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Are bi-facials supposed to be flimsy and flex like a fun-house mirror?

Glass is glass, and the entire crystalline structure is compromised when cracked.
Jacob89 said:
The 180w panels are (comparatively) tiny, but they do also have the thicker double layer frames,

I'd say your friend was incredibly lucky his panel didn't kill somebody. Installing panels on any vehicle thats going to go down the highway definitely requires extra consideration.
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Yes very true. The small panels with double wall frames are by far the strongest available.
 
Before I used these Aptos panels in my ground mount, I was using them on the side of my house for my trailer. Completely unsecured and they got twisted and thrown around in the wind multiple times. These are the strongest bifacials that I've found so far. Later I unloaded the entire pallet with lt Dan and built my large setup with them. The difference in sag is huge. These things are much stronger than the others available. Test them yourself with a non cracked panel.

I bet if you had the last generation bifacials, and the same amount of damage that your aptos panels faced was induced, you would have way more cracked panels.
 
OffGridIdaho said:
The leftover ones are the good ones. I am talking about the good ones not the broken ones. Everyone seems to have missed the bold type.

So after Fedex played Madmax Road Warrior with pallet of panels, I had to remove what was left. The Aptos bi-facials are incredibly flimsy. While picking one up it was flexing and bowing like a sheet of metal roofing. I kept waiting for it to explode. The safety glass cannot take that kind of flexing. After setting it down I noticed just from its own weight it had a concave curve in the middle. These panels, whats left, will never withstand an Idaho winter. First 90mph wind and they are going to pop like claymores on the Ho-Chi-Min trail. My older 280 watt q-cells are stiff as a 1" marine plywood with zero flex just as a comparison.

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And that's false, your statement about Idaho winter winds. They can take them. Mount them and see. And mount some other panels to compare. That's not an issue for them.
 
Will Prowse said:
And that's false, your statement about Idaho winter winds. They can take them. Mount them and see. And mount some other panels to compare. That's not an issue for them.
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Thanks for the reassurance Will. I was thinking I was getting some kind of floppy semi flexible panel coming based on the OP.
 
Brucey said:
Thanks for the reassurance Will. I was thinking I was getting some kind of floppy semi flexible panel coming based on the OP.
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No, you'll be good. Lt Dan saw my other panels and I think everyone here would pick the Aptos any day. I do wonder what will be better for the price next. Hoping someone can show me a better panel.
 
There are other panels available at the solar conferences with fancy back sheets, copper backed cells etc, but they cost a ton.
 
Brucey said:
Yeah doesn't make sense unless you are super space limited otherwise go for lowest cents per watt and get a bunch
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Then it’s 2000 ft of copper🥲

My array is about 200 ft from inverters.

Each channel is 400 ft of wire.
6 channels = 2400 feet of copper.

If you are right on top of the inverters and could build out from there probably be better.

I went with 480watt panels to limit real estate usage.
Managed to get it in a 60’x60’ area.
 
Will Prowse said:
No, you'll be good. Lt Dan saw my other panels and I think everyone here would pick the Aptos any day. I do wonder what will be better for the price next. Hoping someone can show me a better panel.
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I have had my hands on the 390w Canadian solar bifacials and they are downright atrocious with how flimsy they are. I helped Will move some of those Aptos panels in his last video and they were damn nice 👌
 
Nobodybusiness said:
Then it’s 2000 ft of copper🥲

My array is about 200 ft from inverters.

Each channel is 400 ft of wire.
6 channels = 2400 feet of copper.

If you are right on top of the inverters and could build out from there probably be better.

I went with 480watt panels to limit real estate usage.
Managed to get it in a 60’x60’ area.
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Right but whether you go with 370W or 480W the cabling would be the same? Still six strings but a couple more per string?

What's strange to me is there is often huge premiums for the 400W version versus the 395W.
 
Brucey said:
Right but whether you go with 370W or 480W the cabling would be the same? Still six strings but a couple more per string?

What's strange to me is there is often huge premiums for the 400W version versus the 395W.
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More interconnection cables because more panel in series but other than that pretty much the same..
 
Interesting. My Jinko 2mm front 2mm back 585W glass panels are not very flexible at all. They have only 30mm frames.

I can't see any curve on panels lying flat, even when I look at the reflection from the side. I actually had an idiot delivery driver walk on them(flat) in front of me and there is no visible damage and there was no flex.

Of course there is always possibility of cell damage without glass cracking. This can be revealed by luminescence testing.

Also the previous pallet had 24 panels stacked flat weighting about 800kg together. I could see the pallet flexing on a pallet jack and sure enough the bottom panel was broken. I got a refund on that. I'm amazed only one got broken.
 
So is this thread just about people buying cheapest watts/panel on the market then wonder why they are so light and flimsy?
 
Ohh man, im getting ready to order some for my first foray into solar. Mounting 8 of them on top of schoolbus for mobile use and 12 of them on my covered patio. Now im nervous. are mono panels stronger? I really just need panels less than 42in wide (cant take the 44 wide ones). Should i keep looking.
 
Backtrack8189 said:
are mono panels stronger?
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No? Just leave your hammer home.

If your bus installation is going to be flat on the roof, then you won't get any advantage from bifacials and they are usually more heavier too. For patio go for bifacials and keep everything underneath those panels fairly white/illuminated and get +10-20% more production compared to monos.
 
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