Unisolar PV & Mixing types of solar panels

[Robbo]

It is amazing the number of people who ask a question, having already made the decision, and look for the 'hive' to confirm how clever they are.

Any suggestions / arguments to the contrary are ignored.

I ask questions like this, it's not to show off my intelligence but I value some of the opinions on this board and it's good to see what are the negatives and positives that I have missed on the idea that I posted. A lot of times I have rethought the idea.

[WotEver]

I ask questions like this, it's not to show off my intelligence but I value some of the opinions on this board and it's good to see what are the negatives and positives that I have missed on the idea that I posted. A lot of times I have rethought the idea.

However OP posted words to the effect of "I think the Unisolar is amazing". He got replies that disagreed and his conclusion was "Yes, I think I'll go with the Unisolar".

 

He didn't want advice he wanted confirmation. When he didn't get it he went off in a huff.

[Robbo]

However OP posted words to the effect of "I think the Unisolar is amazing". He got replies that disagreed and his conclusion was "Yes, I think I'll go with the Unisolar".

 

He didn't want advice he wanted confirmation. When he didn't get it he went off in a huff.

To be honest I haven't read most of the thread.

[BrenMyster]

Just a quick update on my solar findings. Panasonic have a new range of panels out called HIT Power, they combine Mono with PV, kinda the best of both worlds apparently. I can only find them in 245 or 330w and they are a little on the pricy side but are currently top of my list. I think they actually just topped the chart for their efficiency beating some American company last year.

 

They are also supposed to work better on cloudy days. Soon as i get them I'll do a proper review of them as I can't find anything out there as yet.

[WotEver]

Just a quick update on my solar findings. Panasonic have a new range of panels out called HIT Power, they combine Mono with PV, kinda the best of both worlds apparently. I can only find them in 245 or 330w and they are a little on the pricy side but are currently top of my list. I think they actually just topped the chart for their efficiency beating some American company last year.

 

They are also supposed to work better on cloudy days. Soon as i get them I'll do a proper review of them as I can't find anything out there as yet.

For boaters I think the most relevant figure is £/w/m². Edited February 7, 2017 by WotEver

[MtB]

For boaters I think the most relevant figure is £/w/m².

 

 

Eh? Surely it is W/£ or W/M²

 

The latter seems the most important to NB owners with limited roof space. I can see how low light efficiency can also seem important but it is terribly hard to quantify.

Just a quick update on my solar findings. Panasonic have a new range of panels out called HIT Power, they combine Mono with PV, kinda the best of both worlds apparently. I can only find them in 245 or 330w and they are a little on the pricy side but are currently top of my list. I think they actually just topped the chart for their efficiency beating some American company last year.

 

They are also supposed to work better on cloudy days. Soon as i get them I'll do a proper review of them as I can't find anything out there as yet.

 

 

In what way? Given they are 'expensive', how about buying more cheap ones then comparing those in cloud with the fewer of the smaller, higher efficiency panels?

[WotEver]

Eh? Surely it is W/£ or W/M²

It has to be a balance, Shirley.

 

No point having 500W/m² if it's also £10/W...

[BrenMyster]

I was just reading the fact sheet found here

 

https://midsummerenergy.co.uk/pdfs/panasonic_240W_data_sheet.pdf

 

And this video is quite informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Og7PsDQPs

 

I also chatted to someone at Midsummer Energy and he confirmed it.

 

As far a cost , they are a little more pricy obviously because they are bigger but W per £ they work out a good deal if you are going for a larger array. At £300 for 245W. Thats £1.20 per Watt. The £400 panel with 330 watt is £1.30 a Watt. Actually doing the maths they are a pretty good deal. The 245w is 1.2 square meters, most other 245/250w panels I could find come out at 1.5 Square Meters. If I'm correct then these are a great buy.

 

I'm thinking about going for three of the 245w Hit panels. Going to get the tape measure out and see if the dimensions work.

[WotEver]

They seem great

[WotEver]

 

Far more appropriate for a boat than those enormous Unisolar flexible panels in the OP

[BrenMyster]

The guys at Midsummer couldn't speak more highly of the unisolar. But think if you are going for 400W+ array then on a boat they dont work.

