Lg 435 qac

[ackvor]

Hi, a local installer I contacted designer a system with these panels mated to Enphase IQ8+ inverters. He told me LG is getting out of the solar business but will still honor the 25 yr warranty. I was a bit alarmed by their departure from solar. Are these panels ok? Would anyone use them? Thanks.

[SolTex]

LG has (had) a great reputation for building quality panels. Your installer is correct - LG has made an official announcement that they are closing down their panel building operation. In spite of knowing that, we recently (March of 2022) installed a Enphase system consisting of 40 Neon 2 LG-380W panels and IQ7+ inverters (plus two 10T storage modules). I personally feel like it is a safe bet that if we ever have a panel failure covered by manufacturer warranty LG will do what they can to honor it. How they will do it, if they don't have any identical panels in stock, I don't know. Just have to wait and see.

One of the good things about using micro inverters is that each panel+inverter pairing is a separate production "entity". If down the road one of my LG 380W panels dies, it can be replaced by almost any panel of comparable quality, output, and physical size. The integrity of the system as a whole would be unaffected by having one (or more) panels made by different manufacturers.

Are you familiar with the concept of the DC-to-AC ratio? It is also called the ILR ratio (Inverter Loading Ratio). The idea is that keeping the ratio of the panel DC nominal (STC) output rating to the inverter peak AC output rating around 1.25 you can optimize the output of the system. For instance, in my system the panels are rated at 380W, and my IQ7+ inverters are rated at 295W. So in my system 380W divided by 295W = 1.28 ratio. I am bringing this up because you are looking at panels rated at 435W (STC) and inverters rated at 300W peak output. In that case 435W divided by 300W = 1.45 ratio. In other words, it is possible that you could go with slightly lower output rated panels and still get the same performance out of your system. For instance, using LG 380W panels with the same inverters would yield a 1.27 ratio and might save you some money.

The max peak AC output of your system will ultimately be limited by the output of your inverters, regardless of what panel you choose. For the IQ8+ inverters simply multiply 300W times the number of inverters in your system to get the max output. Over-sizing the panel output rating is worthwhile, to a point, but no sense in paying for more panel than you need.

[peakbagger]

No company that I am aware of keeps inventory of older panels and most panels at best have a 2 to 3 years life before they are replaced with new models that are typically different dimensions and color. After a few years, at best, the only thing a legit company will be able to do about a defective panel is to pay something out to the buyer. Ultimately it then becomes the owners problem to come up with a replacement panel on the used market (quite tough), live with a dead panel or have an odd panel on the array if one can be found with similar dimensions. Aesthetically it will look poorly but functionally with microinverters it will work.

Typically, A grade panels are dead out of the box or degrade within a few years of installation so there is rare chance that some new panels will still be sloshing around the system of a firm still in the business but I wouldnt allow that to be major factor in avoiding LG.

Note, the risk of having a panel damaged by a non-manufacturer issue like golf balls or rocks thrown by lawn mower or outright vandalism have the same issues in the long run. If the array is visible where aesthetics is important, its best to buy a spare panel or two and store them in a safe place like an attic. There could be difference in weathering between the exposed panels and the stored spares but I expect its the best option for someone in the long term to assure that there are backups.