Subdood
Photon Wrangler
I'm in the process of getting my solar system set up. Been looking at various components and have an idea of what I need. Well, I made my first major purchase yesterday. Santan Solar had a very good deal on some Canadian Solar 445W bifacials, so I got eight of them for just under $1600 (not counting $300 for shipping). They are open box panels, originally to be used at a solar farm, but the buyer decided they didn't want them and returned them. So, they're basically new panels.
They were originally going for $230, then went on sale for $207 a couple weeks ago. I dragged my feet on getting them, but finally decided to order them Thu night. Well, they went out stock right when I placed my order. Couldn't believe it, I was furious that I had missed a chance on getting them. So, I went ahead and ordered some Trina 410W bifacials and went to bed. The Trina's seem to be good panels, but I just wanted the CS's.
Well, the next morning I checked their site and the CS panels were back in stock. So, I thought maybe I could call Santan and see if they had enough for me. To my surprise, they said they did so I swapped the Trina's for the CS's. So, needless to say I'm very pleased to get them. They sold them to me for the sale price of $207, plus threw in a 5% discount, so the price per panel was about $196. Price per watt comes out to about $0.44/W. Needless to say that I'm very pleased with Santan and how they worked with me.
The $300 shipping seems high for 8 panels, but they'll be traveling almost 2000 miles, so that's not too bad for 500lb of panels. They said it'll be about two weeks before they get here. They use R+L trucking, so I told them due to our rural location, I don't think they can get out here with an 18 wheeler. They said they'd try to get them here in a smaller truck. But that'll be sorted out when they're ready to ship.
I don't have any other components, but will probably pick up a 5.1kWh rack battery next week, and will probably get the EG-4 6500 inverter when they come in, which will be about 6 weeks. While I'm waiting I'm sketching out my ground mount for these 8 panels. They're about 7 x 3.5ft, and weigh about 63lb, so they are going to need some sturdy support.
They were originally going for $230, then went on sale for $207 a couple weeks ago. I dragged my feet on getting them, but finally decided to order them Thu night. Well, they went out stock right when I placed my order. Couldn't believe it, I was furious that I had missed a chance on getting them. So, I went ahead and ordered some Trina 410W bifacials and went to bed. The Trina's seem to be good panels, but I just wanted the CS's.
Well, the next morning I checked their site and the CS panels were back in stock. So, I thought maybe I could call Santan and see if they had enough for me. To my surprise, they said they did so I swapped the Trina's for the CS's. So, needless to say I'm very pleased to get them. They sold them to me for the sale price of $207, plus threw in a 5% discount, so the price per panel was about $196. Price per watt comes out to about $0.44/W. Needless to say that I'm very pleased with Santan and how they worked with me.
The $300 shipping seems high for 8 panels, but they'll be traveling almost 2000 miles, so that's not too bad for 500lb of panels. They said it'll be about two weeks before they get here. They use R+L trucking, so I told them due to our rural location, I don't think they can get out here with an 18 wheeler. They said they'd try to get them here in a smaller truck. But that'll be sorted out when they're ready to ship.
I don't have any other components, but will probably pick up a 5.1kWh rack battery next week, and will probably get the EG-4 6500 inverter when they come in, which will be about 6 weeks. While I'm waiting I'm sketching out my ground mount for these 8 panels. They're about 7 x 3.5ft, and weigh about 63lb, so they are going to need some sturdy support.
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