Ordered a few 450 watt Renogy panels the sequel (Quest for panels Part II)

[Crowz]

This is my second attempt to get two 450 watt modern panels to try out before sinking a ton of money into them.

You can find Part 1 aka my attempt to buy from sungold that failed here :

Ordered a few 450 watt sungold panels

Ordered a pair of the 450watt ones from Sungold last friday to try them out. Probably will be what I switch over to since my 255's are aging poorly. Bad news is they haven't shipped yet. I contacted Sungold and they said they were stuck in customs and they should be mailed out before this...

diysolarforum.com

The Renogy ones seem to be very similar to the sungold ones I was looking at since both advertise the same bragging points.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09W5HTGTY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Specs on the Renogy ones are :

Maximum Power: 450 W


Open-Circuit Voltage (Voc): 41.25V


Optimum Operating Voltage (Vmp): 34.67 V


Optimum Operating Current (Imp): 12.98 A


Short-Circuit Current (Isc): 13.89 A


Maximum Series Fuse Rating: 25 A


Maximum System Voltage: 1500V DC (UL)


Operating Temperature: -40°F to 185°F

High-Powered 450 Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel​

• 22.8% conversion efficiency provides more output per surface area.


• PERC cells capture more light to generate more electricity.


• Half-Cell tech improves shade tolerance.


• 10-Busbar tech reduces the impact of microcracks to enhance efficiency.


I'm hoping these perform decently. Anyone using these?

 

[Renogy Solar]

Thank you for liking our products!
If you have any other questions before you buy, please let me know and we'll be happy to answer them!

 

[Crowz]

Thanks. Hopefully I will have them to test shortly.

Delivery date from amazon is the 24th. Looong wait.

 

[Rednecktek]

That's a pretty good price for new too. Our local supplier carries 480w panels for about $350ea if you pick up so for shipped that's pretty darn good!

 

[Crowz]

I don't understand the shipping though. The item is 100 miles from me and its going to take till the 24th to get here. Most of the stuff from that amazon location to here is overnight or 2 days tops. Strange. Its coming freight or something and they scheduled a delivery date during checkout. I didn't have a choice in how it shipped.

As long as it gets here safely its all good just strange.

 

[Rednecktek]

Shipping via freight is a bit more involved, they're too big for the local driver to throw in the back of his truck and leave on your doorstep.

Not uncommon all, and the reason that ordering used panels online usually has a minimum to break even. When I got my pallet of 205w used panels years ago the freight shipping was about $380 whether that was 1 panel or 28 panels. It's why I often recommend that people buy on amazon if local pickup isn't an option and you only need a few panels.

 

[Crowz]

Well my panels are "out for delivery" with a delivery time of 8 am to 11 am.... Its 11:08 am

They are supposed to call 30 minutes before arriving. Haven't heard from the driver. Did get a call wanting to know if I would fill out a survey on the delivery. I'm like suuuure when its been delivered.

Still waiting.

 

[Rednecktek]

Well my panels are "out for delivery" with a delivery time of 8 am to 11 am.... Its 11:08 am

They are supposed to call 30 minutes before arriving. Haven't heard from the driver. Did get a call wanting to know if I would fill out a survey on the delivery. I'm like suuuure when its been delivered.

Still waiting.

Did they specify a time zone though?

 

[Crowz]

Did they specify a time zone though?

Well where departed from is an hour ahead of me so that makes it worse not better

 

[740GLE]

Who’s the carrier?

I ordered some 170w panels from Amazon (prime day spurge for myself) and were delivered by USPS today.

 

[Mattb4]

Who’s the carrier?

I ordered some 170w panels from Amazon (prime day spurge for myself) and were delivered by USPS today.

I was really surprised on the last panels I ordered from Amazon to see them shipped USPS with Sunday delivery! I had been unaware that Amazon had negotiated to have the US Mail deliver packages on a Sunday.

 

[Crowz]

RXO freight delivery service since its rather large.

 

[Mattb4]

Well my panels are "out for delivery" with a delivery time of 8 am to 11 am.... Its 11:08 am

They are supposed to call 30 minutes before arriving. Haven't heard from the driver. Did get a call wanting to know if I would fill out a survey on the delivery. I'm like suuuure when its been delivered.

Still waiting.

Heck it is Summer in the South. Your driver is probably hanging out in a A/C cooled restaurant somewhere. Likely you will get a call at around 2-3PM that he is on the way.

Hard to be patient when it is package arrival day.

 

[740GLE]

I was really surprised on the last panels I ordered from Amazon to see them shipped USPS with Sunday delivery! I had been unaware that Amazon had negotiated to have the US Mail deliver packages on a Sunday.

They actually had a huge contract with USPS (2018/2019?) before they convinced everyone could be their own boss and open up an “amazon logistics center”, which I’m sure Amazon has run each “contractor” into the ground.

 

[Texas-Mark]

USPS delivery of Amazon packages lasted about a week here when they first started that. I live rural and the mail carriers use their own POVs.

 

[Crowz]

Well good news the panels arrived and the nice delivery people toted the panels to the field for me and put them in place.

I have them going and they seem to be producing well but I don't have any real data yet. I'll share the reasons on that part in a few days

So far they look nice and arrived in perfect condition. The two panels were bundled into one box and had special foam parts keeping them separated. Very nice job on that part Renogy !

I will update this thread in a couple of days with test results. But so far I likes em

 

[740GLE]

How are they packaged? 450w panels are very awkward. Mind taking a picture of the boxes?

My 2 170w topsolar were also delivered by USPS today, both boxes had minimal packaging small 3/8 foam corner blocks was it. Both boxes were opened on one side, definitely seems intentional, my guess is USPS opened them to verify they were intact at delivery, which they do appear to look good.

 

[Crowz]

I still have the boxes but nothing to see there its the blocks that held the two panels together in the box that was cool. I wish I had of had time to take pics but I wanted to inspect them while the delivery people were here in case of damage. I figured they would make great witnesses if needed

I'll see if I can take some pics of the blocks laid out like they were on the panels.

 

[Crowz]

I washed to panels today. They were filthy from pollen and I noticed the Renogy panels have a water repellent treatment on them. Its almost like they are waxed or something. Pretty cool. I guess its something that will wear off with time but its handy when washing them.

So far power output has been great. Now that I have solar assistant back working since fixing the display on the aio I can compile some stats to see what they are really doing watts wise.