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Comments on panels made by “First Solar”

thescoutranch

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Jul 13, 2022
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Does anyone have any comments good or bad about First Solar Series 6 solar panels?
With a name like “first solar” I’m having some difficulties turning up useful search results.
I’ve seen a group of these for sale, used, locally and was looking for any thoughts?

Does anybody have any history with these panels or company? If you have them would you buy them again knowing what you know now?

Asking price was $25 for damaged panels for parts , up to $200 for good working panels. I’m planning on getting ~50 panels.

Thanks
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They operate at a much higher voltage than most modules so can be a challenge if not impossible to use in some applications. What are you wanting to do with them?
 
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Stay away from thin film, at best the require significantly more area for the same watts, the modules you linked have no frames, so that will be an added cost, the high voltages / low currents only work for commercial voltages ( upto 1500V per string allowed ).

If you want budget panels, just goto Santan. They are a good company and have 225 Watt panels for 13 cents a watt
 
@Solar Guppy

Aren't thin film panels the type that work best in partially shaded / non ideal angles? But are less efficient under ideal conditions / angles?

Your mentioned points about frameless (needing custom hardware, but pretty) and extremely high voltages / lower amps are certainly something they should consider.
 
@Solar Guppy

Aren't thin film panels the type that work best in partially shaded / non ideal angles? But are less efficient under ideal conditions / angles?

Your mentioned points about frameless (needing custom hardware, but pretty) and extremely high voltages / lower amps are certainly something they should consider.

No they don't work better unless you can dedicate an mpp channel to a single string ( shading ), and even then its is common to use optimizers like tigo ( that also meet the NEC requirements for panel level rapid shutdown ) or Enphase which is better. As to angle, that's basic math, any panel would be equally affected by any angle that is not perpendicular.

IHMO, If you have partial shading, your putting solar in the wrong location.
 
@Solar Guppy

Those panels certainly seem like more hassle than they are probably worth unless he gets them for a much cheaper price. Even a single panel all by itself requires a decent MPPT to handle that kind of voltage, most of the MPPTs available in the states top out around 500-600v for AIOs and 150-250 or so for separates. Not even getting into the DC ARC considerations on those kind of voltages for 2 or more panels.

All things considered, I might go for them at like $75 to $100 a panel, tops. At least you won't lose much of their juice over long distances.. :p
 
Thank you everyone for your input. You definitely have me rethinking this purchase. I did not catch the frameless issue either and that is probably a dealbreaker
 
Asking price was $25 for damaged panels for parts , up to $200 for good working panels. I’m planning on getting ~50 panels.

There is an add on Craigslist locally with these panels. It looks like they have frames. Not sure if they are the same ones, but the offer sounds identical. The voltage is way too high to be useful on residential, I think. Even a 450vdc inverter would only be able to string x2. They look beat to poop...

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They should be $25 a panel with no guarantee of anything.

The value is likely negative when you consider the cost of labor, transportation and fees for disposal. Thin film was born in a time of 5.00 watt solar, investors and utilities have lost billions as they don't live upto the promises of durability or power output over time.

Thin film was the darling of academia research (those that make models and claims but not products) that was used to bilk billions from investors and government

This is a recent article on it, this farce goes back two decades.
 
There is an add on Craigslist locally with these panels. It looks like they have frames. Not sure if they are the same ones, but the offer sounds identical. The voltage is way too high to be useful on residential, I think. Even a 450vdc inverter would only be able to string x2. They look beat to poop
A few years ago, we almost ended up with ~8 MWs of used modules that had been removed to be replaced with larger modules. Repower I think is the term. Maybe 15 cents/watt? Seemed like a pretty good deal at the time.

Thankfully we found a company that specializes in evaluating the modules by pulling random samples and doing a variety of electrical and physical tests including an x ray (or something like it). Full on lab grade testing. Lots of them had substantial damage that you couldn't see with the naked eye and was going to result in them dying pretty soon after they were put back in service is what they told us.

In the end we passed because even if got them for free they weren't even going to be worth shipping. The moral of the story if is that if you aren't the person dismantling the array, you'd better be getting a warranty and/or getting them for so cheap that you can buy way more than you need.
 
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The value is likely negative when you consider the cost of labor, transportation and fees for disposal. Thin film was born in a time of 5.00 watt solar, investors and utilities have lost billions as they don't live upto the promises of durability or power output over time.

Thin film was the darling of academia research (those that make models and claims but not products) that was used to bilk billions from investors and government

This is a recent article on it, this farce goes back two decades.
I wouldn't touch them, literally, because at that voltage there no shortage of ways to get hit from a damaged module.
 
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Thanks guys, I have learned a lot from your feedback. The panels were only about 30 miles away so there wouldn’t have been a shipping charge but it’s still does not make it worth it after reading y’all’s comments. Thank you again
 
Does anyone have any comments good or bad about First Solar Series 6 solar panels?
With a name like “first solar” I’m having some difficulties turning up useful search results.
I’ve seen a group of these for sale, used, locally and was looking for any thoughts?

Does anybody have any history with these panels or company? If you have them would you buy them again knowing what you know now?3.52

Asking price was $25 for damaged panels for parts , up to $200 for good working panels. I’m planning on getting ~50 panels.

Thanks
EppView attachment 104903View attachment 104902
Perhaps it is best to consult their website rather than some of the misinformation posted:


These are not DIY items. They are sold by commercial electrical distributors Graybar and WESCO. They probably would not sell to an individual unless he was knowledgeable.

You should also consider that they are designed for specific mounting hardware which might be difficult to obtain.

They clearly have frames as stated on the website. They are on the back which is supposed to be an advantage. You can compute the power/area with the figures on the data sheet. Watts are Watts and it matters not what voltage they are generated at. What is really important is the cost/Watt.

These are only worth $0.50/Watt brand new in perfect condition. You should receive a considerable discount from that. Note that First Solar will accept these for recycling so there is no problem disposing of them. The Te is valuable.

These can be hooked up with a Sunny Boy 3.8-US for example. Two paralleled strings of Two for each MPPT tracker input (a total of 8) will provide 3.52 kW with the 440 Watt modules (panels). Remember, there is NO LiD loss so you will get the full Wattage.
 
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Perhaps it is best to consult their website rather than some of the misinformation posted:

New account talking about “misinformation.” So what misinformation has been provided? Or are you an astroturfer?
 
Perhaps it is best to consult their website rather than some of the misinformation posted:

Welcome to the forum!

Would you care detail the misinformation that was posted? If you have any financial interest in First Solar you might as well detail that while you're at it. :unsure:
 
First Solar's panels (American made BTW) are really meant for huge solar farms but if you can make use of them, why not.
 
Thin film was the darling of academia research (those that make models and claims but not products) that was used to bilk billions from investors and government

This is a recent article on it, this farce goes back two decades.

Proponents said thin film used less silicon (regarding thin-film amorphous silicon) compared to sliced ingots.

Problems with that are:

1) Thin film interacts with fewer photons compared to 25 mil wafers (these day, about 10 mil is typical, I think.) Therefore more area required. Exception would be thin-film for other wavelengths on top of wafers, more efficiency at a price.
2) Thin film requires expensive vacuum deposition/equipment. Compare to bulk and thick-film processes used for single-crystal and polycrystalline PV cells. That likely affects time to ramp for volume, as well as cost.

Mass production of PV grade silicon ingots in China made single-crystal the clear winner.


For us small timers, whatever is available from liquidators like Santan gives best deal. Top names for those with some money, and damaged/degraded for bottom fishermen.
 
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