Where to source panels in Canada

Hi there,

Looking for panels for an RV application. I’ve spent hours researching all of the various components with the exception of panels, I just assumed I’d be going with Renogy. Now I’m not so sure. At $240 per 200W panel I wonder if there’s a like quality bit cheaper alternative. Companies like Satansolar in the U.S. for example have 310W panel for roughly $150 CDN.

Where are my fellow Canadians sourcing their panels from?

Here is a company in Ontario near Toronto

This one ships cross country and also has some local distributors,

When looking at US sites remember currency conversion + shipping (which is nutty coming over the border) and duties/taxes pending on source etc. There are not as many "Used" panel suppliers in Canada and B-Grade & C-Grade panels which could be had before have almost all vanished. Amazon CA & Ebay CA have Canadian listing but... Use Extreme Caution and verify with discussion with supplier. I've also found that quite often EBay is 25-50% more than Amazon.

I have NOTHING good in any way to say about Renogy anything, other than they spend lots on good advertising. That's it.

If you would tell folks WHERE you are (Our country isn't tiny) then folks in those regions closer to you can chime in and possibly point you in good directions more locally.

Good point, I’m in Edmonton AB.

I’ll likely have a to order a majority of my equipment but for the reasons you mention, would want to keep it within Canada. Not sure why my mind has always gravitated to Renogy, likely the marketing you mention, Looking at the company you’ve provided there’s a significant price difference.

Is there anything special about panels recommended for RV roof mounting?

Amray solar is local to me, and have been really good to deal with. They do deliver but I'm sure there must be a similar local supplier to you.

I'm looking for 300+ watts to replace the 2 100w on my trailer.

Cold enough there right now?

Gould said:

Good point, I’m in Edmonton AB.

I’ll likely have a to order a majority of my equipment but for the reasons you mention, would want to keep it within Canada. Not sure why my mind has always gravitated to Renogy, likely the marketing you mention, Looking at the company you’ve provided there’s a significant price difference.

Is there anything special about panels recommended for RV roof mounting?

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I'm an Offgrid Full Time Cabineer so I don't do mobile in that manner (bit of EV Tinkering but that's another beast altogether).
Roof mounting really depends on the structure & substrates used for the RV. Many vendors and I believe both which I provided links to have RV/Camper "kits" as such but I don't know if they offer a mounting system as such because of the diversity between vehicles & their designs. Will has several RV/Camper/Van videos and some info on various mounting details from his early days into this.

It would likely be best to show photo's of the RV plus include make, model & class as most vehicles have quirks and foibles which others have likely had to overcome and resolve. You never know, the fellow down the street with a similar RV like you have may have done all of this recently and could be a member here as well, or it might be an RV'er in Arizona, never know.

Whinny said:

Amray solar is local to me, and have been really good to deal with. They do deliver but I'm sure there must be a similar local supplier to you.

https://amray.solar/

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I'm looking for 300+ watts to replace the 2 100w on my trailer.

Cold enough there right now?

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Appreciated, will check them out.

Um, can’t even comment on the cold. You know when Fahrenheit matches Celsius it’s colder than the human being was built for!

Steve_S said:

I'm an Offgrid Full Time Cabineer so I don't do mobile in that manner (bit of EV Tinkering but that's another beast altogether).
Roof mounting really depends on the structure & substrates used for the RV. Many vendors and I believe both which I provided links to have RV/Camper "kits" as such but I don't know if they offer a mounting system as such because of the diversity between vehicles & their designs. Will has several RV/Camper/Van videos and some info on various mounting details from his early days into this.

It would likely be best to show photo's of the RV plus include make, model & class as most vehicles have quirks and foibles which others have likely had to overcome and resolve. You never know, the fellow down the street with a similar RV like you have may have done all of this recently and could be a member here as well, or it might be an RV'er in Arizona, never know.

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Appreciate that Steve. The RV is in storage but I’ll provide some detail, I’ll also contact each of the suppliers mentioned here and ask a few questions.

The RV is a Grande Design Imagine 2970 RLS, bought new at the end of last year. It comes pre-wired from the roof to the garage with 10AWG so configuration of the array will be important and with a 1200W capacity. The roof is a “walk on” with full wood trusses so I‘m confident it will handle the install, as far as shifting and twisting that could effect the panels, I’m not sure. I’ll provide a picture of the roof if I can find one. They’ve definitely thought things through as all of the vents, AC, etc are run down the center of the roof leaving both sides available for installation.

I’d been down the path of 2S3P with 200W panels but seeing these available with a higher output and lower cost, all be it with a larger footprint, has me considering.

I just ordered a couple of 100W panels from Renogy. I took advantage of their sale, which included free shipping, which as you know is not insignificant in Canada. I doubt I could beat the overall price right now.

