Latest solar panel available (1 Viewer)

[PeterCarole29]

I have been searching ebay and i see bosch ones .Biard ones which i dont know anything about and others that are of simular price has anyone got any advise of which one to buy/order.120 w is ideal to connect to two batteries

 

[Snowbird]

BP used to be recognised as the best, technology is changing all the time and its almost impossible to keep up with it. I am always wary of any Chinese products, but you pays your money and takes your chance.

 

[PeterCarole29]

BP used to be recognised as the best, technology is changing all the time and its almost impossible to keep up with it. I am always wary of any Chinese products, but you pays your money and takes your chance.

Hi Snowbird,Yes i was trying to avoid buying rubbish dont mind spending at all on a quality item just dont know what is the quality .anyone selling them tells you theres are best.thanks Peter

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[vwalan]

bp have been making panels in india for years . my last ones came from there via spain .italy was making nice ones awhile back. lots have been buying from tools diekt in germany but they arent german panels . do germany make anything these days or do they just put it together . and re badge it . ?

 

[Snowbird]

To give you some idea I bought some BP and Siemens panels second hand several years ago in Morocco. I still have some in the garage at home awaiting a project. I took one of the Siemens out the other week and tested it with the multi meter and it was working fine. I must have had these panels for around 5 years and I dont know how old they were when I bought them. They say that solar panels have a life expectancy of around 10 years. I just wonder if the Chinese ones will perform as well when they get older. Regarding the BP ones, if they are made in India or for that matter Outer Mongolia they will still be made to BP specification and quality control. Something that the Chinese have not quite mastered yet.

 

[pappajohn]

to a certain extent, you get what you pay for but then you can pay too much for a cheap panel

a decent price today would be £100 for a 100watt panel...many are cheaper but may not be so good

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[Techno]

Time of year plays a big part! prices drop every Winter and start rising again April

 

[vwalan]

not so sure about that . they build bmw m,bikes and manufacture merc cars etc .,
but come on they are selling at 80 quid for an 80w panel we were paying that for seconhand in maroc 8-10 years ago. i bought the bp panels off a mate that imported a few pallet loads they were 150 quid about 3 years ago. they are very cheap today . all the ones i have seen look to be as good if not better than some of the early ones .
first panel i bought is marked solara hamburg . but also shell solar in the corner of the panel under the glass almost hidden . that was second hand . still works .but even then badge engineering was rife it seems .

 

[Snowbird]

As it says on the bottom of all my posts. Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

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[hilldweller]

I have been searching ebay and i see bosch ones .Biard

I got a Baird, next day delivery off ebay. I can't fault the build quality and it's performed better than expected on overcast days.

I think writing Bosch on one guarantees a higher price, not sure about higher performance.

 

[Techno]

You can see my 3x100 watt panels by clicking my signature
They were bought from ebay seller Alfrescobay at £108 each
They perform superb and have delivered over 18 amps on occassion with mppt regulator :thumb:
They are not re stocking until they know for certain what taxation will be applied on Chinese panels

 

[hilldweller]

You can see my 3x100 watt panels by clicking my signature

Interesting. You've used end mountings. I used two each side to reduce flex on the long sides.

Now which one is best ?

And you have a potential shadow problem with that aerial.

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[pappajohn]

I got a Baird, next day delivery off ebay. I can't fault the build quality and it's performed better than expected on overcast days.

I think writing Bosch on one guarantees a higher price, not sure about higher performance.

and if you bring it indoors at night you can watch tv on it.

 

[Techno]

Interesting. You've used end mountings. I used two each side to reduce flex on the long sides.

Now which one is best ?

And you have a potential shadow problem with that aerial.

The aeriel is used VERY rarerly and would not impact on three panels
The only reason the panels are bracketed so is because two panels were previously fitted but I replaced them with three matched 100's of the same dimensions so I only had to buy two brackets
There is no flex I don't walk on them

If I was having a punt at new stock myself just now I would try these
Link Removed

 

[vwalan]

hi brian i have mine end mounted three side by side . thick ally angle as the mounting all the way across my roof . the first three have been up there about 10 yrs now the second three 3 yrs . . there is a slight drop in power from the first three compared to the newer ones . but i can only compare not having really checked them originally .
i mounted them front and back so branches couldnt get stuck underneath the panels . remember i do drive in silly places .
they do seem to be ok . and have once had a boat strapped to them as a roof rack . not recommended though .

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[Techno]

I'm not biased on brackets, I normally make them.
This is a poor picture of a Neisman I did recently
Link Removed
Spanish panels from Germany
Bracket detail

 

[Taran_Las]

Its Biard not Baird. Sorry John, that's screwed your joke. :Blush:


Not a correction of spelling - just to provide accurate info if someone searches for the name.

 

[vwalan]

messed up.

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[vwalan]

this should show mine the first three anyway

 

[hilldweller]

The aeriel is used VERY rarerly and would not impact on three panels

My first attempt was the same as your nearside panel and it did cast a shadow in the afternoon. Maybe your aerial sits a bit lower than mine.

I do worry about the shock loads as we go over bumps, that's my take on it.

 

[hilldweller]

Its Biard not Baird. Sorry John, that's screwed your joke. :Blush:

Is it really ! I've bought it, unpacked it with it's name in huge letter on the box and Baird is what I saw.

Sad, innit.

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[Techno]

My first attempt was the same as your nearside panel and it did cast a shadow in the afternoon. Maybe your aerial sits a bit lower than mine.

I do worry about the shock loads as we go over bumps, that's my take on it.

The panels are tested by havng a steel ball dropped on them from a height so a road hump will have no impact.
My aerial has no effect on panels even in early morning low Sun February

 

[Techno]

I would add for all the people out there that stow their aerial pointy end forwards
This is the correct way to stow for travel :thumb:

 

[Techno]

I bought 2 Biard from trueshopping and sent them back
They did not meet the description and the cells were not neatly square in the frame.
Mine had 2.5mm junction boxes and cable. I had to send pictures to the seller before they accepted my findings and they arranged collection.
I am very choosey

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[hilldweller]

The panels are tested by havng a steel ball dropped on them from a height so a road hump will have no impact.

That's quite different. Like it or not those panels are going to flex, a fraction, over every bump, mile after mile after mile. So I chose to let them flex on the short side.

 

[vwalan]

mind your showing a roof vent open at the front . thats not nice though . or is it a tilt eitjher way version . ?
i dont have roof vents seen too many break or get hit by trees . the a30 is littered with them in summer down here .
i looked again i think i saw one on a van next door to yours . must take another tablet . sory forget that last remark . .nurse .

 

[Techno]

It occurs to me also that nearly all of these panels find their way from China in very poor packaging with no brackets at all, often fork lifted and dropped on large pallets so
being attached to the roof of a vehicle with suspension and brackets attached with flexible Sikaflex is a luxury

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[Techno]

Well I put my money where my mouth is
I just bought one of the panels I said I would go for in an earlier post
I will evaluate
£103.82
€118

 

[Coolbeanz]

Has anyone bought panels from Bimble? They advertise as the cheapest in the UK and wondered if anyone had any experience of the quality?

 

[Techno]

Oh Please! I'm not buying another tonight

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