Hightech solar panels

[Yeti]

I purchased two of the "210W" panels. They were shipped the same day and arrived, yesterday. Minimal packaging but they really do seem well built.
Testing:
Each panel shipped with a test sheet that is supposed to be a test of that panel and each showed 210.8W. Well, today was a perfect day to test. I started with my Victron 100/50 and tested each panel on this cloudless 72 F morning (11:30), <40% RH and perfect tilt. (I ended up testing 3 MPPT and 1 PWM all with similar results)
150W from panel1
152W from panel2
304W from both in parallel
311W from both in series
340W both in series after chilling them to 55 F
My baseline panels were up and running on the same rack (2) 170W panels in series separate Victron 100/50 = 320W not cooled or cleaned
Fred was very responsive to my messages on ebay but also a bit of a twit. So I asked some questions and his replies were "did they have a sheet on them" what did the sheet say", etc.
I looked more closely at the "test" and decided to bust out the calculator.

IF the test he used was accurate @1000W m^2 @ 61F and he is showing the panels achieved 210W with (36) 156mm x 156mm cells the panels would be very nearly 24% efficient.
Now, let's say those panels were 18.7% efficient given the .876 m^2 of solar cells, I would expect 163W

I'll leave the decision to each person but the above are the results I received and some very basic math.

While I'm not surprised, I am disappointed. They are the perfect size for one project. Just not the perfect output.

 

[Markus]

well that's disappointing. I hope Fred will take care of you.

 

[Yeti]

well that's disappointing. I hope Fred will take care of you.

Let's see what the numbers look like once I get to the lab. Any number of things can be the reason for these numbers. That said, I think claiming 210W was a exercise in mental yoga.

 

[Markus]

So yeti I you got me worried the other day. So I mocked up a bracket to hold the panel at the correct angle to test the panel with my digital meter. Yesterday was completely cloudy and rain and at noon I got 31w. Today is full sun and at 9am I had 140w, my wife is going to check at noon what the readings are. Todays panel was put out a half hour before that reading. I'll report back soon with the reading at noon.

 

[Markus]

Well the noon time reading was 208w and at 3:30 it was 174w.

 

[Yeti]

Good to hear! I haven't gotten time at the lab yet but here's some casual observations on the (2) 210w panels.
Moderate to low light performance is less than my (3) flexible 50W 2YO panels. At 53 F on another bright day between 11:30 and almost 1 PM they started from about 310W then once they got up to about 360W they jumped to 434W in a very short amount of time (maybe 10 minutes) and stayed in that range for nearly 30 minutes. Then just before 1, they dropped from around 402W to 350 just as quickly (still no clouds). Over the next hour the clouds started coming in and they averaged about 200W. My max power for the two full days has been 430W and just under 1KW. My (3) 50W panels over the same 2 days were 613W and 1.1KW. My (2) 170s (same rack as the hightec) 890W and 1.5KW.

It seems this 6BB design isn't as good as the other panels people have mentioned. It is possible that keeping the same size BB and adding another one creates more of a burden than a help. The specs are good, in theory but in real world use East of the Mississippi, no bueno. I'll check the diodes just to make sure they are reasonable for the "21.6% 5.28W" cells in these panels.

 

[Markus]

I forgot that you have the 6 buss bar panel. I almost bought one of those. It will be interesting to see some of your other results.

 

[Yeti]

Yeah, I'm trying to be as specific as I can. I definitely dont want this to come across as a review of the company, it's people or other versions of their panels, just testing the (2) 6BB 210W panels and identifying what I notice.

 

[iceledoar]

You can also call them and they will custom build any size panel you need. Be aware when you get above about 60” the will required a pallet and the shipping will be very high, enough to make you think about driving to get them yourself.

 

[iceledoar]

Yeah, I'm trying to be as specific as I can. I definitely dont want this to come across as a review of the company, it's people or other versions of their panels, just testing the (2) 6BB 210W panels and identifying what I notice.

Those are the same panels I just got... so very interested in your findings.

 

[Yeti]

Interesting finding, today.
**cliff's notes** - the order in which the panels are in series changed the power output more than 20%. (and a lot of cussing)

I was tinkering around with panel position in the rack (swapping the 170s and 210s) just for S&G, reconnected everything and realized that my panel1 and panel2 weren't in the appropriate positions (yeah, I'm that... specific) [170-1][170-2][210-2][210-1], other than my OCD, not a big deal for what I was doing so I went back into the shop and turned on the 210W panels to the MPPT. 384W!!! They were literally just producing ~300W. So, I decided that for some odd reason, being on the East side of the rack was producing more power. (hadn't thought to check the 170s at this point). Being really stoked (and confused) that the panels were producing reasonable power, I decided to put them in their appropriate positions (yeah, I'm that.... specific), back to the shop and ~300W... WTELF?!?! Back out, and swapped the order that they were in series and BAM!! 377W! (pause for those annoying cloud things). Sun's back out and 388W!! (No, it's not 420W but it's within a margin of doubt that's acceptable) AYFKM??

So for any smart people that would like to clue me in what I should check next... I'm guessing the it has something to do with resistance. Maybe diodes? it doesn't make much sense to me. diodestipation? Think I'll go ahead and clean the contacts of those MC4 connectors.

