Different brands of solar panels

[pkalhan]

HI Everyone,

I am in the process of getting quotes for going solar. As this is so new to me, many companies are providing me quotes with the brand of solar panels they will be using. I have not heard of many of these companies so I am not sure how I can come to a good decision with such little knowledge of what is being offered and was hoping someone could offer some insight.

1) Tesla - 10.37kW at $31,006 ($2.99/W) they use Panasonic

2) Yellow Lite - 7.13kW ($3.15/W) meets roughly 70% of my needs. They are offering SLA-310M SLA-M from a company called Silfab Solar

3) Solar SME, Inc. - 9.86kW ($3.05/W) meets roughly 99& of my needs. They are offering SRP-340-6MA from a company called Seraphim Energy Group

4) Pennsylvania Solar Energy - 9.25kW ($3.00/W) meets 113% of my needs. They are offering Maxpower from Canadian Solar Inc.

Any one familiar with any of these panels or their manufacturers?

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[VT_EE]

Looks like you should be buying Tesla based on these quotes. A major benefit of Tesla is they will be around for a while in case you need warranty work. I would recommend getting the largest system your roof can handle if you plan on charging EVs.

 

[trmmcd]

SunPower is one of the top two brands of solar panels. It is very interesting that none of your quotes include these and you should ask about them. They are the most efficient and also have the best retained performance over time.

 

[nomis_nehc]

Not worth it though for the price premium you pay over all the other options available. If you are limited on roof space that would be one thing. If that's a non-factor, the intent should be best ROI.

To the OP, you should also list whether it's micro or string inverter, that's a bigger piece than most realize. Nowadays, panels are more or less manufactured to a certain standard to a point that it's just kWh produced at the end of the day, considering they primarily have 20-25 year hardware warranty anyway.

 

[nwdiver]

To the OP, you should also list whether it's micro or string inverter, that's a bigger piece than most realize.

Depends on the string inverter and shading issues. If there's multiple strings in parallel on one MPPT with the potential for shade there can be some loss of production. Newer string inverters have 2 or 3 MPPTs so any shading issues are greatly minimized especially if each string is on an independent MPPT. If there are no shading issues the cost premium of micros is unlikely to be worth it.

But yeah... generally panels are panels. LG and SunPower are generally the best just because they use back contact cells and have the highest efficiency but other than that there's not a huge difference. When I'm putting a project together I generally just look for the lowest $/w.

 

[nomis_nehc]

I like to point out that it's not all just shading issue. It's also the longevity of the hardware as well. The mean time before failure between micro inverters vs. string is simply night and day. And of course you'll have to replace the string inverter ~10 years and pay for the hardware and labor (whatever labor rate might be 10 years from now).

 

[nwdiver]

I like to point out that it's not all just shading issue. It's also the longevity of the hardware as well. The mean time before failure between micro inverters vs. string is simply night and day. And of course you'll have to replace the string inverter ~10 years and pay for the hardware and labor (whatever labor rate might be 10 years from now).

That might make sense if micros were a little more expensive than strings. But when they're ~3x the cost per watt....

For the 22.8kW system I'm working on the 2 string inverters will cost us $2880. To use micros would cost ~$10,000

 

[boriszima]

SunPower is one of the top two brands of solar panels. It is very interesting that none of your quotes include these and you should ask about them. They are the most efficient and also have the best retained performance over time.

I had quote from Sunpower and it was very expensive, but at 360w per panel was best. I ended going with middle of the ground, HIT Panasonic 330Watts which is very similar to Tesla/solar City which are (were?) also made by Panasonic at 315/325watts per panel.

Check out this link
The Best Solar Panels to Buy in 2019 | EnergySage

I am not expert, in your case Tesla is best bet, cheapest, highest warranty at 25 years, highest efficiency, etc.

 

[NuShrike]

I had quote from Sunpower and it was very expensive, but at 360w per panel was best. I ended going with middle of the ground, HIT Panasonic 330Watts which is very similar to Tesla/solar City which are (were?) also made by Panasonic at 315/325watts per panel.

Check out this link
The Best Solar Panels to Buy in 2019 | EnergySage

I am not expert, in your case Tesla is best bet, cheapest, highest warranty at 25 years, highest efficiency, etc.

You can try talking SunPower down.

My SunPower dealer (from San Diego), got me around ~$3.80/w before rebates/credits for 360w micros (circa 2/18). That was way better than SolarCity and some other SunPower dealer quotes. It would've been closer to $3.30/w for the 327w panels, but I don't want older-tech/low-power panels up there for 25 years.

