Can't find the answer - best panel for the money. Roof Mount

[Zeebest001]

I am looking for the best for the money, preferably 400 watts or more. I don't think bifacial will work out for me, I have a dark shingle roof. Looking to get 24 panels,

I have looked on google and this form for the best brands etc and I am a little lost. If someone could mention a few that are readily available, I am located in California and will be using this with a EG4 18kvp

 

[Hedges]

Santan Solar in Arizona has some new leftovers, many used panels.
Inxeption has pallets of new panels, sometimes priced between $0.20 and $0.30/W.
I've bought from both, and have shipped to a freight terminal where I get with pickup truck. Can also get residential delivery.

eBay you can sort by distance.

I prefer to get top name brands. There have been some panels that degrade quickly. I've bought SunPower, REC, Q-Cells. And NE Solar, which was new to me.

Sign up to see free report of tests going back a number of years. They name top performers only, not which fared badly.

Is there a reliable resource to compare panel makes/models

Well that sounds like a heck of a deal! Glad you placed your order and can't wait to see how it all works. That is a very good price, and I should not be surprised but that confirms they get a great deal when they upgrade. I wonder if they went with Trina on the replacement units? Any idea?

diysolarforum.com

 

[740GLE]

Best one is the ones you can find locally and not have to deal with any possible shipping damage.

 

[Zeebest001]

appreciate that, I will go that route.

 

[400bird]

There's no single answer to your question. There is no "best"

If you are looking for new panels, I agree with 740GLE, contact your local CED Greentec to see what they have on hand.

They don't put their pricing online, but it is reasonable, for the panels I purchased they were about the same cost online and no shipping cost.

Local pick up saves shipping cost and potential shipping damage. Assuming you have a truck or van to transport the panels yourself.

 

[Zeebest001]

I was looking at Sun Power since I found some that were 550 watts which would help since I have limited roof space, that is when I found out that they aren't NEC certified, so that means it won't pass an inspection. Since I have limited space, I am going to need a higher output panel. Is this ok, or are there drawbacks to using a higher wattage panel, I know the Inverter has to be able to handle it.

 

[400bird]

Most all panels are 18-22% efficient. Meaning that higher wattage panels are just physically larger.

If you have limited roof space, you may need to do like I did and map it out with different size panels. It could be that the larger 550 watt panels don't fit in the space available or you can fit twice as many 380 watt panels.

Also, you probably need to do the math on the inverter capacity, just to make sure you can make the strings work within the MPPT voltage limits.

 

[Zeebest001]

Makes sense, I will ask Green Lancer if they will do this for me, since I have no idea about the size of my roof and what is allowed and what isn't as far as "code". I guess I will find a few options and provide them with the name and dimensions.