solar system components...which are best?

[sundancewfs]

We are considering a 2kw solar system and so far have obtained one quote. I can see that this process is going to be interesting and that the normal practice of comparing apples to apples is going to be hard. The first quote was given using a Delta inverter and Canadian solar panels. Has anyone got any ideas on which solar components are better to look at and which ones to steer clear of. I don't have a problem with any particular country's products. I am more interested in the products track record.

[goldie1]

My system uses a Power One Aurora inverter and Kyocera panels. Supplied by one of our more reputable

local suppliers. Its 2 years old and no problems. I have heard nothing but good things about it from others

[SilentButDeadly]

The better inverters come from SMA (their Sunny Boy range are ubiquitous in the solar industry), Fronius and Latronics. There are more than a few others too.

As for panels....that's fraught. Personally, what you pick depends on roof area/aspect and angle in the first instance and brand in the second. We ended up with SunPower panels for no specific reason.

[Bloss]

Fact is it doesn't really matter! See the consumer guide guide here: Accreditation - Home (http://www.solaraccreditation.com.au/)

[Smurf]

SMA is to inverters what Boeing is to large aircraft. A very established manufacturer against which anything else will be judged. Not cheap, and a decent product too. Of course there are other good ones too, but SMA just happens to be a very well known one in the industry that's been around quite a while.

So far as panels are concerned, there are just so many manufacturers (most of them Chinese) that it's hard to say much on this one really. Big names historically included Sharp, Sanyo, BP and others but there are hundreds if not thousands of manufacturers around now.

Personally, I have two systems, both using SMA Sunny Boy inverters. Panels on one system are CEEGSST (Chinese company - one of the large solar companies in Australia imported huge numbers of them in 2009) and Qixin (also Chinese).

My opinion is that I'm willing to take some risk with "unknown" panels but not with "cheap" inverters. Let's just say I've seen enough cheap electronic devices of all sorts over the years to not want to spend $1000 or so on one when I could pay a bit more and buy from a manufacturer known for producing a quality product.

If you want to understand how much power your system will produce, and what effect things like orientation of the panels will have then I suggest you download the SMA Sunny Design software. It's a free download and a useful tool to play with. Obviously they only list their own inverters, but the power production will be pretty much the same with any brand.

[Draffa]

SMa seem to have a massive capacity to be overloaded with panels and just keep on ticking. One bloke up in FNQ has 11kW of panels on a 3kW (I think) inverter. That said, I chose Positronics here in QLD to do my install, and can't speak highly enough of them. They are also the importers for a bunch of gear, and sell it to other installers, so they may be able to recommend someone local.

[Smurf]

SMa seem to have a massive capacity to be overloaded with panels and just keep on ticking. One bloke up in FNQ has 11kW of panels on a 3kW (I think) inverter.
As long as voltage limits are complied with, the SMA inverters will withstand literally anything within (or without!) reason.

That 3kW inverter will just sit there producing 3kW all day. If all the panels are facing north then it would a bad idea to have such a small inverter from a purely economic perspective due to the amount of potential energy from the panels that is not being used by the inverter. But if some face east, some north, and some west due to the available roof space then it starts to sound more reasonable.

I'm presently running 1.36kW and 1.52kW into my two 1100 Watt SMA inverters. Depending on financial circumstances, when I add the next string of 8 panels I'm likely to run it as 2.88 kW into inverter #1 for a year or so before adding another inverter. That shouldn't cause any problems apart from wasting about $85 worth of potential energy production over 12 months. The SMA warranty remains valid too.

All that said, don't mess about with any inverter without first being sure of how it deals with surplus current availability. The SMA simply ignore it in the same way as your computer makes no attempt to use the entire output of the power station to which it is ultimately connected. There are some inverters however that will take all the current they can get hold of, destroying themselves in the process. It depends on how they are designed to work.

[Moondog55]

Plus you need a sun and some comets for impact extinctions and narrative and a night sky full of stars.
Sorry fellers I just couldn't help myself

[Bloss]

SMa seem to have a massive capacity to be overloaded with panels and just keep on ticking. One bloke up in FNQ has 11kW of panels on a 3kW (I think) inverter.

:? :doh: If that is so then someone saw him coming just after they sold share in the Harbour Bridge . . .

Fact is that using an under-sized inverter will mean that the maximum performance of your system will be dictated by the size of your inverter and regardless of how big the output of your solar panels is, the output will be cut-off by the inverter to the maximum it can handle. Under-speccing can also lead to overheating and shorten the life of the components in the system. Over-sizing can be OK so long as the inverter can operate within its optimal performance efficiency zone. But these are not 'plug & play' in the lay sense - adding new panels are likely to need a re-design of the whole system even if they strings into an unused channel and that could mean changed or added components too. If you need to replace a panel in an existing array then care will need to be taken to ensure matching to the system unless you can get an exact same panel - given the pace of change in the solar PV industry that is hard enough within a single year - as time passes that becomes more problematic - fortunately they are very reliable.