Solar Panels Which Ones to Buy?

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  JimmyF on 22/02/2021 - 18:35

  Trina would be my pick of the 3.

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  FrugalShopper on 22/02/2021 - 18:55

  We had Trina panels installed recently, still waiting for the Utility company to install the new meter, testing shows they work great and we are happy with them.

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  Brick Tamland on 22/02/2021 - 19:51

  My research a little while ago led me to believe the Trina was a reputable brand.

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  knasty on 22/02/2021 - 20:11

  If your roof is north facing and unshaded by trees a simple inverter setup should be fine, noting that inverter prices vary significantly. If you have multiple roof aspects for panel installation and/or tree shading you may want to research multi string inverter setup and/or optimisers. https://www.solarquotes.com.au/ is a good resource and I used this service to shortlist 3 installers.

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    ihbh on 22/02/2021 - 20:46

    Have you considered that if you went directly to the installers, you might have gotten a cheaper price because they don't have to pay the referral fee?

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      knasty on 22/02/2021 - 22:16

      Yes but i wouldn't have found the referred companies direct. I had some pretty poor experiences with direct contacts. I don't mind paying a referral fee where the referrer actually adds value in the process.

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  go2force on 22/02/2021 - 20:22

  We are getting Trina panels with Sungrow inverter.

  • 

    stevednj48 on 22/02/2021 - 20:35

    +1

    yeah that was part of the system Opensolar Quoted me

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  inYourdream on 22/02/2021 - 21:02

  ask your installer for longi 370 and fronius or sungrow. i got longi and fronius and they are the best :)

  • 

    Peter Enis on 22/02/2021 - 22:19

    +1

    What makes them the best?

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  jack019784 on 22/02/2021 - 23:02

  inverter
  1. solar edge (usually $1000 more, if you if want data it is good) / fronius (super reliable)
  2. sungrow (cheap alternative)
  3. nothing else
  make sure to install the inverter in a shaded area, or just below the eves, because most of the inverters that were faulty after a few years were the ones that were sitting outside. but maybe exception to sma and fronius.

  panels

  1. canadian solar (around $800 to $1000 more for 18 to 20 panels) (we used it for commercial system, and some of those panels that were used in 2011, were still alive and performing reasonably good, and the company are still around and based in Australia, which is good for trouble shooting for warranty repairs, lives up to their words)
  2. longi/trina are about the same quality i believe.
  3. seraphim, performs well, looks great, a little bit cheaper, i would use it in conjunction with solar edge tho, to prove that the panels have degraded and claim warranty in future lol.

  then get insurance after that since nothing really last over 10 years. or they just degrade alot.

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    jack019784 on 22/02/2021 - 23:23

    oh also, make sure to put your hot water system on a timer because they usually use between $100 to $250, but depending on the orientation of the panels and time of use (ie to avoid using with ac)

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  brad1-8tsi on 23/02/2021 - 09:04

  My ex-team leader has the Goodwe since 2018 and hasn't had any issues

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  Isla Brown on 02/04/2021 - 19:47

  Trina Solar is ranked as one of the top Tier 1 solar panel. Trina is best; its cell's half-cut design allows the PV module to work at lower temperatures, resulting into increase in per watt energy generation. Also, its unique cell string structure manages to reduce energy loss due to mismatch caused by inter-row shading to a significant degree.
  We’ve installed Trina with Growatt inverter. They’re best.

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  stevednj48 on 02/04/2021 - 21:58

  i ended up going Suntech panels with Sungrow invertor had them installed yesterday.

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  deepdag on 13/04/2021 - 11:09

  Hi guys,
  Little late to the discussion but do you have any experience with panels from Jinko or JA Solar. I got these names from Choice website.

  'JA Solar JAP6-60-255/3BB' or 'Jinko JKM270PP-60'

  Also about the inverters? 'Enphase, Fronius or SMA'. Would you recommend these or something cheaper?

  Many Thanks