There are few large scale solar panel manufacturers. Many vendors sell the same panels under different brands. Will has a video where he compares 4 100W panels from 4 vendors. 2 are identical. If memory serves they were branded Renogy and Rick Solar and probably from the same factory.

Incidentally, Canadian Solar is one of the largest solar panel manufactures (some manufacturing capacity in Canada and more in Asia), 4th or 5th in the world I think. They are known to be of high quality, but I have problems finding them on the retail market.

So, just had an interesting conversation with a local’ish dealer, coincidently they sell Canadian Solar. Great information but when I asked about RV mounting I was told yes, most all panels will technically work however, most manufacturers will void the warranty in this application.

Really? I’m seeing more RV installations than ever before.

You might want to contact Grande Design on the warranty issue, the water ingress damage warranty is probably expired anyways.
1200 watts is lots-might be a bit of a puzzle fitting the panels-that might dictate if you can go with 4x300ish or 6x200ish. It looks like 300 panels are nearly 1m wide with 200 at .8m. How much crown is on your roof? that may dictate some of the mounting options as well.
What are you using for batteries?

The warranty issue they were referring to was on the panels, not the RV. I will be contacting Grande Design though, the unit is 6 months old so don’t want to mess with the 6+ years of remaining coverage.

Problem I have right now is I haven’t been able to get to the trailer that‘s in storage to take some measurements. Weather here has been an absolute deep freeze flirting with -40C every night. Batteries, going DIY with 8 270AH in a 4S2P 12V configuration.

Here’s the reply I received, a slight mis-read - all manufacturer warranty for the panels they sell will be void of warranty.

Hello Cory,

All the solar panels we carry could theoretically be used for this application with the correct racking system. Keep in mind however that all solar panel manufacturer warranties will be voided in such an application.

Regards,

Never thought of that.......thought it was the trailer........
There was discussion somewhere on this forum about larger panels mounted flat and the bouncing/pounding trailers can inflict on them. 2 brothers and a friend have 200w panels on their rigs and have had no issues for 5-6? years. I was going to add a support if I went to a 320w panel.
Before Amray I purchased a few Eco-Worthy panels through Ali Express-they are very good quality

Keep an eye on Kijiji. I have seen 380 watt panels there a month back for $280
Calgary listing 275 watt for $120

Appreciate the suggestions. Thinking this through I suspect the 300w panels will be too big to fit north/south and the arch in the roof would likely rule out east west. 200W seems to be the wheelhouse assuming that I can fit them all in front of the AC unit. Weather is supposed to break this weekend so I’ll take a spin up to the lake for some measurements.

Any Mobile application is subject to a lot of things that non-mobile ones aren't. The panels ARE GLASS and there is no way to warranty such kinds on installations, especially anything DIY, there is simply an overwhelming amount of variations & possibilities, all of which can lead to failures. Mobile is a Tough Life for anything.

Standard 60-Cell panels ("24V - 250W+) are much cheaper than smaller ones and the prices continue to fall especially as panel capacity increases. Jinko released 660W panels while JA released 800W panels (end of 2020). Panels rated from 400W to 450W are now relatively common which is remarkable considering only two years ago the most powerful panels available were only just reaching 360W. 12V Panels ARE A WASTE unless due to space & mounting constraints there are no other options. The Solar Charge Controllers can ALL adapt to 12/24/48V battery systems with the exception of the few cheapo PWM Solar Charge Controllers which are "dead tech" anyway.

* There are 60,72 & 78 Cell Solar Panels. SunPower and Panasonic are now producing unique 96 and 104 cell panels. And now Cell sizes and Multijunction cells are pushing limits further, by end of 2021, 1000W+ panels will be on the market (for commercial grid scale solar systems).

As of August-2020

Great information. Amazing how far things have come, not just size but efficiency as well. Alberta had better get its poop together, oil and gas has some competition.

I’m about to order from Solacity, a place local to me in Ottawa. $278 for 425W panels.

Amazing. Logic would suggest that the smaller 200W panels should be a lot cheaper than I’m seeing. Pretty sure I won’t have the space to manage the size of anything larger than 200W. Also thinking that the larger the panel the more susceptible it will be to the twisting from travel.

I do have an email out to Solacity, they are likely where I’ll be ordering much of my gear if I can get the shipping where I need it.

carbon60 said:

I’m about to order from Solacity, a place local to me in Ottawa. $278 for 425W panels.

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Rob Beckers (the owner & friend of mine) has a few good deals on right now, you won't go wrong with Solacity, darn good crew of people who KNOW their stuff. Mentioning me won't get you a discount LMAO... They provided me with my first batch of solar gear years ago. Too bad you can't get a tour & details of that whole facility, it is Net Positive and Hyper Efficient custom built building.

Steve_S said:

Mentioning me won't get you a discount LMAO...

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Darn, can’t hurt to try though right?
I’ve only been online here for a few weeks but see you know your stuff. Do you have a build thread? I’d be interested to learn more about your setup.