Philco Fan
New Member
Has anyone ever seen a manufacturer date on a panels?
No?
I wonder why?
How are we supposed to know how old they are??
No?
I wonder why?
How are we supposed to know how old they are??
Why no manufacture dates on panels?
- Thread starter Philco Fan
- Start date
hwy17
Anti-Solar Enthusiast
Would you like to know date they assembled the panel or the date when the silicon ingot came out of the oven in Xinjiang?
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
I find the datasheet for the panels and look at the copyright date or other date reference on the document. It doesn't tell you how old the specific panels are, but it establishes a max age:
2021.
These are my "new" panels:
Don't see an explicit copyright date, but it says 201802EN at the bottom, and I got these panels in 2019.
These are the used panels I picked up a couple years ago from Santan:
2011.
2021.
These are my "new" panels:
Don't see an explicit copyright date, but it says 201802EN at the bottom, and I got these panels in 2019.
These are the used panels I picked up a couple years ago from Santan:
2011.
Philco Fan
New Member
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
20200414V11
2020-04-14 v11?
Would say 4 years old max.
20.2% efficiency is also a clue - you know it's not an older panel. My 285W from 2011 are barely 15%.
Bluedog225
Texas
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 3,365
Manufacturers don’t include info they are not required to include. It doesn’t help them.
Philco Fan
New Member
They tested well so I was hoping they were recent builds,Thanks for the info!
Philco Fan
New Member
So I guess I got a good deal-4 for $450 delivered-asking was $600.
Bluedog225
Texas
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 3,365
Generally look at price per watt, age, and general condition.
There are some solar panel testers for about $100 that are easy to use to test panels to see the production and whether a diode is bad.
There are some solar panel testers for about $100 that are easy to use to test panels to see the production and whether a diode is bad.
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
$0.26/Watt. Works for me.
That's about what I paid for those 285W panels that were 10 years old (was a good deal at the time).
5 years ago for new 330W panels, I paid $0.46/Watt delivered.
Second hand panels are hit and miss bargain wise here.
Either the sellers have no idea and think they can charge as new price or you get them really cheap, our neighbour/cousin saw mine go up then managed to get 10x 250w panes at $0.05 a watt but all he does is throw them on his roof pointing north and fit giant truck radiator fans to them.
Either the sellers have no idea and think they can charge as new price or you get them really cheap, our neighbour/cousin saw mine go up then managed to get 10x 250w panes at $0.05 a watt but all he does is throw them on his roof pointing north and fit giant truck radiator fans to them.
fromport
Solar Addict
I am under the impression that mostly older panels do have a production date on their labels:
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