SanTan Solar Used Categories and Brands Discussion

[trad]

SanTan has used panels for sale in the following categories. With their latest sale, they seem to be pricing all the categories the same.

Used
Cracked Vinyl
Snail Trail
Blemished
Scratched

The blemished seem to have the lowest output maybe?
The cracked vinyl may have the shortest future life once they fully crack and get water inside?
The snail trails tested by Will seem to output good power in-spite of the ugly looks
The used and the scratched (I would appreciate clarification of these categories)

Have I got the correct understanding? Which ones are the safest to buy?

Now the brands (used panels mostly come with no warranty - Only 1 year SanTan warranty)

Trina (Chinese)
Canadian Solar (Tier 1 Solar with Canadian roots - Chinese manufacturing)
Yingli (Chinese)
RenSola (Chinese
SanTan (rebranded to SanTan from other brands - off grid use only)
BenQ (Tier 1 Solar with Taiwanese roots - offshoot of Acer)
Hyundai (Korean)
Jinko (Chinese)
Hanwha / QCells (Korean)
Kyocera (out of the solar business in the Americas)
REC (Singapore / Indian quality brand originally created in China upper tier)
Frontier (Japanese)
SSG(Chinese)
SunPower(Chinese)
SunTech(Chinese)
Longi(Chinese)
JA Solar(Chinese)
LG (Korean no longer in the solar business)

Feel free to correct my musings above, and rank these brands on the likelihood of failure

 

[sunshine_eggo]

IMHO, I do not consider cracked, snail trail or any other potential damage.

I would only purchase used with no apparent blemishes or damage.

 

[trad]

Like choosing 2x4 at Lowe's. Not that one. Not that one. Not that one.

 

[BryceFreeman]

I do not have experiences with these brands but I think buying used solar panels is really a risk. They are not covered by warranty and the performance is not guaranteed. What if there's invisible crack on the cells? Scratch and partial damage will also lead to apparent drops of the efficiency. My personal opinion only. Open to suggestions

 

[400bird]

I do not have experiences with these brands but I think buying used solar panels is really a risk. They are not covered by warranty and the performance is not guaranteed. What if there's invisible crack on the cells? Scratch and partial damage will also lead to apparent drops of the efficiency. My personal opinion only. Open to suggestions

I haven't purchased used panels, but I think most that do, purchase spares for just this situation. Or they are you to use the initial savings to offset the shortened life. They will probably still come out ahead vs new panels.

Hanwha (better Taiwanese brand)
QCells (Chinese mid level brand)

I think these are both the same South Korean company. Or parent company and solar panel division/company.

 

[trad]

I think these are both the same South Korean company. Or parent company and solar panel division/company.

Thanks, fixed

 

[TomC4306]

I do not have experiences with these brands but I think buying used solar panels is really a risk. They are not covered by warranty and the performance is not guaranteed. What if there's invisible crack on the cells? Scratch and partial damage will also lead to apparent drops of the efficiency. My personal opinion only. Open to suggestions

6 Mwh in the last 12 months from 5.9 kw used panels. $900. Sharp 235 and Trina 255.

 

[scrubjaysnest]

Santan claims 1 year warranty on their blems.

 

[trad]

6 Mwh in the last 12 months from 5.9 kw used panels. $900. Sharp 235 and Trina 255.

Good solar panels second life testimonial

What is your inverter/ mppt?

 

[jtvt]

I have 20 Suntech 285 used from Santan. In use for a bit over 2.5 years. No defects, except they came with what appears to be paint overspray on the panels. Like small hard droplets across all the panels. Seems weird, but I can't think of what else it could be. I tried to wash some of it off, but more or less gave up because it wasn't coming all off and the scrubbing required was causing damage. Despite the overspray, the output doesn't seem to be degraded. I see 5800-5900w with good sun. More recently, I noticed about a quarter sized area of delamination on one panel. Could have been there from the start. Not sure if that foretells of a bad future.

One thing is if you are buying used panels, buy a common form factor so it's easier to reuse the racking. I was looking at replacing the 285s for better power density, but the 285s are "H" category and there doesn't seem to be much for more modern panels in that size.

 

[Kornbread]

$.02 ...

Used: panels are long lived and may retain ~80%+/- of their rating at ~20yrs, or more ... keep an eye out for bad diodes.
Cracked vinyl: IMO, moisture will eventually enter the cells resulting in
Blemishes: the traces have become discolored from moisture. IMO, either condition indicates lower production and/or shorter life but might be just the ticket for a super cheap cabin setup.
Snail Trail: have 3 in service for a couple years, no issues and production is in line with the other panels. Many articles out there if you would like to research.

 

[PaulLad]

I priced a pallet of used panels from Santan the other day and after shipping the cost was $.60/watt. Not worth the risk.