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diy solar

100W Panel Recommendation

fourteenshort

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Joined
May 17, 2020
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I'm following William's build guide for 24v system and the panels he links to on Amazon are out of stock https://amzn.to/2FM7GlM. I'm a newbie so can someone recommend different panels to consider? Thanks!
 
What are you building (residential, vehicle, hobby setup, etc)?

Larger residential/commercial panels have a better reputation for quality than a lot of the smaller panels sold on amazon (not that the smaller panels are bad panels by any means-- but its generally the larger panels you'll find with the 20-30 year warranties).

If you are building a stationary system without tight space constraints, worrying about panel efficiency isn't worthwhile. Cost and quality should be the primary determinants.

If cost is a big consideration checkout santansolar.com, they have really good deals on new and somewhat used panels if you live in the West or SW US. altestore.com is another good place to look.

As for brands, Sunpower, REC solar, Canadian Solar are all good brands, but there are probably at least a dozen other good brands. From the big I know, it seems that brand is less important with PV panels than with other components of your system so long as you get a somewhat reputable brand with a track record.

Good amount of info out their on residential and commercial panels, not so much info out there on the smaller panels.
This list might be a decent place to start (for residential panels)

edit: oops, missed the 100W stipulation in your title.
 
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I purchased Newpowa. They are currently available on amazon, have a 25 year transferable warranty, are CE certified and I am very happy with them so far. They are about $75 each, shipped.
 
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I purchased Newpowa. They are currently available on amazon, have a 25 year transferable warranty, are CE certified and I am very happy with them so far. They are about $75 each, shipped.
I just the same ones. I now have 4 of those in 2 strings. easier to work with than a 200 watt panel , same space and have a choice of serial or parall.
 
I just the same ones. I now have 4 of those in 2 strings. easier to work with than a 200 watt panel , same space and have a choice of serial or parall.
Do you know how many watts your 100 watt Newpowa panels are producing?
 
I'm currently running 6 of them in a 3s2p configuration, and that put outs about 74 watts each peak. I'm building an array of 16 of them (yes, I know, but there were extenuating circumstances). I have some Renogy panels that I set up for comparison (about 6 month old), and they were putting out 68 watts at the same time. The Newpowas are smaller and lighter too. The only thing I don't like so far is that the backs are not evenly coated, so some are more transparent than others on the bottom. I don't think it affects production, but it bugs me.

20200520_131015.jpg
 
This is the underside. See the one on the bottom right?

20200520_163526.jpg
 
What are you building (residential, vehicle, hobby setup, etc)?

This is all awesome information... Thanks!

I'm building a Sprinter van that I can work from so I'm trying to pack a total of 300-400 watts on there.
 
I've got several of the HQST 100W mono panels. Yesterday I was getting 160W from two of them in series recharging my Goal Zero Yeti 1250 using its built-in MPPT SCC.

 
There's so much to learn! Based on Will's video Mono vs Poly - Real World Test - Worth the $$? it sounds like Polycrystalline is the way to go but I'm finding a lot more options for Monocrystalline. Is Polycrystalline being the better option due to cost and efficiency still the case with panels being produced now?

Poly is definitely not the better option in terms of efficiency (unless what you mean by efficiency is cost efficiency). Mono wins out in Watts/sqft and temperature coefficient (not sure if this last point is universal or not). Poly is cheaper to produce so will usually be cheaper to purchase in most cases but the difference isn't very pronounced for small systems. There may be other advantages to poly I'm overlooking.

edit: Also important to note, when we talk about efficiency of PV panels, its not relevant to power output, a 100W panel will produce (theoretically) 100W regardless of whether its efficiency is 15%, 20%, or 22%. Efficiency determines panel size for a given watt rating.
 
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But really in terms of size/efficiency, a better way to compare panels isn't mono vs poly, but just compare the panel efficiency on the datasheet, or compare the dimensions of panels of a given output. If you can find a cheaper poly panel that meets your space constraints, go for it.
 
Do you know how many watts your 100 watt Newpowa panels are producing?
I had to wait for full sun. Cloudy days suck and are expensive.
I am getting about 75 watts per panel when aimed almost after losses for contollers.
140 watts on the grid going through a grid tied inverter and reading on a killawatt meter.
pretty good
 
I have been buying Windy Nation 100 watt panels. They are slimmer and lighter than most of the others. The panels put out well and I have them as 2 strings of 3 panels into a combiner box. I will be adding 6 (600 watts) more panels which are currently in waiting and converting the battery array to 24v and changing the inverters to 24v as well. This current setup works for lighting, fans and small equipment.

My last purchase went through Lowes online and with a 10% veteran discount, the panels were about $62 each.
 
I've got several of the HQST 100W mono panels. Yesterday I was getting 160W from two of them in series recharging my Goal Zero Yeti 1250 using its built-in MPPT SCC.

Have same one and it does really well. I have gotten almost 92 or maybe more watts from it at perfect conditions.
 
I have 100W panels. I was looking for a company that can recommend. I asked my friends for advice and looked at reviews on the Internet. As a result, I chose SunPower - https://solwiser.com/best-solar-companies/. I was very pleased with the work. Upon installation, I was told that efficiency determines the size of the panel for a given watt rating.
 
Poly is definitely not the better option in terms of efficiency
Not so important anymore. OCD and specs? Sure

But my sense is my batteries aren’t ocd.

I have several windyNation panels and some Rich Solar panels. All are 100W poly and work excellent with either pwm or mppt. Good brands at the low-priced commodity level imho

I actually saw 11.9A from two of the WN panels parallel at 14.x volts on a PWM on clear fall days but that was unusual. Usually tops around 10A. To me? mono isn’t important.
 
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