Replacing Panels

[UrbanCowboy]

Hi I purchased a home in June of last year that had an existing DIY solar system. The panels need replacing and I am looking for some suggestions that won't break the bank.

I have three towers that are on elevation and azimuth systems. The towers are identical the inverters are not, right now I am just looking to replace the panels as there are some broken there are some that are delaminated etc. I am going to add additional solar later in the year for a shop but want to keep as I can as I have spent far too much on this house this year.

I am looking to power the following inverters.

1 Sunny Boy 3000US
2 Sunny Boy 4000US

Each tower has the inverter mounted in an enclosure on the bottom of it so it will be three separate arrays.

I would like to know what cost effective panels people would recommend. When I build my shop I plan on doing a power wall type thing in a container but am not where I want to do it yet.

Thanks!

 

[iamrich]

The easiest would be to replace the panels with the same size/rating as you have now. Just unbolt, remove, replace. The panels should have a rating on the back.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

The easiest would be to replace the panels with the same size/rating as you have now. Just unbolt, remove, replace. The panels should have a rating on the back.

Yes, that would be very nice, the panels have been changed around, and aren't the originals also they are no longer available. The sizes and ratings have ALL changed in the 14 years since installed. What cost effective brand etc would everyone use is what I am asking.

 

[iamrich]

Understood. What I mean is your system is probably set up for the existing panels, so you don't want to replace them with greater capacity panels unless your inverters/wiring/fuse/breakers/etc can handle the new panels.

Maybe start with telling us what you do have?

 

[UrbanCowboy]

Right now the DC section of the system is a mess, there are six different panels on one of the towers that are all different. I do want to change the setup and wiring on the DC section of the system.

I have two towers with a Sunny Boy 4000US inverter on each.

I have one tower with a Sunny Boy 3000US inverter.

 

[Hedges]

I put in my system 15+ years ago, with AstroPower and Sharp panels that are about 12% to 14% efficiency.
I recently bought SunPower, which are 20% efficient. That means I get 50% more panel wattage in the same area.
I suggest removing all panels and designing a new array to fit your inverters.

Check out the deals at SanTan Solar, which range from damaged panels having no UL label through new panels with full manufacturer warranty, and $0.12 to $0.50/watt or more.

Solar Panels | SanTan Solar

store.santansolar.com

 

[UrbanCowboy]

I put in my system 15+ years ago, with AstroPower and Sharp panels that are about 12% to 14% efficiency.
I recently bought SunPower, which are 20% efficient. That means I get 50% more panel wattage in the same area.
I suggest removing all panels and designing a new array to fit your inverters.

Check out the deals at SanTan Solar, which range from damaged panels having no UL label through new panels with full manufacturer warranty, and $0.12 to $0.50/watt or more.

Solar Panels | SanTan Solar

store.santansolar.com

Thanks, I am going to look at them. This system was originally Sharp Panels, they were supposed to be under warranty but Sharp doesn't care so I will not buy anything Sharp ever again.

 

[Hedges]

Broken wouldn't be their responsibility, delaminated might be.
I only have the data sheet at hand, not sure what warranty covered.
Many panels have a defects warranty for one period, power production for another.

My panel backsheets are holding up fine. What environments do yours see? Extreme temperatures in your location? Mounted over the roof (which is a bit hotter than my ground mounts)? Any decorative baffles that prevent air flow under the back? Shadows on some panels while others get full sun?

Good news is that compared to $5/watt when those were purchased, replacements can be had today for $0.33 so approaching a negligible portion of a new system install. For you, putting maybe 9000W STC on your 7000W of inverters would be $3000 more or less so still a chunk of change. But a lot less than the $35k or so they would have cost originally.

Panels get highly accelerated stress tests, and the results are available on reports linked here - register on their site to download for free:

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

 

[UrbanCowboy]

Broken wouldn't be their responsibility, delaminated might be.
I only have the data sheet at hand, not sure what warranty covered.
Many panels have a defects warranty for one period, power production for another.

My panel backsheets are holding up fine. What environments do yours see? Extreme temperatures in your location? Mounted over the roof (which is a bit hotter than my ground mounts)? Any decorative baffles that prevent air flow under the back? Shadows on some panels while others get full sun?

Good news is that compared to $5/watt when those were purchased, replacements can be had today for $0.33 so approaching a negligible portion of a new system install. For you, putting maybe 9000W STC on your 7000W of inverters would be $3000 more or less so still a chunk of change. But a lot less than the $35k or so they would have cost originally.

Panels get highly accelerated stress tests, and the results are available on reports linked here - register on their site to download for free:

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

I completely understand that broken wouldn't be. But there are 20 Sharp panels that aren't putting out 50% of what they should be.

I live in Las Vegas and they are mounted on a rotating and tilting tower.

Yeah, I just looked at San Tan Solar and it looks like for ~4k I can replace everything panel wise with new panels they are the CSUN310's I don't know how good or bad these are.

 

[Hedges]

I have 18 Sharp 165W polycrystaline from 15 years ago. They were wired 9s2p into a 2500W Sunny Boy.
Haven't measured precisely but I think they're still around full power.
Mild San Jose weather.

I picked up some more a few years later, have 12s2p so they match voltage of other panels now connected in parallel (swapped for larger inverter).

I suppose you've done some isolation of panels trying to track down the problem.
For an individual panel to lose half is output, might be broken portions or shorted diodes.
Delamination, you said. Could lead to corrosion, opens or shorts.

I had thought Sharp was good, based on my experience.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

The funny thing is I posted this and on Tuesday afternoon Sharp called me about making sure they got the replacements to me.

 

[Hedges]

Curious whether they will provide identical replacements, or different size/wattage so array gets reconfigured.
"Reverse Logistics" might be the only practical way to do warranty replacement of a few old panels.
But warehousing decommissioned hardware would get expensive. Maybe maintaining an inventory of customer installations, scheduling upgrades to replenish stock of used material for warranty exchange.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

From what I understand they replace the whole array.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

From what I understand they replace the whole array.

Just an update, Sharp is being jerks about this again. I am going to replace and then move forward with litigation against them.