totally off grid. had energy audit going for ten thousand Watt panels. 8000 Watt victron inverter and 32x 280ah cells. will have all inverter type kitchen ware and wood burner with wet back. no gas. maybe air con for cooling. just gotta find some panels thru alibaba and try not to get ripped off
Late to the party here, but getting ripped off when you have no pre-existing relationship with a foreign supplier is the norm (for some countries), particularly for components like inverters, panels, and cells/batteries, where B,C,D grades etc are hard to spot from A grade.
Not so bad for cable, breakers, and mounting gear, where its generally pass/fail and the grade is visible.
What incentive does the supplier have to make you a happy customer and come back for another order when they know you wont be back? (unless they think you like being burnt twice)
IMO, rather than importing, you would be better off talking to the smaller NZ suppliers - i've never seen much in the way of sharp pricing from the big players, but the small players can and do especially at the end of a shipment of panels before the next model arrives. Also the small importing companies already have their import clearances, customs client IDs, etc, and your first importation of panels will definitely get all the inspections/checks, and you will be charged for every attendance by customs - not so much once you have a reputation for perfect documentation and every box ticked. There is a reason there are so many "customs agents" in the logistics industry - it takes a lot of local knowledge and experience to smooth the path for freight, make sure everything is in place to get no holdups.
I have probably spoken to six people in the last 24? months who have imported cells - zero out of six would do it again.
The flip side of this is; if two people say they don't like broccoli, but one has heard about broccoli., and the other one has actually tried it, the one who tried it and wouldn't repeat it probably has the more valid opinion.
Flipping back the other way though ... Do you have the skills to look at photos and test results of a panel, and know that its not a B grade panel? Further, how are you going to ensure that the test results you are looking at (if you even ask for them) are actually from the panels you are buying? Further from that, what are you going to do if panels arrive and you repeat the tests but can't get the same performance? Withhold payment? They already have your money.
Also, how many extra panels are you going to import? Surely you wouldn't just import the exact number you need, given the high probability of forklift damage to the outside panel(s) of a pallet? I spoke to an importer in 2023, said he had broken panels or bent frames on at least 1 panel from every 2nd shipment - that's a 50% breakage rate of "at least 1 panel".
In my (2nd hand) experience, the only card you hold (as an importer) is the dollar value of your next order, and the "good will" encompassed in the history of your orders, so when you are a single-order importer, you basically have nothing and you better believe that the sales agents at Ali will already know you are a single-order importer.
Bottom line; If i were looking for something that should last 30 years, and I didn't have experience importing it already, I wouldn't be worrying about the margin i'm paying a local company. I'd be getting a relationship with a local company, get the best product advice so that i'm not buying twice, and get the right component, probably with a local warranty, and probably with free installation/setup/optimisation advice.
