What About 'these' Solar Panels ?

[forsailbyowner]

Solar Panels, Inverters, Solar Panel Systems | Lowest Prices Guaranteed! I bought some of these guys name brand panels.
Theyre prices are hard to beat

[cheoah]

I paid $430 for a kyocera 130 from affordable solar, shipped to NC. Most companies get you on the shipping and for buying less than a pair or whatever. I hope it is the last panel I have to buy for a while and is oversized for my electrical budget. I negotiated that price with them, it is less than advertised, btw.

Chase

[SV Demeter]

I contacted the folks at Solartec in CA. to find out if their 100 watt panel was suitable for a marine environment. They said yes and quoted a price of $395 each. Im thinking of getting (4). Now Im starting to wonder if I should be looking at Monocrystaline vs instead of polycrystaline. Guess i will post as a new thread.

[hellosailor]

Demeter, if they say the panels are suitable--get it in writing. I've known too many businesses where someone says something, and six months later someone else says "Oh they never could have told you that". An email, memo, informal letterhead should be no problem if they're certain, and authorized to make the committment.

catman-
You'd think anodized aluminum and glass couldn't corrode. But the anodizing is usually done on whole bars, which are cut afterwards--leaving untreated cut edges, untreated drill holes, etc. And even anodized boat masts have been known to age with pox on some boats. Or someone cheats, does a fast anodizing job, and it wears off in places. As the song goes "Rust never sleeps".
The glass should do better, but there are still always issues of seals, expansion rates, bonds...as technology gets better and more invisible, failure modes gets harder to spot as well.
Someone tossed me a dinner plate across a buffet table one night, and I caught it, flat, across both of my hands. CRACK! The plate split in two. Somehow it managed to bang into the ring of both of my hands at precisely the right moment to set up a resonance in the plate, causing a fracture. One in a hundred trillion chance? Dunno, but I've seen too many odd failure modes over the years. If the odds are that small, someone should be willing to write a warrantee and stand behind it.

[SV Demeter]

Think this will suffice? Its the email they sent me...


Hi Ted,
Yes, they are suitable for use in marine environment, no problem. You can purchase them directly thru Solartech Power at $395.99 per panel, plus shipping costs.


Let me know if interested so I can work up a sales order for you.


best regards

Maribel Canales



1070 N. Kraemer Place
Anaheim, CA 92806
Tel: (714) 630-8881
Fax: (714) 630-8887
www.solartechpower.com
skype: maribel32585

[hellosailor]

If she works for the folks who make them, not just the reseller, it could be. Depending on your faith in human nature (cough, cough) you might ask her for a letterhead expressly saying the warranty will apply for your intended use on a boat.

Or, submit your order with a note that it is submitted conditional to their express assurance that the goods are suitable for use on a boat and that the warranty will provide full coverage in that use. (Leaving less weasel room for the next employee to say "weellll...."

[SV Demeter]

Still shopping for 100 watt panels. Would like to spend something around $300-$350 panel but maybe Im out to lunch? Higher watt panels ok too just need to keep frame size close to 26" x 40"

Sugestions?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

So BP and Kyocera get good marks. Any other brands come with good comments? Not really into squirting silicone an would prefer decent MC connections.

How does a reputation develop? It just takes time. On the recomendation of a business associate who bough panels a few years ago, I bought these in the spring:Solar Panel 85 Watt 12 Volt Multicrystalline Silicon PV.

Instalation was straightforward, though not trivial.Sail Delmarva: Solar Panels

Durability? The frames are substancial. The boxes are as water tight as possible, well gasketed and well adheared to the backing. All pass-throughs are fitted with substancial compression grommets and are connected to a solid screw-type terminal block with sufficient additional lugs to allow many options. Nice MC connectors; I did use them when testing, but I eventually cut them off in favor of sealed crimp conectors.

Failure points? Water can wick in the edges if the sealing is less than it apears. Only time will tell.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by thinwater

How does a reputation develop? It just takes time. On the recomendation of a business associate who bough panels a few years ago, I bought these in the spring:Solar Panel 85 Watt 12 Volt Multicrystalline Silicon PV.

Instalation was straightforward, though not trivial.Sail Delmarva: Solar Panels

Durability? The frames are substancial. The boxes are as water tight as possible, well gasketed and well adheared to the backing. All pass-throughs are fitted with substancial compression grommets and are connected to a solid screw-type terminal block with sufficient additional lugs to allow many options. Nice MC connectors; I did use them when testing, but I eventually cut them off in favor of sealed crimp conectors.

Failure points? Water can wick in the edges if the sealing is less than it apears. Only time will tell.

Wow their 100 watt panel is only $270 and is in the frame size I need. Any idea if these panels are warrarteed for marine use? Everything else looks great about them. Thanks

[barnakiel]

We have a 75 like the 100 pictured. We also have an identical 75 -one made back in 2000 by GP. The GP one works fine. Hope the Chinese noname will be just as good.

I noticed all specs are same, except the glass is gloss in GP but satin in the noname thing.

b.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

We have a 75 like the 100 pictured. We also have an identical 75 -one made back in 2000 by GP. The GP one works fine. Hope the Chinese noname will be just as good.

I noticed all specs are same, except the glass is gloss in GP but satin in the noname thing.

b.

Who is GP?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Wow their 100 watt panel is only $270 and is in the frame size I need. Any idea if these panels are warrarteed for marine use? Everything else looks great about them. Thanks

a. they warrantee (on the web page) does not exclude marine use.
b. they sell the same panels in "marine kits" (see the side bar).

I know of a few panels that have been in marine service 4 years, but that is all I know. I did by a cheap panel (from WM) some years ago that failed within 2 years, but it was very poorly constructed by comparison.

A good solid mounting is a requirement for good durability, but that's not difficult. Minimize flexing.

I should add that my panels are mounted high on the hard top and will never see green water. I've seen some foredeck mountings on monohulls that strike me as torture testing.

[SV Demeter]

Thanks Thin. Based on other comments Im thinking the UL panels may be okay. I agree mounting to avoid flex is important.

[chuckr]

do not remember the cost of the kyocera i got from esystems in ft lauderdale that i had shipped to deltaville and installed myself - but $395 for 100 watt seems high - and why just 100w - i put on 130 and now up to 3 of them - kyocera that i bought first 4 years ago look brand new - no rust no nothing -
seems to me the higher the watts the better - not sure why you just want 100w -

we have been out going on 5 years now and just wish i had a bigger controller to handle one more panel -

just our thoughts but look around and see who has what - you might be surprised

chuck patty and svsoulmates
club nautico cartagena colombia - not hooked to elect as solar panels are doing the job for us

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by chuckr

do not remember the cost of the kyocera i got from esystems in ft lauderdale that i had shipped to deltaville and installed myself - but $395 for 100 watt seems high - and why just 100w - i put on 130 and now up to 3 of them - kyocera that i bought first 4 years ago look brand new - no rust no nothing -
seems to me the higher the watts the better - not sure why you just want 100w -

we have been out going on 5 years now and just wish i had a bigger controller to handle one more panel -

just our thoughts but look around and see who has what - you might be surprised

chuck patty and svsoulmates
club nautico cartagena colombia - not hooked to elect as solar panels are doing the job for us

Chuck I need to stay with 100 watt panels because of mounting options. I intend to install 4 of them but I cant go larger than a 40" x 26" frame and 100watt seems to be the highest output for that frame size.