Solar Panel Packaging & Shipping / Pallets

Re: Solar Panel Packaging & Shipping / Pallets

solar panels would alwasy be shipped on a palette for a long distance ocean freight trip.

A palette typically holds around 30 panels or less, stacking a few more on top could easily be done and would be cheaper than having two pallets since ocean frieght quotes are often based on volume.

Re: Solar Panel Packaging & Shipping / Pallets

Be very careful about this. I have tried a number of different module manufacturers and have been amazed at the corners they cut in the packing department. They are under a mandate to cut costs to be sure, and they go to some lengths to each custom design their own packing systems, but as expensive as this products are, I would think they would be more paranoid about protecting them. Some use these cheezy, all plywood pallets (crappiest plywood you've ever seen) with no bottom boards on the pallet (so it can tip right off a forklift with regular length forks). I understand you can't use real wood any more in international shipping because of insect migration but come-on.
No one crates the panels of course, just cardboard or plastic wrapping. Always inspect your modules at delivery because it is not uncommon for a forklift to bang the side of a pallet denting a module down low in the stack. Usually will have glass bits dribbling out when that happens, but maybe not. Might be lucky to get a plywood top, but that is so they can stack another pallet on top of that! Some use these special plastic corner spacers that hold all the modules in alignment but many just stack the modules up and use a cardboard corner protector to hold them. If the stack gets out of alignment by more than half an inch, now it is sitting on the glass of the lower module. They must get a lot of shipping claims, I know I've done my share.
Some pallets have very few top boards, and its easy for a fork lift to lift up through them and actually be lifting on the bottom module.
Another favorite packing method is to stack the modules on their side. Works Ok as long as the pallet is banded and full, but as soon as you cut the bands or remove a couple modules or have a partial pallet, it becomes very unstable and the worthless cardboard wrapper doesn't have a chance of keeping it from falling over.
As a consequence of all this, distributors, (while they seem happy to do so) have a hard time with partial pallets or adding on a few modules to a full pallet. Those cases are especially prone to damage. We are now in the practice of buying more than we need to get full pallets, leaving them banded until delivered to the job site, and using distributed type inverter systems (SolarEdge) so that we always utilize the extra modules.

Re: Solar Panel Packaging & Shipping / Pallets

I've only had experience with sunelec
The evergreen panels have plastic panel corners and it would be childs play to add a few more to a stack.

the flat laminates were crated in a 3/4" plywood crate which was very strong and heavy and it was only half full so again it would be easy to add more panels inside.