The new Renogy 450W bifacial panels arrived!

[wholybee]

I look forward to your test results. I am very skeptical of the claims, but would be happy to hear they work well.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by wholybee

I look forward to your test results. I am very skeptical of the claims, but would be happy to hear they work well.

The LG bifacials regularly report 10-15% boost…. but so did my LG Neon 2 with just one side, just delivering more than the label rating.

We hope to cruise the Bahamas with the new array when hurricane season ends.

[tanglewood]

I'll be very interested to hear what you find. I just replaced the panels at my house with Canadian Solar bifacial (they look identical to yours) and so far the performance seems outstanding, especially on overcast days. I now have 5.5kw vs 3.8kw before, so that's part of it. But on overcast days where the old panels woudl struggle to bring everything back to full charge, the new panels do nearly 100% of the days. The only time they have not pushed the batteries back to full charge has been on steady rain days, but even then I'd say they reached 50-75% of the full required output. So it's all a bit subjective, but I'm real pleased. And I did nothing to take advantage of the bifacial capability. They are on pole mounts with grass below. In the winter with snow I expect it will produce.

[Jenta]

That's great Jedi! I heard LG was cutting out their production and didn't know Renogy was going to have them available.

We have just a little over a year on the water with four LG 405W Bifacials each running through their own BlueSolar Charger MPPT 100/20 48V to our 24v house bank.
On a good day, we see 1620+ watts consistently when the boom is enough to the side and the mast is not between the sun and the panels. In the Bahamas we would often see 1700+ watts now and then so I would guess the output is augmented by the underside in those conditions.

But what I've really noticed is that they perform very well even in cloudy conditions, and I'm often surprised at how much power they are already putting out early in the morning while the sun is low enough that the angle of incidence would seem like it is too extreme to result in any output at all let alone carry the boat load and charge the batteries.

We're all electric and VERY electronic heavy - so that's saying something.
One pic showing the installation at a distance, one showing at night with the cockpit lights all glowing. Love how the light shines through the bifacials.

And no - that is not where the Starlink is mounted normally. I was experimenting!

Still... sure would love another 400 watts or more...

[HomeFreed]

Jenta, where is your starlink mounted?

[Jenta]

Originally Posted by HomeFreed

Jenta, where is your starlink mounted?

Currently sitting on the cockpit roof just in front of the traveler all the way to the starboard edge of the roof. It is about 8 inches below the solar panels which is enough to affect reception/field of view which is why I was experimenting with placement.

I made a test platform out of a bucket that held it flat against the starboard forward edge of the solar panels and at equal height. That gave the most consistent and unobstructed sky view and service at any swing on anchor all the way down to St. Martin.

I’m in the process of drawing up a mount to be fabricated that will be mounted to the rooftop and hood it there, level.

[HomeFreed]

I was hoping cockpit roof would work for ease of installation and being less vulnerable than hanging off the side of my solar arch. This would be slightly above the solar panels since those are flush with roof in one plane. My guess is the mainsail flying will kill reception but will have to try it.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by HomeFreed

I was hoping cockpit roof would work for ease of installation and being less vulnerable than hanging off the side of my solar arch. This would be slightly above the solar panels since those are flush with roof in one plane. My guess is the mainsail flying will kill reception but will have to try it.

Sailcloth (unless carbon) doesn’t affect Dishy’s view of satellites. Your boom could if the angle of incidence from Dishy is within 20* - for this reason we raised our Dishy just above the level of the boom. Now it only gets obstructed with the mast and shrouds.

I’ve seen photos of people who have mounted Dishy horizontally under a foredeck hatch and report good reception.

[sailcrazy]

Jedi-curious what controller(s) you plan to use with the new panels. I'm guessing 1 controller per panel? what size, based on the rated output (top plus bottom) of these new panels? Are they feeding directly to your batt bank? How do you monitor each panel's output? Thanks

[SV Coronado]

I have six 400W VSun bifacials and I have been happy with them. I would have gone the 450W Renogy route if they were available when I did the solar install.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

Jedi-curious what controller(s) you plan to use with the new panels. I'm guessing 1 controller per panel? what size, based on the rated output (top plus bottom) of these new panels? Are they feeding directly to your batt bank? How do you monitor each panel's output? Thanks

So this array is larger than what fits so it’s two sideways sliding panels with two fixed panels on top. When retracted/stored, the cassette is 8’ (2.44m) wide which fits easily on top of our arch on the stern.
When deployed, the width increases to more than 15’ so it’s a bit like a wing or a spacecraft

The two fixed panels go in series and this connects to a Victron Smart MPPT 150/45 and the two sliding panels also go in series to a second controller of the same type.
These controllers are the old/expensive ones with remote on/off and relay outputs. The new ones only have a Ve-direct port and when you use that for a remote on/off switch, which is possible, then you lose that port for other purposes like connecting to a Cerbo GX.

The problem is that one of these controllers is currently on a second array, which consists of two LG panels of 375W each, 750W total. So I need to buy an extra controller and the cheapest one with both Ve-direct and remote on/off is a 150/60. If I want a Ve-CAN bus then the cheapest one is 150/70. I don’t know what to do. If I buy the 150/60 then I need a Ve-direct to USB converter, which I have so not a drama, but the Ve-CAN may be a better investment for the future.

I do plan (future) a similar setup with sliding panels for the other array too and this means I may move the four Renogy 450W panels to that location and get four 550W panels for the arch. Those are the same width, just another foot longer. Needs new controllers I’m afraid…

[Josehoya]

Did any of the tracking info work or did the panels just show up at your door one random day? I ordered the 450s a week ago and they gave me a shipping number but it doesn’t seem to work.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Josehoya

Did any of the tracking info work or did the panels just show up at your door one random day? I ordered the 450s a week ago and they gave me a shipping number but it doesn’t seem to work.

Yes, tracking is horrible. I recommend you open a case to find out… mine “shipped again” after I did. Tracking still didn’t work but I was called by the freight company a day or so later.

[s/v Jedi]

Today I am dry-fitting four of these panels in a cassette with sliding panels.

[George_SD]

Are the rails locking?

I assume one could have top panels under way and deploy the lower on anchor, but will need to wire them accordingly via different strings.