Renesola Panels?

[Sabo]

I have received 8 bids on my solar project and I have come to the decision based on many positive reviews and recommendations I have received on this particular company.... Add in the fact that they have the overall best price/per watt and their willingness to customize to my desires and wishes....so it seems to me to be a no brainer...It was actually night and day from the other companies with their used car salesman personalities and pressure to sign on the dotted line BS. So needless to say I am confident that I have found the right company.

Which leads me to my question on their initial recommendation for my project. (which of course they have told me they can install any panels and inverters I what)

Here is the initial recommendation:

Total: 14.040 kw dc power (STC)
System: 12.814 kw (PTC)
Size: 12.494 kw ac power (CEC Size)
Cost: Gross: 2.60 Net after rebates: 1.75
Annual Est. Prod. 22,082 kwh

54- Renesola Panels (156 series)...model:JC260M-24/BX 260w Polycrystalline module ..(in three arrays....2- 20 panel arrays and 1- 14 panel array)
1- Solaredge with optimizers.....model: SE 11400A-US (240V) 11.4kw 1-phase (240Vac) Utility interactive Inverter


My question is mainly about the panels..... any thoughts on them? I want to know if they are any good. They say that the panels are a tier 1 panel, but the warranty is only for 25 years on linear power output and only 10 years on material and workmanship....the company said that they stand by any materials they use and will stand my me as their customer when it comes to any issues down the road ....of course again , the company said I can inter change any panel even Sunpower if I choose. I would assume it would change the price though....in fact I did notice on other references of theirs that they installed Canadian Solar panels often..... What about these?

As for the Solaredge inverter with optimizers...warranty is 12 years parts and labor and he said he can extend that to 20 years for only $500...


Anyways.... any thoughts on these panels and/or any other aspect of this offer would be welcomed.

Thanks.

[J.P.M.]

I have received 8 bids on my solar project and I have come to the decision based on many positive reviews and recommendations I have received on this particular company.... Add in the fact that they have the overall best price/per watt and their willingness to customize to my desires and wishes....so it seems to me to be a no brainer...It was actually night and day from the other companies with their used car salesman personalities and pressure to sign on the dotted line BS. So needless to say I am confident that I have found the right company.

Which leads me to my question on their initial recommendation for my project. (which of course they have told me they can install any panels and inverters I what)

Here is the initial recommendation:

Total: 14.040 kw dc power (STC)
System: 12.814 kw (PTC)
Size: 12.494 kw ac power (CEC Size)
Cost: Gross: 2.60 Net after rebates: 1.75
Annual Est. Prod. 22,082 kwh

54- Renesola Panels (156 series)...model:JC260M-24/BX 260w Polycrystalline module ..(in three arrays....2- 20 panel arrays and 1- 14 panel array)
1- Solaredge with optimizers.....model: SE 11400A-US (240V) 11.4kw 1-phase (240Vac) Utility interactive Inverter


My question is mainly about the panels..... any thoughts on them? I want to know if they are any good. They say that the panels are a tier 1 panel, but the warranty is only for 25 years on linear power output and only 10 years on material and workmanship....the company said that they stand by any materials they use and will stand my me as their customer when it comes to any issues down the road ....of course again , the company said I can inter change any panel even Sunpower if I choose. I would assume it would change the price though....in fact I did notice on other references of theirs that they installed Canadian Solar panels often..... What about these?

As for the Solaredge inverter with optimizers...warranty is 12 years parts and labor and he said he can extend that to 20 years for only $500...


Anyways.... any thoughts on these panels and/or any other aspect of this offer would be welcomed.

Thanks.

Bad to pay too much, worse to pay too little. Seems a bit light on price, depending on where your located.

[Sabo]

Bad to pay too much, worse to pay too little. Seems a bit light on price, depending on where your located.

