Hard data - Sunpower 360w Performance

[Quadrille in JB]

As I posted before my Victron 30/100 mppt does an amazing job managing my 360w Sunpower panel's output (thanks to Alex at Seatek in Marathon) to my 500ah AGM battery bank. I run my isotherm ref/freezer, PUR Survivor 35 watermaker, nav electronics, fans, pumps, etc. This screenshot is from the Victron while we were on the hook in the Bahamas last month. The thermostat on the freezer failed and I wired it directly so it ran continuously so some days the battery bank was never fully charged.
On day 27 the system output 2.46kwh over a 13.5 hour period. If you average the high and low voltages it appears that the system averaged 14.9 amps output throughout the day.
I'm impressed with this output from a single 42" x 60" panel.

[john61ct]

Please link to the specific panel model and specs.

And I think you meant 100/30?

[Quadrille in JB]

Search for X22-360 Sunpower
The link to the data sheet wouldn't copy.
I did mean 100/30

[john61ct]

Spec sheet:
https://us.sunpower.com/sites/sunpow...lar-panels.pdf

170AH at 14.4, yes that's great.

[skipgundlach]

I have two of them. Poorly sited, not ever maximized, I've had a max observed (no recording stuff, just glancing at the ammeter on the wall once in a while) of 50A.

I'm in the middle of a computer rebuild, so have not gotten my pictures sorted and adjusted yet, but there will be a followup to my "battery woes" series from late last year and early this year.

They literally changed our lives. The Honda has seen SOME action, but none at all for the first 3 months after we did the upgrade. Here in the Bahamas, with computer and nav gear running a lot, and hotter reefer (that's an entire separate thread and issue) conditions, along with not much wind has meant that it's run a few times.

We also have a Balmar Smart Monitor, and before we came over, it was a very rare day that we did not see it at C100 (fully charged) before the end of the day, and with no intervention (Honda), it would always be there the next day if it didn't quite make it on a prior day.

Sunpower is the way to go if your real estate is limited. Wattage can be found massively cheaper (Alex refused to quote me but his across the street competitor who I have great confidence in as well, Bob Williams at SALT, had it at - I'd have to search to be absolutely positive, but memory has it somewhere in the range of - $1400 each for 345s which was as good as it got in that frame at the time), some in the 50-cent/watt range, but also massively more territory covered when you get that wattage.

The folks at Sunpower are great to work with; I highly recommend them. I'll have all the details (my costs, correspondence leading to my installation, and pix of the process) in what I hope isn't a very long time from now. Right now, completing my computer rebuild when I'm not off diving for lobster and conch (2 and 4 yesterday, respectively) is getting in the way

Those anxious for correspondence (no other details, just cc of what I wrote along the way before installation) can drop me a line with the subject "Solar Info Please" - so it will land in the right folder - at skipgundlach@gmail.com. I apologize, but I don't do IM/PM other than if absolutely no alternative exists; web access communications are the bane of my existence compared to a mail client that I can do offline, and attachments are excruciating by comparison.

But, in summary, my experience is the same. Sunpower 360s (and, I'm sure, any of their panels) rock. They quite literally changed our lives.

L8R

Skip

[sailormed]

I installed two E20-327 Sunpower panels back in 2014. Connected in parallel. So theoretically able to produce 2 x 327 = 654 Watt. Installed flat above the bimini.
I have been able to see an output of 550 Watt on instances here in the Med (so sun never at zenith).
I only nead to clean the panels regularly because of sand/dust charged rains here coming from the Sahara desert.

So from 2014 to 2017 they have improved solar panel output efficiency from 20 to 22%.

[skipgundlach]

Our installation includes a serendipitous 15 or so degree angle, due to our arch builder's incompetence (he didn't fix the error, he just said "Thought it looked better that way.") - but that's actually good.

Panels need an angle to self-clean, and to put the connection boxes up so any rain or snow can run off away from them (not that there should be much, if any, which gets to that place).

So, ours are relatively self-cleaning.

AND...

In the same frame/footprint, you can get several different wattages. The lower wattages are from cells which didn't quite make the cut; today they are over 22% efficient, and still moving upward; the lower wattage ones in the same frame are lower efficiency.

So, you pay for efficiency. The cheap wattages are because of the lower efficiency. Both top and bottom efficiency will work fine, for many years, but it will take more space to achieve the same wattage with lower vs higher efficiency.

Whether they have, and how many, and whether inter-panel as well, blocking diodes may make a difference for some installations, but that's about the extent of the differences in the major panel makers. Flexible ones don't last long, let alone put out as many watts per square meter, but have their uses if you need that and don't mind the cost...

[2geer]

My wife and I purchased (2) Sunpower X21-345 this Spring for a little over $1100. They are running in series and controlled by a Victron Energy BlueSolar MPPT 150/70. We could not be more satisfied. The installation has completely changed our experience on the hook. We rarely have to run the generator now even at almost 45 degrees North latitude (Lake Champlain).

Dave & Lisa Geer
M/V Stout
kk42-087

[redsky49]

Quadrille:

In this screenshot, using day 27 for an example, are you drawing your batteries down to 11.68V before charging back up to 13,23V?
Am I reading this correctly?

[skipgundlach]

Is that output from the Victron you mentioned? Done how (not on the unit, I'd expect)?

I'd love to have that sort of information to go with my Balmar Smartguage. At the moment, it's deathly still, and clouded most of the time; I got a lovely fill from the squall that went through earlier - but it means that I'll have to run the Honda tomorrow morning to kick the bank C back up to where the solar can take over...

Nice data.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Is that output from the Victron you mentioned? Done how (not on the unit, I'd expect)?

I'd love to have that sort of information to go with my Balmar Smartguage. At the moment, it's deathly still, and clouded most of the time; I got a lovely fill from the squall that went through earlier - but it means that I'll have to run the Honda tomorrow morning to kick the bank C back up to where the solar can take over...

Nice data.

It's the smartphone app via bluetooth to the Victron solar controller.

[skipgundlach]

very cool. Apparently it's a high-amp capacity unit...

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

very cool. Apparently it's a high-amp capacity unit...

Victron model number are (input voltage max)/(output amps max). He stated is a 100/30

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

very cool. Apparently it's a high-amp capacity unit...

All Victron MPPT controllers have the option of a smartphone app via bluetooth. The smallest is a 75/10.

[noelex 77]

For those that have used the app how does it cope with multiple controllers? For example three panels each with its own controller. Is it possible to display the output from all three panels on one page? If not is it easy to switch between controllers?