Edited February 7, 2017 by BrenMyster

[WotEver]

The guys at Midsummer couldn't speak more highly of the unisolar. But think if you are going for 400W+ array then on a boat they dont work.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with them other than their size - and size is hugely important on a boat.

[Jon12345]

These the ones??

 

http://www.buypvdirect.co.uk/PV_Panels/Panasonic%20PAN-240%20HIT

 

http://www.buypvdirect.co.uk/PV_Panels?product_id=273

 

They look nice and this guy has fitted them

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MMPakvfZ0&t=339s

[Alan de Enfield]

Whatever you buy, 6-months later they will be obsolete and replaced by 'super-doper high efficiency' panels / controllers.

 

Make a decision and stick with it.

[Robbo]

Whatever you buy, 6-months later they will be obsolete and replaced by 'super-doper high efficiency' panels / controllers.

 

Make a decision and stick with it.

They be super doper and half the price as well!

[stegra]

Just a quick update on my solar findings. Panasonic have a new range of panels out called HIT Power, they combine Mono with PV, kinda the best of both worlds apparently. I can only find them in 245 or 330w and they are a little on the pricy side but are currently top of my list. I think they actually just topped the chart for their efficiency beating some American company last year.

 

They are also supposed to work better on cloudy days. Soon as i get them I'll do a proper review of them as I can't find anything out there as yet.

 

Isn't mono (monocrystalline) one of several forms of PV (photovoltaic) system? Seems these HIT panels are a combo of monocrystalline and amorphous PV. They do look good for maximising output from a limited surface area, though.

[BrenMyster]

My mistake, I was meant to say amorphous PV.

[Jambo]

I was just reading the fact sheet found here

 

https://midsummerenergy.co.uk/pdfs/panasonic_240W_data_sheet.pdf

 

And this video is quite informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Og7PsDQPs

 

I also chatted to someone at Midsummer Energy and he confirmed it.

 

As far a cost , they are a little more pricy obviously because they are bigger but W per £ they work out a good deal if you are going for a larger array. At £300 for 245W. Thats £1.20 per Watt. The £400 panel with 330 watt is £1.30 a Watt. Actually doing the maths they are a pretty good deal. The 245w is 1.2 square meters, most other 245/250w panels I could find come out at 1.5 Square Meters. If I'm correct then these are a great buy.

 

I'm thinking about going for three of the 245w Hit panels. Going to get the tape measure out and see if the dimensions work.

 

That's more than a little more pricey - Bimble have conventional 250W panels at 50p/W at the moment. Having panels that might perform a bit better in winter than other designs but cost more than two times as much isn't worth it imo. This is especially the case if you're going to be cruising around London where overshading from trees and buildings is mostly terrible from the beginning of November to the end of February.

[MtB]

 

That's more than a little more pricey - Bimble have conventional 250W panels at 50p/W at the moment. Having panels that might perform a bit better in winter than other designs but cost more than two times as much isn't worth it imo.

 

 

I agree. Solar output really is negligible in winter so the output from panels that are 20% better in poor light than negligible is still negligible.

[WotEver]

Hence why I said that the measure needs to be £/W/m². It's a balance between cost and space per W.

[Jambo]

Depends on your available space. Widebeam owners won't care so much about how much space their system takes up (our 1kW system probably takes up just 15% of our roof space).

 

On the other hand NB owners might well value the fact that the 245W HIT panels are about 30cm narrower than the Hyundai panels that Bimble are offering at 50p/W.

[BrenMyster]

The space saving for me is a massive bonus, especially when I'm trying for a 1kw set up. For the sake of a few hundred quid, no brainer.

[Jambo]

Are you aiming to fit them in crossways or something?

 

The 245W HITs are 798 x 1580 mm. How wide is a NB roof typically?

 

The cheap Bimble ones are 991 x 1665mm so the saving if you're going lengthways is only 20cm on the width and 34cm on the overall length along 4 panels.

 

If you have a 12V battery set up you're going to need an 80A MPPT controller. We have the FM80 but I'd be inclined to suggest looking at Morningstar, if only for the fact that they use an open data protocol.

[Justme]

High efficiency in low light / clouds is actually pissing in the wind.

 

 

There is so little actual energy there it does not actually matter if you collect at 10% or 30% cos both are will be diddly squat of actual energy collected.

Edited February 8, 2017 by Justme