Yes, I agree..... unless you have done a thorough job at researching the companies in your particular area... I have done this. I have talked to local people that have used this company, I have used sites like solarreviews.com and others, and I have firsthand recommendations from members on this site for this very company. I have thoroughly spoke with 10 companies and received 8 bids from the eight I choose to invite to my house. I am positive that out of the companies in this area ...this is the company.

My questions if you missed them ....were about the panels in particular and any added thoughts on the materials used...do you have any? If not thanks for your response but it doesn't address my reason for this thread.

[solar pete]

Hi Sabo,

We have used a bunch of different tier 1 and tier 2 panels where I am in Australia, dont have any real experience with renesola, but all the tier 1 panels we have used have been fine, have used Canadian and no problems.

I think the Renesola will be fine but if you can get the same wattage cheaper in the Canadian I would consider those, we have not had many problems at all with panels, you tend to have problems with inverters if anything, and you are getting a good one by the look of it so it should all be good. Sounds like you have done your homework, so it should work out well.

[Sabo]

Hi Sabo,

We have used a bunch of different tier 1 and tier 2 panels where I am in Australia, dont have any real experience with renesola, but all the tier 1 panels we have used have been fine, have used Canadian and no problems.

I think the Renesola will be fine but if you can get the same wattage cheaper in the Canadian I would consider those, we have not had many problems at all with panels, you tend to have problems with inverters if anything, and you are getting a good one by the look of it so it should all be good. Sounds like you have done your homework, so it should work out well.

Thank you for your thoughts on the panels...much appreciated.

[sdold]

A friend and I just installed 26 Rennesola 250 watt panels over the summer, based on a recommendation from someone who had 20 of their panels for a couple of years with no failures. I'd also like to know how to find out if a brand is OK other than reports on sites like this one or from installers who use them. I bet there isn't much difference between most of the brands though.

[Sabo]

Hi Sabo,

We have used a bunch of different tier 1 and tier 2 panels where I am in Australia, dont have any real experience with renesola, but all the tier 1 panels we have used have been fine, have used Canadian and no problems.

I think the Renesola will be fine but if you can get the same wattage cheaper in the Canadian I would consider those, we have not had many problems at all with panels, you tend to have problems with inverters if anything, and you are getting a good one by the look of it so it should all be good. Sounds like you have done your homework, so it should work out well.

Thanks for the advice ...much appreciated!

[Sabo]

Anyone else have any thoughts on these panels??? I assumed there was a lot of experience and expertise on this forum...any help would be appreciated! .......Anyone??

[sensij]

Anyone else have any thoughts on these panels??? I assumed there was a lot of experience and expertise on this forum...any help would be appreciated! .......Anyone??

It may not be worth much since the rating scheme is kind of a black box, but those Renesola panels have a decent rating here. For the most part, I've found when comparing one panel to another, by closely looking at the data sheets it is possible to guess which one might be rated more highly.

On my own installation, I've selected the Canadian Solar CS6P-260P panels.

Edit: One other thought... that is a big inverter that has built in fans. You might want to consider a pair of smaller inverters that can be convectively cooled... one less part that can fail.

[Sabo]

It may not be worth much since the rating scheme is kind of a black box, but those Renesola panels have a decent rating here. For the most part, I've found when comparing one panel to another, by closely looking at the data sheets it is possible to guess which one might be rated more highly.

On my own installation, I've selected the Canadian Solar CS6P-260P panels.

Edit: One other thought... that is a big inverter that has built in fans. You might want to consider a pair of smaller inverters that can be convectively cooled... one less part that can fail.

Thank you for responding...I have been getting a little discouraged with this forum because for the most part, it seems that most people who reply to your posts just want to correct where you have spoken wrong, read incorrectly into what your saying which leads to incorrect assumptions, vaguely answer your questions, and/or just write these long drawn out comments that really have nothing to do with the questions at hand, just to hear themselves talk ...of course eventually the post gets hijacked into a whole new subject.......

so, I thank you for your direct answer and that very informative link....As for your panels.... are you happy with them so far? because my installer said he would get and install whatever panel I wanted but I know he regularly uses Canadian panels and has them in stock ...I am new to solar and just what to make the best choice possible.... I would hate to spend this much money and be unhappy with the results in the end.......Thanks again for your help....it was and is very much appreciated.

