Upsolar Panels?

[mark da spark]

Just wondering if anyone has installed the M190M panels and if they are any good.
A customer has asked about them.

I've run them through PV Sol and they look to give a good yield.

Cheers

 

[Matt_M]

They ranked 4th in the OKO test, which was a blind test. So it would appear they are an good value option

 

[daytona600]

upsolar are branded modules from another pv supplier in china
seem to be dumping on the uk market at present
very low costs
still no when near the yields from high end modules from germany/usa/japan
solarworld/sunpower/sanyo

 

[SolarCity]

True, but nowhere near the cost either. Not everyone can afford Sanyos so the Chinese panels are sometimes a good option.

 

[daytona600]

True, but nowhere near the cost either. Not everyone can afford Sanyos so the Chinese panels are sometimes a good option.

chinese do offer lower prices on pv modules and everything else
upsolar are one of the better ones
but lower build quality , power warranty , positive power tolerance
untried for extended periods as most only a few years old

eg - sunmodules from solarworld tested for 4 years in northern germany with same sun
conditions as the uk produced higher yields than all other modules
european/usa/japan/china in photon magazine
and offer the worlds only 25year linear power warranty and are 31mm deep
2nd most expensive module on the world market
but they sold in 2010 781MW over 4million
number one in usa & europe - number 3 globally
and started in 1977 , they also just celebrated 30years since worlds first solar park
was built in the states
there is always a market for the best quality & performance

 

[malibu]

Why do people think that PVSOL can tell you how good a panel will perform in the real world?? Its a computer programme nothing more nothing less!

These overpriced Solar World modules are no longer the best performers in Photon International outdoor tests, they weren't even in the top 10. Last year (2010) Siliken (from Spain) and REC (Norwegian but made in Singapore) came top. UpSolar entered this testing platform in Feb this year and are actually performing very well, in July they came top of all the modules. Testament to the fact that they are a quality Chinese panel that incorporates a good deal of high quality european parts.

 

[JustinC]

upsolar are branded modules from another pv supplier in china
seem to be dumping on the uk market at present
very low costs
still no when near the yields from high end modules from germany/usa/japan
solarworld/sunpower/sanyo

hi there
I work for Upsolar, have just seen your posting so thought I might as well address your points directly ('cuse the trolling!)

Upsolar are not OEM, and our product is not someone else's product in any way shape or form - our unique business model (similar to Apple's), means we partner up our manufacturing operation with heavily vetted partners. We place our own members of staff on the Quality Control lines (we also have Bureau Veritas on-site), and we source all of our own components and raw materials for these production platforms (sourced by our Applied Materials division from around the World)

We source and fully declare all of the best components from the worlds leading manufacturers of Junction boxes (Huber Suhner), Glass (St Gobain), Sealant (Dow Corning), EVA (Bridgestone) and cells (JA, CSUN, MOTECH) - doing this means you not only have a longer lasting product, but you also have a better performing product

Happy to send through lots of info to you directly if required - here's my email justin.canning at upsolar.com

Also, we'll be at Ecobuild (stand N3165), so please feel free to dop by if you're in London that week

cheers, Justin

 

[Gavin A]

to add to the above - we've installed a lot of UpSolar panels, mostly the 190s, have always been impressed with the consistent build quality and have yet to have a failure.

It's hard to tell on performance, but we've certainly not had anyone coming back complaining about under performance. We've got about 250 of them up on a roof on an install we're about to fit a sunny web box to though, so should be able to get some decent real world data on them.

As an aside, we reckon the build quality is better than sharp - or at least it was, not used the latest sharps.

 

[powervan]

VALUE FOR MONEY!!simples!!

 

[SolarCity]

Great value for money and great panels.

 

[Glen Powell]

I have to add as a new guy to the forum, Do you really think Lombard’s would allow them on the bankability list if they were not suitable for investors. I can confirm I have used Upsolar in a couple of SPV models for investors and they have blown the likes of Sharps, Kyocera, ET, Hyundai and other out of the water when it comes to performance.

We procure for investors and wholesale Upsolar along with a few other high yielding panels. There is far too much of my mate said! and did you know?

Be fully aware as a company we have to guarantee yearly yield and efficiency levels to the investment funds so panel and inverter combinations are of the upmost importance.

I will say as a side note I am quite happy to supply panels if you want them.

 

[SpitfireW'sale]

I have to add as a new guy to the forum, Do you really think Lombard’s would allow them on the bankability list if they were not suitable for investors. I can confirm I have used Upsolar in a couple of SPV models for investors and they have blown the likes of Sharps, Kyocera, ET, Hyundai and other out of the water when it comes to performance.

We are distributors for ET Solar, so I read this post with interest, and decided to run a quick comparison.

I ran the 195W mono and 230W poly through PVSol (probably the most popular panels of both brands) using a SolarMax inverter (as we stock these inverters) and the software predicted the following:

20 X 195W mono ET + 4200S = 3309kWh, 12.4% efficiency
20 X 195W mono UpSolar + 4200S = 3301kWh 12.3% efficiency

16 X 230W poly ET + 4200S = 3126.4kWh 11.4% efficiency
16 X 230W poly UpSolar + 4200S = 3093kWh 11.3% efficiency

All 4 simulations based on 25 degree pitch, south facing in Birmingham. I appreciate there may be other factors to consider when creating comparisons, and if you are supplying panels for free PV they will probably demand a tier 1 panel. Being tier 1 is not a reflection of higher performance however.

My apologies if I have made a mistake with my workings, but surely you would agree that UpSolar hardly "blows ET out of the water" in these examples?

 

[Glen Powell]

Everybody has different results, I assume you used a 72 cell rather than a 60 cell, I am not fully aware of all the ET modules but my results are below.


View attachment ET_Solar_Powerone_3600.pdf
View attachment UP_Solar_Powerone_3600.pdf

I am not here to debate or say what is the best, I am just saying on past simulations Upsolar has performend very well.

 

[Gavin A]

the old maxim of garbage in garbage out springs to mind.

If there's no specific reason why the panels ought to perform so much better, then the chances are that someone's just made a mistake inputting part of the data from the panels IMO.

 

[Glen Powell]

It may be garbage in garbage out in the opinion of some, however, investors pay on performance of a system.

A number of qualifying tests are carried out after the install to consolidate the results, if the results of said tests are more than 5% lower than the simulated efficiency you don't get paid.

PVsol has now become the new tool for some investment funds PvGIS and Climate SAF are used but only to give a mean average.

PVsol is in my opinion quite accurate providing the correct information is entered in the first place. I use St Mawgan RAF for All my Benchmark tests with a 30 pitch roof and 0 degree asmuth, this is simply to ensure I compare apples with apples.

This is the reason my results show different to the previous poster, I compared 2 panels which were both 60 Cell modules rather than a 60 Cell versus a 72 Cell.