For the limited space on my roof, totally worth it.

 

[JHellow]

Check out the LG Neon Rs. I have their 355 watt panel from a year ago, 26 of them. They are almost as efficient as the SunPowers, same warranty and a good bit less expensive. They work great with Enphase IQ7+ micro-inverters.

 

[boriszima]

You can try talking SunPower down.

My SunPower dealer (from San Diego), got me around ~$3.80/w before rebates/credits for 360w micros (circa 2/18). That was way better than SolarCity and some other SunPower dealer quotes. It would've been closer to $3.30/w for the 327w panels, but I don't want older-tech/low-power panels up there for 25 years.

For the limited space on my roof, totally worth it.

I had only looked into one master dealer by sunpower and they wanted $4.85/w So i did not even bother compared to $3.00/w for Panasonic. I wanted it since they are best? and i have limited roof, but spending that much was not worth it. Of course if i really wanted i could have shopped around.

 

[kev1n]

I had only looked into one master dealer by sunpower and they wanted $4.85/w So i did not even bother compared to $3.00/w for Panasonic. I wanted it since they are best? and i have limited roof, but spending that much was not worth it. Of course if i really wanted i could have shopped around.

the trick is to get a quote directly from sunpower, all their dealers will mark up to make money. i went with sunpower in the end. tesla/solarcity was a joke when i spoke to them. they didnt even know what they were selling and kept trying to get me to sign.

 

[NuShrike]

I had only looked into one master dealer by sunpower and they wanted $4.85/w So i did not even bother compared to $3.00/w for Panasonic. I wanted it since they are best? and i have limited roof, but spending that much was not worth it. Of course if i really wanted i could have shopped around.

It may be a pattern that the first quotes you get are overpriced until you start telling them you've had other quotes and then they stop messing around. My first Tesla quotes were in the ~$4.30/w range for those same 325w Panasonics they're still selling.

If I didn't listen to EnergySage's advice of getting closer to 5 quotes, I don't think I would've ended up as decently as I think I did. The first SP dealer I was going with was in the ~$3.90/w until I shopped a little more. I got a better price and a denser, better custom design in exchange.

I'm only sad I couldn't get my SP dealer to give me the latest 370w panels that had JUST come out during my install time. SP may now finally have Enphase micros in them. Of course, this is from the viewpoint, like building a PC, where having the proper capex in the latest tech gives better satisfactory longevity and after-market reliability.

 

[boriszima]

the trick is to get a quote directly from sunpower, all their dealers will mark up to make money. i went with sunpower in the end. tesla/solarcity was a joke when i spoke to them. they didnt even know what they were selling and kept trying to get me to sign.

I called sunpower directly, i was told they do not sell/install directly and passed me over to a local dealer. I had 6 different quotes, but only one SunPower.

 

[kev1n]

I called sunpower directly, i was told they do not sell/install directly and passed me over to a local dealer. I had 6 different quotes, but only one SunPower.

thats strange, i bought from sunpower sales rep. im in norcal too. this was in 2017.

 

[boriszima]

thats strange, i bought from sunpower sales rep. im in norcal too. this was in 2017.

Maybe they sell them, but dont install and do roof? Did you just buy it or has Sunpower come out to install?
Where to Buy Home Solar Panels | SunPower Solar Blog

 

[gilscales]

panasonic-solar-panels-complete-review

 

[nwdiver]

I called sunpower directly, i was told they do not sell/install directly and passed me over to a local dealer. I had 6 different quotes, but only one SunPower.

The new LG panels are up to 365w now; They're not cheap but also not so much to justify >$4/w. Maybe find a more reasonable dealer and request the LG panels? LG doesn't require authorized dealers like SunPower.

 

[kev1n]

Maybe they sell them, but dont install and do roof? Did you just buy it or has Sunpower come out to install?
Where to Buy Home Solar Panels | SunPower Solar Blog

that is correct. sunpower contracted the install job to a 3rd party but everything went through sunpower in terms of paperwork, etc.

the funny thing is, i also got a quote from the same 3rd party that did the install and they heavily marked up their quote.

 

[boriszima]

The new LG panels are up to 365w now; They're not cheap but also not so much to justify >$4/w. Maybe find a more reasonable dealer and request the LG panels? LG doesn't require authorized dealers like SunPower.

I signed a contract about a month ago and today panels and system should be finished installing. These do look really good and indeed rival Sunpower who now has 370w? I mean there are commercial panels well over 400W like by sunpower but i assume thats out of reach for residential use.

@pkalhan - what are you leaning too before this thread got hijacked... haha