power warranty and 10 year bumper to bumper warranty that all the other Sunpower panels have. The 10 year warranty on the frame and workmanship is actually better than many other panels. The Serengeti were intended for commercial use. Also, you are wrong about where they were made. They were made in Germany, not China.

What people pay for with higher end panels is efficency. If you have the roof space, like I do, and you know your roof can take the weight, you would be throwing your money away buying higher efficent panels for much higher prices. In other words, I was sold a loaded Toyota, with the same ultimate performance of a Lexus with a less attractive look (I have a flat roof so I don't care about that either) for a much lower price. And no, I did not pay anywhere near 4.90 a watt. The price was much lower. It was more like what you would pay for a Kia. Ha.

BTW Just checked Solar World's 230's. The workmanship warranty is only 5 years. Serengeti warranty is better at 10 years.
http://www.solardepot.com/pdf/SW220-225-230.pdf