Bifacial panel manufacturer choice(Jinko, Sunket?), advice needed.

[Luk88]

I've had some quotes for bifacial panels on Alibaba and I have to say, the prices are much better than what is available locally here in Europe(Poland). Also, fun fact, shipping a pallet of large panels by sea from Shanghai to Gdansk is actually much cheaper than having a truck deliver the same pallet of panels from Rotterdam... Duty on panels from China is 0% and I can make this a business purchase so I can recover quite a bit of VAT cost. I don't need a whole pallet, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sell ones I don't need locally.

But, to the point. I'm currently looking at biggest and most powerfull panels as I'm looking to add another ground mounted array (part of it will be vertical). An obvious choice would be Jinko 78HL4-BDV 630W as Jinko has good manufacturer warranty in Europe. However, it seems I can only get these panels shipped from China. While there are other, very nice panels made by Sunket SKT430M10-108S3 - these are slightly smaller, similar price per watt, but are available in Hamburg. So not that far from me.

So my question is, is anyone using Sunket panels? Has anyone heard about this manufacturer? Also, I can't see any signs of an EU office for them so how would manufacturer's warranty work if the panels all fail 15 years down the line due to lets say sealant failure. Do they need to be shipped back to China? If yes, I'm not surprised why everyone wants to buy Jinko instead.

 

[Luk88]

No one? In the meantime I had some local quotes for per-watt prices better than the Chinese. The catch? Not Jinko panels, but some smaller integrators that claim NTopCon cells. Names like Ja Solar, Das Solar, Jolywood. Two panels I'm seriously considering JA-HD120N Bifacial FD - only 380W and JAM72D40-570/MB SF - 570W with 10% albedo. Probably really should say 500W.

All have similar warranties by companies that seem to have an EU office. All use these NTopCells. Have dual glass and same mechanical strength claimed.

The only difference in the specs is that Jinko panels claim AR coating on the front surface. Does this really make a difference?

If I can buy locally without all the hassle of ocean transport, or road shipping that increases the price by 20% and the only disadvantage is smaller panels (same claimed efficiency). And I can buy 10~15 panels, not an entire pallet to then have a hassle of selling them.

Why not? Are these Jinko 670W panels worth 20% premium? (on a per watt basis).

 

[Danke]

I know an installer that use JA Solar and likes them. N type bifacials with good warranty.

 

[Vince Mex]

HI, i will receive a pallet of Das Solar 600 watt bifacial N type next week. On the paper and according to people who used it, it is really good. But huge and heavy panels for sure... Efficiency is very high 22.8% and high temp degradation seems very good. Price was also really really good... considering price i think it make sense....

 

[mciholas]

HI, i will receive a pallet of Das Solar 600 watt bifacial N type next week.

Source? Price?

Mike C.

 

[Luk88]

I'm getting various shipping quotes including rail for a pallet of Risen 715W bifacial n-type, half cell panels from China, but I'm not very hopeful this will result in a competitive per watt price. The problem with these large panels is that they don't fit within the "two Euro pallets" space which makes road shipping at least twice as expensive unless one is ordering much more than one pallet.

I'm not really surprised no local resellers carry these large panels here anymore. With smaller panels(up to 550W) they just pack them on a double length pallet and cost to deliver anywhere in my country is $130 (for at least 5 panels).

For this reason I doubt these large panels will become generally available at competitive per watt price unless you're buying 5+ pallets.

 

[Luk88]

I've received a train transport quote door to door in 20 days for a pallet of 715W bifacial panels and it is slightly over $1k. I think this is a very good option if one wants to pay premium for larger panels. I'm leaning towards 580W which seem to be the best price/performance (including ground mount pricing).

 

[Vince Mex]

i will receive Das Solar dh144nd 600 watt bifacial, these are n type panels. 116 usd vat included in Mexico... seems some 605/610 and 615 are coming soon... i should receive 31 pcs this week....hope freight has been smooth.....

 

[mciholas]

i will receive Das Solar dh144nd 600 watt bifacial, these are n type panels. 116 usd vat included in Mexico...

Seems like a great value.

The 30 mm frame is a little thin for that size module being almost 8 ft long, and the 2.0 mm glass would be worrisome in any area that gets hail.

Mike C.

 

[Luk88]

Seems like a great value.

The 30 mm frame is a little thin for that size module being almost 8 ft long, and the 2.0 mm glass would be worrisome in any area that gets hail.

Mike C.

Really? I'm currently looking at Jinko 580 and Ja solar, both with 2mm glass, 30mm thick. We do get hail, but never over half inch (12mm) - that kind of hail is very rare, but it is a possibility.

When you say 2mm glass is not enough, what size hail do you mean? Any hail?

Edit:
I decided to order 24 Jinko JKM585N-72HL4-BDV BF. I did some research on hail resistance standards and the material these are made of is only 2mm semi-annealed glass. Allegedly 1.5x the strength of normal glass(so maybe equivalent to 3mm). Literature I saw says 4mm should be used in "hail prone areas".

I can't find any information about the specifics for what a panel has to pass to get the certificate for the older standard these adhere to (IEC 61215-2:2016). Online documents specify how the ice balls are to be shot, how they are frozen etc, but none specify which sizes the panel is supposed to pass. Surely not all as they use 75mm balls travelling at 100km/h (3in at 60mph) in one of these tests.

 

[Luk88]

A pallet(24 so not a full pallet) of 585W Jinko JKM585N-72HL4-BDV showed up

I think I know why they don't make longer panels at the moment. There was 2in of space on both sides of the box truck that delivered these.

BTW, I recommend people buying panels to test serial numbers just like what we do with cells.


This app is called flash report and it is only for jinko. JA has another app. I'm not sure about others. Bonus points is that is shows you some testing data, QA grade and who bought them from the factory.

Does anyone know how strong these modules are? I'm a bit concerned they are just stacked on on top of another with no padding in between. So I'm not sure i can pick it up with a tractor (at 800kg it is just at the limit). At the same time I'd rather not move them one at a time...

My previous panels were frame less glass, but 4mm thick. So more robust, and in a way more fragile at the same time.

 

[Luk88]

Extra bit if advice... Buy at least one extra panel. These panels are rated for 540kg of snow. Who would've thought if you stack 760kg one on top of another it will crush thd one on the bottom if you use thin wood pallet :-(



Shipping costs more than one panel so it doesn't make any sense to buy less than 5. At least I'll have 4 spares.

 

[Luk88]

I will get compensation for the broken panel and the cost of transport, I just need to get some paper work done. The seller said these should not be stacked horizontally when there is so many.

Anyone buying less than one pallet full - make sure they don't stack horizontally. I have a video of delivery and you can see the whole stack flexing when lifted. It is a small miracle only one panel is broken.