550 Watts or Greater Panels
- Thread starter Danke
- Start date
tomy2
escape artist
call all the local solar installation companies in your area and ask if they have any damaged or used panels. I got some 440 watt panels for $25 each, they just hat dents in the frames and were never used. I don't know about 550 or greater, they are not that common.
Renogy sells a 550 watt panel in pairs of 2 on Amazon. They sell out fast though and aren’t really cheap @ $1/watt. But you don’t have to order a bunch of them like most vendors require and it’s free prime shipping. Also the return process is extreme simple. I ordered a set a couple weeks ago and one was shattered. The delivery guys waited for me to open and when they saw the broken panel they boxed them back up and took them back. Got a refund the same day.
circus
Solar Enthusiast
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- Jul 8, 2021
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Trick is finding one locally. Shipping is a killer. I found two 360w ($350) at a local installer that were rejected by a customer. They were face down on top of pallets and water had collected in them. After cleaning off the water stains they were fine.
peakbagger
Solar Enthusiast
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- Oct 26, 2021
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I second the suggestion that you buy locally, shipping large panels especially in small quantities is expensive and prone to damage. Installers end up with "orphan inventory" but many do not want to deal with it as its taking away potential customers for full out system. Usually, it comes down to they dump it when the warehouse is full or they need the space.
tomy2
escape artist
I would never pay that much for a solar panel! I paid $200 a panel for 370watts and now I think that I overpaid because they are only delivering 75% and I could have bought used ones that do that.
I normally wouldn’t either but the convenience of 2 day shipping, No hassle return, don’t have to order a minimum of 10 panels like a lot of places require, is worth it to me. I’ve read the horror stories on this site; people ordering “cheap panels” from places like signature solar and then paying $400 dollars in shipping only to get broken panels. Then stressing for 2 weeks trying to replace or return a couple broken panels after getting the run around from the company. Yeah. No thanks.
My time is my most valuable asset.
HighDesertOffgrid
Solar Addict
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- Sep 15, 2022
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- 628
I am looking at the bifacial 400w from Santan for an upcoming project. @$185 you might be able to order an extra 4-5 and still come out ahead.
I’m not bitching. I just have really bad luck and unfortunately don’t have time to be dealing with iffy service. Realistically, more people probably have good service from SS then don’t. But my good service track record with Amazon is currently 100% over the last decade. I’ll gladly pay a bit more for products to keep it going.
SignatureSolarJames
Try Solar, the Grid will always take you back
They are terrible to ship, new methods are being developed
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