[sensij]

Thank you for responding...I have been getting a little discouraged with this forum because for the most part, it seems that most people who reply to your posts just want to correct where you have spoken wrong, read incorrectly into what your saying which leads to incorrect assumptions, vaguely answer your questions, and/or just write these long drawn out comments that really have nothing to do with the questions at hand, just to hear themselves talk ...of course eventually the post gets hijacked into a whole new subject.......

so, I thank you for your direct answer and that very informative link....As for your panels.... are you happy with them so far? because my installer said he would get and install whatever panel I wanted but I know he regularly uses Canadian panels and has them in stock ...I am new to solar and just what to make the best choice possible.... I would hate to spend this much money and be unhappy with the results in the end.......Thanks again for your help....it was and is very much appreciated.

You're welcome. My system isn't installed yet so I can't say how I like it, but from the research I've done, I couldn't find a reason to choose a more expensive panel. If degradation or overall output is a concern, and you have enough space, it is easy enough to just use some of the money saved and put up a couple more panels. Often panels that might produce a couple % more power have a price premium of 10% or more, and space limitations are one of the stronger reasons to consider paying it.

For many people, happiness with the results is directly correlated to how realistic the expectations are at the start of the project, and setting realistic expectations is hard without a good understanding of how the PV system works. I wouldn't be too hard on the other members who might not be answering your questions so directly, because they may be touching on other aspects of the installation that could ultimately affect your happiness with it.

Unless you have specific aesthetic requirements, panel selection is probably low on the list of things that would cause you unhappiness later. If you do care about how it looks, I would suggest that you do an image search on your installer or your panels, and see what the installations might look like.

[SoCalsolar]

Not a huge fan of Renesola

Not a huge fan of Renesola. That being said not a huge detractor either. They are just another panel nothing remarkable about them or their finances. Chinese company not profitable but in business for now. There are other options with better financials that ought to be in the same price range.

[J.P.M.]

Yes, I agree..... unless you have done a thorough job at researching the companies in your particular area... I have done this. I have talked to local people that have used this company, I have used sites like solarreviews.com and others, and I have firsthand recommendations from members on this site for this very company. I have thoroughly spoke with 10 companies and received 8 bids from the eight I choose to invite to my house. I am positive that out of the companies in this area ...this is the company.

My questions if you missed them ....were about the panels in particular and any added thoughts on the materials used...do you have any? If not thanks for your response but it doesn't address my reason for this thread.

I was responding to the "any other aspect of this offer" part of your post.

I had thought about providing a breakdown of all the 50+ jobs in my HOA that use about 8 or 10 diff. panels and various inverters, and how they are doing with a few of my observations on performance such as I have and a non scientific summary of comments from neighbors about what they think of their choices. After looking at your post I decided against that for several reasons. Then, after further thought, I responded with another post that stated, to the best of my knowledge over the last 8 yrs. or so, of the 1,000 or so panels installed in my HOA on those 50+ installs, none have failed, nor have any inverters - micro or string. Somehow, that post never made to this thread.

As far as what I write, take what you need/want/like, leave the rest.

[J.P.M.]

He missed it ...he always does. He just likes to hear himself talk

1.) I do miss a lot - probably more than most, but I'd hazard a guess and write that I probably forgot more about solar energy than you'll know for quite some time. It seems you have a ways to go both in the knowledge and class areas.

2.) I would, however be interested in learning from you how I could hear myself talk on a non audio, written/printed format such as this. Probably one of the things I missed

3.) As for the rest of my input, take what you want, leave the rest. Or, put it where the sun don't shine if you can squeeze it past your head. All the same to me.

4.) I'll not take your bait.

[russ]

franky is history

Actually Frank and Sabo are one and the same - at least the IP address is the same - must have been whining last time as well