Counterfeit Sharp Panels

[hydeselec]

Thanks

 

[tlsambo]

I'm still dissapointed to keep bumping in to people who have been sold Sharp panels. They tell me and usually add that their electrician told them they're the best. When I show them the results in some of the PV Solar magazine articles they find it hard not to show thier annoyance. Help spread the word, sharp are badly made, poor performing panels! Tell all your local electricians!!!

 

[finewine]

I'm still dissapointed to keep bumping in to people who have been sold Sharp panels. They tell me and usually add that their electrician told them they're the best. When I show them the results in some of the PV Solar magazine articles they find it hard not to show thier annoyance. Help spread the word, sharp are badly made, poor performing panels! Tell all your local electricians!!!

Right guys, got a great comparison for you to look at. I had 16 x 245 watt sharp panels installed on 26 / 3 / 12. Cost £9,000 although we were quoted between £7,900 and £13,000! for the exactly the same system (Sunny boy 3600) Roof is south facing with no shading at all and 35degee angle. We decided to pay a little extra as the electrical firm we have chosen have been going for 24 years and Solar is only a small part of their business. My thoughts are that some of those companies that quoted will not be around in 2 years. Generation to date is 290kwh which I am very happy with and 26kwh was generated on April 1st.

Now here is the interesting bit. We were so impressed after week 1 that we decided it was now or never to put Panels ons our rental property 2 doors up. This is in the exact same terrace and faces south with no
shading so ideal for comparison.
This system comprises 16 x 245w Knive panels and the same 3600 sunny boy inverter. £2000 pounds less as well but installed by the same company.

Installed on 6th APril and to date the Sharp system is outperforming the Knive which has surprised me after having read this thread.

On April 12th my Sharp system managed to produce 22kw, much to my surprise in the brighter interludes between the showers. However, the knive only made 19.5kwh. All other days have had the Sharp system between 2 and 10% higher. One very interesting observation however is that the Knive system has peaked at a higher output, up to 3800 w / hour and whilst my sharp hasn't got above 3720 since installed. It seems the Sharp panels continue to generate higher amounts of power when its cloudy or when the panels are shaded due to sun being further around the horizon.

 

[SolarCity]

Thanks for the data. Side by side comparisons are really useful. Keep us updated on how the systems perform.

Incidentally, are both sites entirely free from shade at all times of the day?

 

[tlsambo]

Dear Finewine
The results don't surprise me at all. Despite all the comments about Sharp panels on this forum there are worse panels. I've not heard of Knive panels however I've mocked up a roof on PV Sol and the results are as follows

Knive 245 SMA3600 3962
Sharp 245 Mono SMA3600 3908
Sharp 245 Poly SMA3600 3917
Sharp 245 Poly with PVI3.6 3958
Knive 245 with PVI3.6 3968
REC 245 with PVI3.6 4082
REC 245 with SMA3.6 4032

I reckon Solar City may have raised a very good point. If even a very minor bit of shading is hitting the Knive panels it could easily make the difference in performance. Aerials, Chimneys or even overhead cables could easily make the difference up.
There is also the issue that Sharp panels are badly made. The old panels didn't have a brace across the back holding the two sides of the frame together, on these old panels you could bend the frame far enough to expose the edge of the glass. The brace is a poor solution as it doesn't solve the problem that there is no protection from water ingress.