Best place to buy solar panels

[parkstone bay]

When you buy a solar panel, remember that it took sh**t loads of energy to produce, the supply of heavy metals and rare earths, and is encapsulated in single-use plastic. All you have done is kick the response down the road.

[ramblinrod]

[QUOTE=Ballsnall;3035424]

Originally Posted by piloto

Best vs. cheapest: the prices should remain about the same, warranties being pretty much standard across the board at 25 years.

Most residential panel warranties are either 10 or 12 years. You can count on one hand the brand's that offer a 25 year product warranty. Regardless, you would have 0 chance of claiming the warranty using std domestic panels on a boat.

As for the best place to buy solar panels than definitely not your marine chandler, for fixed panels buy the highest rated wattage brand name panel you can get direct from a local residential installer. Don't believe what everyone else says, size is everything. For flexible panels then I would just shop online for the best price per watt. Most of these are made with the same silicone from the same factory's regardless of price, just test the output once installed to make sure they perform as advertised.

I don't believe price per Watt is a very good measure for a marine application.

Price per Watt is OK for a solar farm, where lower efficiency is no biggy, and the land per square foot is far cheaper than the solar panel per square foot.

For a boat, we have a very finite piece of high cost real estate to mount panel on, so cost per W is not nearly as important as Watts . sq. ft.

Secondly, for a solar farm, after the panels are installed, they will likely stay there for 25 years.

On a boat, they may have to be removed / re-installed annually, for seasonal lay-up, and perhaps more frequently for windage reduction in advance of storms, so handling and storage becomes important.

A 300 W panel is pretty hard to handle in just 15 knots of wind before the storm, and won't likely fit down the companionway.

Additionally, smaller panels can be oriented in such a way to avoid obstructions (e.g. running backs) and reduce shading, (though larger panels may have built in bypass diodes to reduce shading impact).

So depending on the boat, ignoring cost per Watt, and focusing on optimal solar panel space utilization, and ease of handling, may be a better choice.

When I first start installing marine panels, I was mounting Chinese semi-flexible on soft biminis, and that didn't prove reliable.

I have now established the policy:

a) On any rack (over bimini or davits): cheap Chinese rigid
b) On curved hard bimini: cheap chinese semi-flex. (Cost = 2 x a)
c) On soft bimini or dodger: Solbian semi-flex (2 x b)

[sailcrazy]

Following. A few more viable sources for good quality panels would sure be good. When installing, is it still a good idea to put a shotkey diode in the panel output line to prevent a backflow of power?

[pbmaise]

My 300 watt German in name solar panels ran me $225 USD each at the local shop in the Philippines. To fit into my existing electrical panel the microswitches added another $125 each.

Wire another $50.

Solar controller was just $75 but only good for one panel. I was short on space and wired two of my panels without solar controllers. This meant I could keep one solar panel on always. The other two I switched on manually and needed to switch off at night.

[mark0978]

Originally Posted by wcapital

Politics aside....

If you want a good local price on panels, check with a local land based installer.
Typically they will have "left overs" from previous jobs and will sell those at a bit of discount and without any shipping costs. I got mine from someone that installed the panels on houses and I put them on my boat. I paid a little less than $1/W and a little more than 3 years later, they are still going strong.

Compared to "marine" panels they are more powerful for less money. I figured out I could replace them once and still be below the price of the "marine" panels, and probably by the time I do that, they will be more efficient as well.

[mark0978]

Originally Posted by byersdr123

...had to throw in your $0.03 worth of political views I think it should not be allowed and maybe you should be banned from the site because this. place that needs to be free of that

So there is a feature in the site so that you can personally block anyone you don't want to hear from. Use it if you can't stand the idea of ideas you dislike. The problem is, there are more people on here that have heated up the political fighting than the guy that asked the question, so ban away. Personally I use it to ban people that directly attack others on the forum, but use it as you like.

[Larry T.]

Check out Renogy panels on Amazon. SV Adventurer I installed them on their "land crusier". Talked to a couple kids a few years ago that had installed them on top of and old motor home and swore by them. I agree that anything that has marine or aviation stamped on the will cost more just for that fact, Check out Pacific Yacht Systems website. They have Youtube videos with all kinds of tips on how to and what for.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by byersdr123

So glad I can come to this site and read other people's experience and insight , but do we need to be political about it? You could have just said the Tariff between the US and China I think everybody understands who is behind it but you have to go there you had to throw in your $0.03 worth of political views I think it should not be allowed and maybe you should be banned from the site because this. place that needs to be free of that

1st Post ? Get used to it

[MarkSmaalders]

Try Hightec Solar Inc. Panels are made in the US using Solar World cells. I have 2 200 watt panels, very happy with them. They have a website and sell via ebay.

[HeinSdL]

Originally Posted by Larry T.

Check out Renogy panels on Amazon. SV Adventurer I installed them on their "land crusier". Talked to a couple kids a few years ago that had installed them on top of and old motor home and swore by them. I agree that anything that has marine or aviation stamped on the will cost more just for that fact, Check out Pacific Yacht Systems website. They have Youtube videos with all kinds of tips on how to and what for.

Agreed. I have 2 x 100w Renogy panels installed and am happy with the result. Bought in the US and delivered to Europe. To do with service and ease of doing business, is also still important these days. Was pre tariffs though.

[HeinSdL]

Originally Posted by parkstone bay

When you buy a solar panel, remember that it took sh**t loads of energy to produce, the supply of heavy metals and rare earths, and is encapsulated in single-use plastic. All you have done is kick the response down the road.

Although I am very environment/climate conscious, I did not install panels on my boat primarily for that reason. Reason was to have a continuous, silent, almost maintenance free source of power under the Mediterranean sun, while gently lying at anchor.

Oh and single use plastic refers in first instance to lids on coffee cups and straws which you also see plenty of while crossing the med...

[Johnknutson]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

If the exam question here is where is the best retailer to buy solar panels, I had a good experience with Matt at www.ContinuousResources.com last year. Small outfit out of Price, Utah that does a lot with RVs. I purchased four 200W panels, and Battle Born LiFePO4 batteries, Magnum 3200 Charger/Inverter, and MPPT controller. Matt assisted in the wiring diagram and component sizing. Prices were about the lowest I could find on the web. No surprises. Only minor glitch was it sometimes took a day or two to get a response because he was in the field. Nice folks.

Thanks for the resource. I sent the solar panel company you mentioned (continuous resources) an email.

[peteh007]

best to buy Sunpower panels. For sailing boats. We need to maximize the power output per unit area. Why? These panels (cells) dont have metal on top that blocks a fraction of the incoming light. So you get more watts/m^2. They are California company and assemble in various places, including france.
Same price as others.. same Frame as others. panels are cheap now..

[Johnknutson]

Thanks for the info, Pete! I will check them out.

[peteh007]

Actually todays solar panels use very little, relative to their generation. They pay back their energy in only a few days of use in a typical situation. There is ZERO rare earth metals in a solar panel. You are confusing yourself with perhaps permanent magnet motors used in electric cars. Also, Lithium batteries contain ZERO are earth chemicals. They are now completely recyclable - especially 18640's used in EV's.
These fake statements usually come out of the petroleum industry... LOL