Evergreen vs. Sun solar panels

Re: Evergreen vs. Sun solar panels

Evergreen panels (from what I have read around here) are very nice panels.

"Sun" -- You have to be careful... The name Sun is shared across vendors -- and some of the vendors with "Sun" in their name, share components with other companies with "Sun" in their name.

Here is one thread that has a lot of the issues discussed:

sun-130 panels

And to add confusion there are different ways to manufacture panels... And "Sun Power" makes very nice high end panels, but they should be "positively" grounded or they are negatively grounded, they will lose a significant amount of their output over a few weeks (it is temporarily and setting up with positive ground will restore their output levels).

For Grid Tied systems, we can get inverters with Negative Ground (common/default) or Inverters with Positive Grounded panels (special order or a switch/fuse change in field).

For Off-Grid (aka Battery Systems), the standard is Negative Grounded systems (Telecom systems are positive grounded but rare for regular home systems).

How much power will you lose--Not clear and a lot of the old papers have disappeared from the Internet.

To make things confusing, Sun Power supplies solar cells (i.e., wafers) to Sun Electronics out of Florida. Who pays to have them put in their private labeled "Sun" panels. Documentation may not state positive ground required or issues if negative grounded.

And Sun also buys solar cells from other vendors and suppliers too... And private labels them too (like aesthetic seconds from Evergreen--if I recall correctly).

The seconds and other panels may not be UL/NRTL Listed (building code issues--if it applies). Also, some of the private label panels are only rated to 70 VDC... For MPPT Solar Charge Controllers, this is not high enough to go to 150 VDC as can be done in some configurations. Regular panels intended for Grid Tied Systems are rated for 600 VAC (or higher sometimes).

The above thread does list a bit more of the details.

What would I (my 2 cents) get the inexpensive panels... Tough call. But if it was my first install and/or critical (i.e., has to work), I probably go with first quality panels...

Others here may disagree...

Look around, panels are getting cheaper... Also compare the shipped/insured price. It is expensive to ship the panels (thin glass) and small orders have to be repacked for shipment. A local vendor may end up being a better source for a few panels...

-Bill