diy solar

diy solar

How do I find solar panels by SIZE?? length x width

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Mar 2, 2021
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I have a couple older Kyocera KC120-1 panels that measure 56.1 inches by 25.7 inches. I want to replace them with the highest wattage panels available close to this size give or take a few inches in either direction. It seems most of the panels I have found are ~39 inches wide and anywhere from 65 to 82 inches long.
Any help on finding efficient cheap replacements would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
Welcome to the forum.

I've never seen a tool like that. If you find one, please post it.

I would start looking at sub-200W panels. Your Kyocera are 12V panels and were listed at 14% efficiency. Common efficiencies are in the 18-19% range, so I would expect you could get 25-50% more in a similar area.

This 180W is 58.35 (+2.25") x 26.57 (+0.87"):


That would seem to get you within your "a few inches in either direction".

Another 20W (200W), and they jump another 6" in length
 
I have a couple older Kyocera KC120-1 panels that measure 56.1 inches by 25.7 inches. I want to replace them with the highest wattage panels available close to this size give or take a few inches in either direction. It seems most of the panels I have found are ~39 inches wide and anywhere from 65 to 82 inches long.
Any help on finding efficient cheap replacements would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I went looking for a similar tool/resource when I was planning PV for my RV trailer. The closest I could find was the database found inside the tool SAM (System Advisor Model) published by the National Renewable Energy Lab. Even then, many of the panels in the difficult to search database were obsolete, so it didn't do much good.

As snoobler said above, you're probably stuck with panels less than 200 watts.
 
I was also trying to do the same and had no luck trying to find sized to maximize an area for my car so I just started searching for wattage of panels that seemed to be around size I was looking for.
 
Here I am after a year with an update for the curious...

I still have the panels and have gotten quite a bit of use from them, well above 200 kWh charging!
I upgraded the decades old Xantrex 40a PWM Charge Controller with an Epever Tracer2210AN. The Xantrex maximum charging output was about 60W but with the Epever, maximum output that I have witnessed was ~190W, what an improvement!
Thanks for the suggestions and resources provided above!
 
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