 

[iceledoar]

I have not started my install yet, should be starting in the next couple weeks... still gathering goodies. I currently only have the 2-210's so they will be in series... my cabin is on a north facing slope and the sun don't shine there all day... I have to wait until about 0930 for the sun to clear the trees, but I should get about 5 hours of good direct sun after that.

 

[Rod]

I have 6 of the 200 watt panels setup for 24 volts. They work great. I have been buying them 2 at a time from Fred480v on ebay. Allways arrived FedEx in great condition. I even dropped 4 of them when I was trying to mount them top of a pole mount and they survived just fine. Gonna buy more when I find a cheap mount for a 4 inch pipe.

 

[Sun Tzu]

I purchased two of the "210W" panels. They were shipped the same day and arrived, yesterday. Minimal packaging but they really do seem well built.
Testing:
Each panel shipped with a test sheet that is supposed to be a test of that panel and each showed 210.8W. Well, today was a perfect day to test. I started with my Victron 100/50 and tested each panel on this cloudless 72 F morning (11:30), <40% RH and perfect tilt. (I ended up testing 3 MPPT and 1 PWM all with similar results)
150W from panel1
152W from panel2
304W from both in parallel
311W from both in series
340W both in series after chilling them to 55 F
My baseline panels were up and running on the same rack (2) 170W panels in series separate Victron 100/50 = 320W not cooled or cleaned
Fred was very responsive to my messages on ebay but also a bit of a twit. So I asked some questions and his replies were "did they have a sheet on them" what did the sheet say", etc.
I looked more closely at the "test" and decided to bust out the calculator.

IF the test he used was accurate @1000W m^2 @ 61F and he is showing the panels achieved 210W with (36) 156mm x 156mm cells the panels would be very nearly 24% efficient.
Now, let's say those panels were 18.7% efficient given the .876 m^2 of solar cells, I would expect 163W

I'll leave the decision to each person but the above are the results I received and some very basic math.

While I'm not surprised, I am disappointed. They are the perfect size for one project. Just not the perfect output.

Based on your results, I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that I'm getting what I'm getting from the 2 200w panels I bought from Hightec. I'm getting 162w out of one and 165w out of the other.

 

[Sun Tzu]

duplicate post

 

[Yeti]

So I was able to get to my lab but wasn't able to get time on the panel tester. What I was able to do is get into the luxlab for a bit of "unreal world" testing. I pushed the sun room from 10K lm to 140K lm over a period of about 80 minutes @ ~ 63 F (as cold as I could get the room). What I found:
@ 103K lux to 107K lux the power output per panel jumped from ~ 173 W unloaded to 202W unloaded - Huge power gain for minimal input gain
@ 112K lux to 120K lux output = 212W So on that theoretical perfect 1000 w/m^2 day (roughly 120K lux in the lab) with reflection the panels did produce 210W and 212W.
@ 130K lux ~ 214W and 220W (mount Everest on a perfect day)
@ 140K lux 222W and 245W (mid day on the moon)

So while the above is not nearly as accurate as the panel testers, it actually gives me more valuable information.
1. low to moderate light performance is terrible
2. massive jump only during the highest reasonable daylight situations to reach that 210W (you should see that for more than 30 hours all year if you live in the high desert. otherwise you're hosed)
3. they heat up more than I would expect with 6BB.

If someone with solid electrical foo comes around and can clue me in if there is anything I can try to get these more useful, please advise.

 

[Defenestrator]

No formal testing, but I've finally gotten a chance to really put the 2x200W panels I got from them to work. The highest I've seen is 849W, though that was probably ideal conditions (cool summer day at high altitude, driving around the mountains so probably at least briefly got near-ideal tilt)
Highest full-day output so far was 5340Wh and 3500-4000KWh seems to be fairly typical with some clouds here and there.

They also survived a small hailstorm and a lot of highway driving without issues.

 

[HRTKD]

If I'm reading the tests and conclusions right, in order to get the advertised wattage output of the 6BB model, conditions have to be lab grade perfect. Otherwise, expect - at best- 80% of the rated output. Does that sound right?

The 210w 6BB model is $7.50 less per panel than the 200w 5BB model.

It seems to me that there isn't a lot of "worry" about solar panels. The fallback is to just add more panels to account for poor results.

 

[bpal]

Does anyone have an opinion on the HighTech 200w or 210w vs the RichSolar 200w? I see that the RichSolar 100w panels are generally well regarded. On paper they seem very similar. The 200w form factor will me let better utilize smaller areas on our motorhome.

 

[Yeti]

If I'm reading the tests and conclusions right, in order to get the advertised wattage output of the 6BB model, conditions have to be lab grade perfect. Otherwise, expect - at best- 80% of the rated output. Does that sound right?

The 210w 6BB model is $7.50 less per panel than the 200w 5BB model.

It seems to me that there isn't a lot of "worry" about solar panels. The fallback is to just add more panels to account for poor results.

Those were my findings with the 6BB 210W panels. It seems the 5BB panels are a better choice from what I can tell. Hopefully they'll maintain the same physical format and start working towards a more modern power delivery system. Whether that is split cells, matrix/mesh or some combination.