Sunpower :( is there any other compareable panels /cells ?

[bonaire]

Might be an example but is clearly not a common practice. Some solar farms, such as the 80mw one that went into Sarnia, Ontario, used thin film modules. One in the works in Pennsylvania is also looking at using cheaper modules to keep per watt prices under $2/watt.

The article you posted was from 2011, said they will use trackers, etc. that was in the heyday of planning higher priced projects. That project hasn't been constructed yet in rosamond, ca. I believe that the cost of this project will be prohibitive in any state other than California due to the details of the SCE PPA it is based on. Without a PPA, I doubt that anyone would justify the project.

How much government money is going into this SunPower project?

[SoCalsolar]

SunKing read post #5

"A solar farm wouldn't use sunpower modules but rather would use the cheapest modules per watt possible for the space given. "

My post was in response to an earlier post(#5).

[Sunking]

Just in case there are some out there who still think solar farms don't use SP and buy the cheapest thing they can find.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sunpower-and-southern-california-edison-sign-contracts-for-711-megawatts-of-solar-power-113194464.html

Yes quality matters and those who know and plan and pay people to research it, go with quality.

What does commercial applications have to do with residential? If I want a 2 Mw system I can beat the crap out of the manufacture and hammer out a huge discount. A 2 to 10 Kw residence has ZERO leverage in negotiations.

[goldhunter_2]

SoCalsolar,
I wish I had the kind of money to spend that ya'll are looking at for solar farms artciles but I just don't, so with that said budget has to be a big consideration for me though I would still carefully consider spending more money on noticeably better quality panel but as stated earlier sunpower will not sell panel to me I have already asked them.

[goldhunter_2]

Hyacinth
I guess that depends on what you consider local , they mite be a great company but don't want to deal with the little people was the opinion I got form them and there isn't much other choice but I a looking

[SoCalsolar]

Just in case there are some who still think solar farms don't use SP

Just in case there are some out there who still think solar farms don't use SP and buy the cheapest thing they can find.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sunpower-and-southern-california-edison-sign-contracts-for-711-megawatts-of-solar-power-113194464.html

Yes quality matters and those who know and plan and pay people to research it, go with quality.

[Hyacinth]

Another appealing aspect of Sunpower is that it's a local company.

[Naptown]

must be nice to have that large 2.5 million dollar budget to spend ...lol


Sanyo has a 21% panel as well but they are pricey considering space issues along with price it's still hard to justify in my mind at least buying one 240 watt panel instead of three perlight 280 watt for the same money.

But Sanyo has left the business sold to Panasonic.
further read a bit more on the Sanyo modules. they only get that with the bifacial panel and only if there is backlighting. Second that effficiency comes with reduced warranty and is a hybrid of hard silicon and amorphous film.

[goldhunter_2]

must be nice to have that large 2.5 million dollar budget to spend ...lol


Sanyo has a 21% panel as well but they are pricey considering space issues along with price it's still hard to justify in my mind at least buying one 240 watt panel instead of three perlight 280 watt for the same money.

[Naptown]

Not sure what to google. Sunpower? I'd bet warren Buffett would have first invested in the company then loaded up on their product. He's heavily into BYD cars in China as well. Sunpower is good stuff but not everyone should buy them.

Well Warren just bought a 2.5 billion dollar solar farm from them.

[bonaire]

Actually Google Warren Buffett, JNJ Microsoft, etc and see who's panels they are using

Not sure what to google. Sunpower? I'd bet warren Buffett would have first invested in the company then loaded up on their product. He's heavily into BYD cars in China as well. Sunpower is good stuff but not everyone should buy them.

[Naptown]

Only real reason to go high efficiency is if you don't have a lot of space to work with. Like a small townhouse roof or home roof with limited space. A solar farm wouldn't use sunpower modules but rather would use the cheapest modules per watt possible for the space given. Somewhere in between are dozens of mid-efficiency modules of varying quality levels.

I had heard that MoTech had a new LEO panel out last year up in the similar 16% range. To be built in the Delaware plant. Did that ever come out?

Actually Google Warren Buffett, JNJ Microsoft, etc and see who's panels they are using

[goldhunter_2]

I remember reading somewhere about Motech buying a plant up there but didn't see anymore new reports on it

14% to 16% seems to be pretty common , My pools solar panels take up a large part of my southern roof except for the lanai which I don't think would support the weight or wind load of 30 conventional solar panels . I had looked at some thin film for that but decided to go with the panel in the first phase of purchasing.

I guess I was just trying to get the most efficiency for the space I have , it really didn't sink in my mind until I was using the SMA design software and see there recommending 7500 watts of panels to feed a 6000 watt inverter for those panels and inverter combo so I was trying to look for more effective panels and compare price before I comment to the order on these others

[bonaire]

Only real reason to go high efficiency is if you don't have a lot of space to work with. Like a small townhouse roof or home roof with limited space. A solar farm wouldn't use sunpower modules but rather would use the cheapest modules per watt possible for the space given. Somewhere in between are dozens of mid-efficiency modules of varying quality levels.

I had heard that MoTech had a new LEO panel out last year up in the similar 16% range. To be built in the Delaware plant. Did that ever come out?

[Naptown]

AFAIK Suniva would be next up @16%