Newbie putting hybrid system together

[Hedges]

Bad panel brands in hostile environment can be severely degraded in a couple years.
Quality brands would be OK to buy 15 or 20 years old.

There are reports that describe accelerated testing, but my free access only names a handful of top performers, none of the poor ones.
Occasionally we know of a model that had problems.
So buying top names is all I can suggest. Even some of those had an issue years ago, corrected it with newer models.

 

[Twinkieflyer]

Heliene. I was going to buy 27 380w panels, one more than a pallet, in order to get 3 strings of 9.
Should I buy a spare in case of failure?

 

[Twinkieflyer]

The same people also had some 5 year old used panels, but they were only 240w.
Solarworld
The reason I wanted to go with these is I can drive and pick them up. Only 2.5 hours away.

 

[PreppenWolf]

Heliene. I was going to buy 27 380w panels, one more than a pallet, in order to get 3 strings of 9.
Should I buy a spare in case of failure?

Always buy extras. Ideally 1 for every 10, but at least two.

 

[Hedges]

Yes, buy spares. failure or damage.

Heliene is listed as top-perform in one (of many) categories in 2020 and 2022 reports.

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

 

[Twinkieflyer]

I was reading the other thread that your link contained and it concerned me somewhat as to whether the deal I found was really that great of a deal. The Heliene 380w panels that have sat unused for almost 5 years are about $130 each. I have to pick them up. I can test them if I want. I have some big power resistors at work in various ratings, edge wound units some of which are 10 ohm 250w that I can wire in parallel and take a couple of fluke DVMs for voltage and current.

Bummer about needing that many spares, but I will spend what it takes.

I wish I could get an inverter without spending $8200 for the sol ark.

 

[Hedges]

$0.34/W isn't bad for quality panels in good shape. Even better if new-old-stock

Voc and Isc testing find some but not all bad panels. Vmp and Imp identify additional bad ones.
There are hand-held testers; will reviewed one.
I used a couple oil-filled radiators as a load.

Measuring PV panel performance

I suppose I could buy a solar panel tester like Will reviewed, but that doesn't feel DIY enough to me. Besides, I'm a cheapskate, and I try to do things in the most difficult (and expensive if the equipment wasn't on hand) way. I'm presently working on an underperforming string of Sharp 165W...

diysolarforum.com

Santan has some bundles of new and used panels. Don't think they're cheaper than what you're looking at, except for deteriorated ones.
Note that the First Solar are 220 Voc. The rest are more normal.

Spares - you might be able to configure the array differently to use more. Do you have several MPPT inputs? If more than two strings in parallel, need fuses.