Solar Panels

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

greenleaf

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
519
Location
SF Bay Area
I know many would-be Leafers also have solar panels.

I am in the process of putting them up. I have been given a choice of Canadian Solar panels or DelSolar panels. Does anyone know if one is preferred over the other?

Thanks.
 
greenleaf said:
I know many would-be Leafers also have solar panels.

I am in the process of putting them up. I have been given a choice of Canadian Solar panels or DelSolar panels. Does anyone know if one is preferred over the other?

Thanks.

Interesting. I don't know the panel names you list above. Here is I am working with Astrum Solar on as a comparison:

3,525 watt system using 15 Sharp 235 watt panels for $26,438

3,910 watt system with 17 Sunpower 230 watt panels for $29,012

Both are using Enphase micro-inverters.

The difference in system size has to do with the size of the panels and what can fit on my hip roof.

The Sharp panels are more expensive, but are made in Tennessee. The Sunpower panels are made in Malaysia. There were some similar panels made in China as well, but I forget the name and I am at the office.

I am planning on going with the Sharps. I think the Chinese and Malaysians have enough of my money already.

Any questions or observations are welcome.
 
Uh, sjfotos's prices are installed prices - $7.50/watt sound a bit right - you can get it done cheaper with one of the less well known brands.
 
sjfotos said:
The Sunpower panels are made in Malaysia.

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2010/04/19/daily50.html

SunPower to build solar panel factory in the Bay Area
 
I have Sunpower panels and they are better then Sharp for there extra power they put out. Sunpower as far as I know are made in CA, USA
 
evnow said:
sjfotos said:
The Sunpower panels are made in Malaysia.

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2010/04/19/daily50.html

SunPower to build solar panel factory in the Bay Area


That would be great. Thanks...I will take a look and may make a difference in the decision, so I really appreciate!
 
drees said:
Uh, sjfotos's prices are installed prices - $7.50/watt sound a bit right - you can get it done cheaper with one of the less well known brands.


Thanks drees. I am not an expert, so always appreciative of info.
 
greenleaf said:
I know many would-be Leafers also have solar panels.

I am in the process of putting them up. I have been given a choice of Canadian Solar panels or DelSolar panels. Does anyone know if one is preferred over the other?

Thanks.

Sounds like you are getting a quote from Grow Solar? They quoted mine also. The quote was very attractive in every way, except that the DelSolar panels are silvery aluminum mounted above aluminum rails, and my wife preferred black panels mounted flush into black rails (lower against the roof). I also got decent quotes from Clean Solar and Akeena for a black/black installation, and am going with Clean.

Sunpower panels are great if you are short on roof space, but are as much as 20% more expensive on a per-watt basis (installed). If you have plenty of roof area available, ordinary single-crystal or poly panels are less expensive.
 
DeaneG said:
Sunpower panels are great if you are short on roof space, but are expensive on a per-watt basis. If you have plenty of roof area available, ordinary single-crystal or poly panels are less expensive.

They are, but you also have to compare the efficiency of each panel. Saving a few $$ up front won't be worth it if your output is zero on a cloudy day. The SunPower panels on my roof put out even on cloudy days. I'm sure they all do to some extent, but a more efficient panel puts out more juice.

Also, don't forget to compare warranties!
 
sjfotos said:
greenleaf said:
I know many would-be Leafers also have solar panels.

I am in the process of putting them up. I have been given a choice of Canadian Solar panels or DelSolar panels. Does anyone know if one is preferred over the other?

Thanks.

Interesting. I don't know the panel names you list above. Here is I am working with Astrum Solar on as a comparison:

3,525 watt system using 15 Sharp 235 watt panels for $26,438

3,910 watt system with 17 Sunpower 230 watt panels for $29,012

Both are using Enphase micro-inverters.

The difference in system size has to do with the size of the panels and what can fit on my hip roof.

The Sharp panels are more expensive, but are made in Tennessee. The Sunpower panels are made in Malaysia. There were some similar panels made in China as well, but I forget the name and I am at the office.

I am planning on going with the Sharps. I think the Chinese and Malaysians have enough of my money already.

Any questions or observations are welcome.

I believe you have made a great choice for the right reasons. I would wonder about the quality from the other two countries.
 
