Which panels and inverter to choose?

[jag1972]

You may want to check the leadtime on the Suntechs, some suppliers are quoting Oct/Nov delivery.

Thats a great price, almost too cheap.

Happy to wait and you're right the price is very good (hence my query regarding whether I am allowed to mention the company on the forum).

 

[dansk]

Gees thats really cheap, are you sure there isnt any hidden extras?

 

[golfermad]

From doing abit of research on different kinds of panels which is a minefield I found that the best way to compare panels is first look at the module efficiency of the panels not the cell efficiency because any estimated figures that you get from any companies I think are supposed to be used using a SAP calculation, which doesn't differentiate one panel from the next. They all would give the same figures, but more efficient panels would produce more electricity or more kWh's because they need less solar radiation or photons to actually start releasing the electrons from the two silicon wafers within the pv cells that are coated in boron and phosporous to make them positive and negative (not sure which one does which). I would always go with monocrystalline panels aswell because of our climate, from what I have seen they perform so much better in cloudy conditions. Which sadly we do get. The guarantees seem to be changing quite abit as the manufacturers are getting more competitive, so look for the best guarantees and also the company guarantees, what they offer and what backing they have and how long they have been around. In terms of the inverter is look at what inverter would make your scenario best in terms of if there is different orientations or any sort of shading. The sunny boys seem to have the brand name that people know but aren't always best but the wireless monitor you can get with them is very good.

 

[golfermad]

Upsolar effiency of 190W panels = 14.9%

Sanyo 250W panels = 18%

Yes upsolar gives slightly bigger system but effiency difference is massive. But someone mentioned problems with the Sanyo panels over in America, not sure if it would effect here?

 

[teknocomp]

The upsolar system is bigger on kw and £1160 cheaper so my question really which is the best system to go for would the sanyo being a smaller system really make up the £1160 over time also are the prices I've been quoted ok

 

[Worcester]

Upsolar effiency of 190W panels = 14.9%

Sanyo 250W panels = 18%

Yes upsolar gives slightly bigger system but effiency difference is massive. But someone mentioned problems with the Sanyo panels over in America, not sure if it would effect here?

Sanyo panels will produce more output, however not for the reasons you state.

The efficiencies quoted are misleading, they relate to power output / m2 not how much light they convert over a 365 day period.

So in general principal any 3kW system will produce the same amount of kWh.

The difference is a Sanyo system will take up less space.

Now in practice that's not competely true as the Sanyo's use a different constrcution from normal Mono or poly panels, and they are better at converting lower light levels into power, so they work longer during a day and produce more on dull days, hence the greater kWh produced over a year.

As it happens that has nothing to do with the % efficiencies quoted.

The SAP calculations ignore technology used and only work on the panel rating and don't take different technologies into account.

To illustrate my point - you think you'll get 240W out of a Sanyo HIT-N240SE10?

Well 240W is at standard test conditions - 1000W/m2 and 25C

The chances of that occuring in real life are incredibly small, instead just have a look at the output on the spec sheet of a Sanyo HIT-N240SE10 - the output under normal operating conditions (NOCT) is 185W (800W/m2 45C)

That's way barring real world measurements over a long period of time, it is only an application like PV*Sol that will give you something close to a comparitive kWh output / annum so allowing you to compare panels.

Ignore the headline %'s they are about W/m2 instead focus on kWh/annum / kWp

This has been well discussed here, if you search for Sanyo you'll find a wealth of information about efficiencies, performance and output.

I would expect for two systems of the same size, the Sanyo will produce many more kWh / annum than the alternatives.

 

[paul_harring100]

Hi zcacogp

Tianwei is a Fortune 500 company and has been an expert in the Solar Industry for years. Check them out at Tianwei New Energy- New Solar Energy, Solar Module Company, Photovoltaic Module, China modules, solar photovoltaic industry
Eco-Kinetics are currently selling these panels and German made SMA Inverters.

A 2.76kW system costs £7,379.00 - THATS MORE THAN 1000QUIDS OF YUR CHEAPEST QUOTE.

www.eco-kinetics.co.uk

cheershttp://www.eco-kinetics.co.ukCHEERS

 

[tlsambo]

As you are clearly keen on drilling down to the best system the PV Sol will give you immensely more accurate output figures as you can take shading in to account. However at over £1k per licence I guess you won't be running out to buy a copy!

Some of the comments about Sanyo are true. They'll make more use of your roof space but because of thier heat capactity on a watt for watt basis you'll usually get more out of Suntech.

All that said, if it's return on investment you're after, in my experience in similar situations the Sanyo system will give you the best return due to the fact that they maximise the system size.

Hope that helps!

 

[Worcester]

@paul_harrington100

It is not good forum etiquette to blatantly submit a quote when you work for the company.

 

[zcacogp]

@paul_harrington100

It is not good forum etiquette to blatantly submit a quote when you work for the company.

It's also poor form not to read the whole thread; had he done so, he'd have realised that I had some (very fine) Sanyo panels fitted a month ago, and we've now generated a goodly chunk of juice from them ...


Oli.

 

[paul_harring100]

@zcacogp

Didnt mean to make you feel bad about your puchase.
Most good quality panels end up generating nearly the same amount of kW/day (please compare technical data sheets)
I think all the offers listed by yourself were really exhorbitant.
Just trying to help others make a better decision in the future and I'm sure you'd want to do the same..

@worcester

My understanding is that this forum was created to help people in the UK make the right decision about their purchase.
I'm not lobbying here for the company but just making people aware that there are better options available now in the market.
Regarding my job status, it's here today - it's gone tomorrow.
I'm just reporting as a satisfied customer.

Regards.

 

[solarsavings]

My understanding is that this forum was created to help people in the UK make the right decision about their purchase.
I'm not lobbying here for the company but just making people aware that there are better options available now in the market.
Regarding my job status, it's here today - it's gone tomorrow.
I'm just reporting as a satisfied customer.

Regards.

Who would think otherwise:dizzy2:

 

[SolarCity]

My understanding is that this forum was created to help people in the UK make the right decision about their purchase.

To be fair, Paul, you have haven't contributed anything to the forum apart from masquerading as a customer of a company that you work for and then touting for work. It's poor show in my opinion.

I'm just reporting as a satisfied customer.

Of your own company?!

 

[sam64]

Hi, after having read this thread, am I right in thinking that the efficiency of panels is affected by which inverter you use? This I didnt realise. We are still in the process of choosing which panels to go for, now I might have to reconsider which inverter too! I gather the main 3 are Sunny boy 4000 tl, Fronius and Power one.

The panels we are looking at are Sanyo 250w, Bisol 245w and maybe now Suntech 245w/250w.

Can anybody help with which inverter goes best with which panel please? Maybe some kind soul might run it through PV Sol which I keep reading about! We want 4kw system, on west facing roof, 30 degree pitch, no shade in Lancashire.
Thanks

 

[SRE]

Sam, we regularly install all of these and we're a bit further north than you - all are ok. Have you selected your installer yet?

Really he/she should be doing the groundwork with you on PVSOL to help you out. I spent 2 hours yesterday working with one of my potential clients on PVSOl working out the best options for him. It would help you decide which installer to use, if you asked them to work through that process for you. If they aren't prepared to spend time with you looking at alternative systems then perhaps they aren't the installer for you.