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Old 31-03-2017, 13:16   #16
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Quote:
Originally Posted by skipgundlach View Post
Yah, I expect that's right.

My research didn't include panels made with Sunpower cells; I never saw any panels with their efficiency other than from Sunpower.

Can you suggest some such manufacturers? It might be a great option.
Just google, there are hundreds, in fact I've never even come across SP branded whole panels. You can buy the cells raw to DIY too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=SunP...=lnms&tbm=shop

Of course at the low end the vendor may be lying.
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Old 31-03-2017, 13:30   #17
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Possibly the largest tier 1 solar panel manufacturer in the world is Jinko.
They are Chinese.
Recent tests in Australia by CSIRO and choice ranked them as the second best for efficiency and #1 for bang for buck.
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Old 31-03-2017, 14:53   #18
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

I am looking for US retail suppliers of (or willing to ship in) gear using the new embedded "MPPT on each cell string" ICs from Maxim.

Jinko "Eagle MX" is one line, others mentioned on Maxim's site are Trinapeak, and "ET COM"?
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Old 01-04-2017, 04:54   #19
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

We have domestic panels and their working fine.

Maje
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Old 01-04-2017, 05:04   #20
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Don't be conned by the hype of marine versus other.

Regardless what you buy or the price of solar panels, they will be CHEAPER in 3 years by a factor of quite a bit.

The ONLY difference between "marine" panels or domestic will be in the aluminium frame , and trust me, you don't need an aluminium frame that will last 15 years in a marine invirorement when the panels can be upgraded for half the price in 5 years or less.
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Old 01-04-2017, 06:23   #21
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

We have two panels one old Siemens one new China. None is marine grade (I am not sure what it means for a panel to be 'marine grade' - is the bezel silicone bronze or something?).

The older panel was better built - in Holland I think. The newer is lesser quality. Both deliver the amps as rated.

The old panel is from about 2002. The newer one is about 2012.

Long story short, buy plain commercial grade stuff. Coming from a major and quality manufacturer may be a small and possibly worthy bonus.

Cheers,
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Old 02-04-2017, 09:14   #22
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Cheap panels tend to have cheap junction boxes and junction box mounts. I've had junction box attachments fail on multiple panels, both hard and flex panels.
I still think the low cost panels are a better value.
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Old 02-04-2017, 11:02   #23
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul L View Post
Cheap panels tend to have cheap junction boxes and junction box mounts. I've had junction box attachments fail on multiple panels, both hard and flex panels.
I still think the low cost panels are a better value.
i have kyocera. i have cheepo and i have second hand bp panels.
so far, the cheepo and the kyocera and bp are all the same age--over 10 yrs and show no difference in connections and performance.
gotta love thriftiness. saves dough and ye can have the same things the credit card captains have, only at a much more reasonable price schedule.
none of my working panels cost me over 50 usd, and i got the three used bp for 50 for the three of em complete with controller.the panel i had to toss was a kyocera. paid 100 usd for it--unfortunately the connectors were corroded enough to last only 3 months.
i will continue with cheepo and secondhand panels.
controllers i will buy new.
my life rocks.
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Old 03-04-2017, 03:12   #24
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Quote:
Originally Posted by john61ct View Post
Just google, there are hundreds, in fact I've never even come across SP branded whole panels. You can buy the cells raw to DIY too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=SunP...=lnms&tbm=shop

Of course at the low end the vendor may be lying.
The first reference came to a 345w panel. So far so good; SP offers a 345w panel; it's what I thought I'd use before the 360 supplanted it.

However - the search first reference was to this:

SW 340-350 XL MONO: 72 cells in series (6 × 12 matrix), Module efficiency 17.29% At that efficiency, I can't imagine what the size of the panel would be, but it certainly would be bigger than mine:

96 cells, 41.2x61.3 inches, 360w, efficiency 22.2%.

And, the cells were not Sunpower, either.

There may be Sunpower cells out there in frames and fabrications not from them directly, but YMMV as to experience with them

As to Sunbeam, their corporate page speaks only to flexible panels at a max of 100w. That may be useful to some, but not for me, unfortunately.

OTOH, if you have the real estate and the means of tying lots of them together, and, by inference, they somehow are cheaper than an actual Sunpower panel, absolutely, go for as much as you can support in real estate.

For us, our upgrade is literally life-changing. In no-wind conditions (last night was the first assist of any sort we got from our KISS), we STILL have yet to have to run our Honda...
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Old 03-04-2017, 06:01   #25
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Re: Marine-specific or domestic panels?

Whereas to be able to fit in very limited spaces, I'm looking to go with a greater number of 30-80W panels, just can't work with the larger sizes. And they do have to be the less robust flexible type as well.

In fact I'm considering mounting these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222352704124

on custom-shaped coroplast sheets so they can be easily stowed and put out as needed

At $2-3 per watt not much more expensive for the extra versatility.

I may even experiment with DIY using the raw cells.
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