Jimmydreams said:
They are, but you also have to compare the efficiency of each panel. Saving a few $$ up front won't be worth it if your output is zero on a cloudy day. The SunPower panels on my roof put out even on cloudy days. I'm sure they all do to some extent, but a more efficient panel puts out more juice.
All silicon panels degrade basically the same under low-light conditions, except for the Sanyo HIT panels (kind of a hybrid silicon/thin-film panel) and thin-films which tend to produce a bit more power under diffuse light than silicon panels.

The HIT panels are expensive just like the SunPower panels - so unless you are short on roof space and need the extra efficiency to maximize your use of roof space, it's usually more cost effective to just add another panel or two.

One thing to keep in mind is that the tolerance specs definitely can make a difference in system output. For example, some manufacturers spec their panels +-5% while others spec their panels 0+10%.

So for a 200W panel - you'll end up with ~2.5% more power from the latter. On the California solar site, you can also see what the panels produce under more realistic operating conditions - this takes into account the manufacturer's tolerance ratings. Comparing CanadianSolar to DelSolar panels, for example, shows that the CanadianSolar panels seem to produce about 1% more power. This seems to match up with CanadianSolar's claim of 0+5% tolerance and DelSolar's claim of +-1.5%.
 
drees said:
All silicon panels degrade basically the same under low-light conditions, except for the Sanyo HIT panels (kind of a hybrid silicon/thin-film panel) and thin-films which tend to produce a bit more power under diffuse light than silicon panels.

The HIT panels are expensive just like the SunPower panels - so unless you are short on roof space and need the extra efficiency to maximize your use of roof space, it's usually more cost effective to just add another panel or two.

One thing to keep in mind is that the tolerance specs definitely can make a difference in system output. For example, some manufacturers spec their panels +-5% while others spec their panels 0+10%.

So for a 200W panel - you'll end up with ~2.5% more power from the latter. On the California solar site, you can also see what the panels produce under more realistic operating conditions - this takes into account the manufacturer's tolerance ratings. Comparing CanadianSolar to DelSolar panels, for example, shows that the CanadianSolar panels seem to produce about 1% more power. This seems to match up with CanadianSolar's claim of 0+5% tolerance and DelSolar's claim of +-1.5%.
Thanks for the link. The panels offered are

Canadian Solar CS6P-230PX PTC = 211.0. 211/230 = 91.739%
DelSolar D6P225WA3E PTC = 200.8. 200.8/225 = 89.244%

If I look at only these numbers, Canadian Solar looks better.
 
Yep - so keep in mind that the CanadianSolar panels will qualify for a bigger rebate from the state since CA bases the rebate on the projected output of the system.

In the Bay Area that's currently $0.65/watt. You can run the numbers through the CSI Calculator to see for yourself for the proposed systems (your installers should have done so for you as part of the bidding process).

FWIW - I hadn't heard of DelSolar before this thread - CanadianSolar (despite it's name) is one of the larger Chinese PV companies and is listed on Nasdaq.
 
drees said:
Yep - so keep in mind that the CanadianSolar panels will qualify for a bigger rebate from the state since CA bases the rebate on the projected output of the system.

In the Bay Area that's currently $0.65/watt. You can run the numbers through the CSI Calculator to see for yourself for the proposed systems (your installers should have done so for you as part of the bidding process).

FWIW - I hadn't heard of DelSolar before this thread - CanadianSolar (despite it's name) is one of the larger Chinese PV companies and is listed on Nasdaq.
Thanks for the information. I clicked on your solar monitoring link. The Enphase monitoring looks cool!

For me, I am thinking to just use a single inverter SMA 4000US and to skip the web monitoring. The installer wants to charge another thousand dollars to put in the web box. Not sure if it is worth it for me.
 
greenleaf said:
...For me, I am thinking to just use a single inverter SMA 4000US and to skip the web monitoring...
A single inverter should work fine unless some of your panels are shaded easily from a vent pipe, chimney, or tree. Microinverters have a clear edge in those cases. Their other big plus is ease of monitoring and diagnosis of individual panels over time.
 
The monitoring system is real nice you can track over time to see if your lost power from dirt or what ever. I have a Sunpower 5.16 24-215 panels. I got it dec 09 for $29,000. Sunpower comes with a monitoring included. I have a single SMA5000 inverter. I have a tree branch after 6PM that shuts the system down a little early and the mini inverter would have been nice.
 
Back
Top