Has anyone used these solar panels (made in North America)

[Chris & Lenore]

I was pricing 300 - 325 watt Kyocera panels and came across an interesting article in the newspaper. I didn't know one of the largest manufacturers of panels was only about 20 miles from me - CanadianSolar in Ontario Canada.

Their products appear well made (and made in North America), current "4 bus bar" technology, excellent salt spray resistance (and one version for full saltwater immersion) and lighter weight (higher strength glass and frame material). Wind and snow loading is also higher than many other panels.

Price is excellent too - a local supplier is $1 CDN per watt for the 300/305/310 watt panels. US prices are slightly higher but less than Kyocera for similar sized panel.

So I'm curious if anyone has used this brand of panel?

I'm considering the 310 watt panel - 77 x 39 inches at 48 lbs. Perfect fit for the davits I'm looking at.

It sure would be nice to buy a North American product...

Chris

Data sheet: http://www.canadiansolar.com/filead...s/datasheets/Datasheet_Quartech_CS6X-P_en.pdf

 

[trainmanjess]

hello

not heard of that brand... I bought 4 eco-worthy 100 watt solar panels for my boat.... each panel is 26x40 inches in size.... I will lay them end to end and side by side giving me a total of 52x80 inches .... this will fit perfectly over my davits....

I also have a mppt solar controller 30 amp..... as my panels will create a max total of 22.64 amps in good sunlight....

this should keep all my batteries running strong...

sincerely
Jess

 

[kappykaplan]

Re: Has anyone used these solar panels (made in North Americ

I have a pair of 130W Kyocera panels installed. Haven't had any issues over the past 6 seasons.

 

[charliegrau]

Re: Has anyone used these solar panels (made in North Americ

Not familiar w/that brand. I recently bought some Renogy 100W flexible panels. they are about 22x42 but they are not in aluminum frames - they are on semi flexible plastic panels and only weigh 4lbs...yes four pounds each. I went with them mainly for the light weight for easy handling, and less stress on the bows and bimini structure.
-charlie

 

[Sumner]

.....It sure would be nice to buy a North American product... ....

It appears that they do make some of the panels here....

The bulk of Canadian Solar's manufacturing facilities are located in China. In 2011, Canadian Solar also began manufacturing in a plant in Ontario, Canada.[4] The Ontario plant with a production capacity of over 500 MW per year[3] employs several hundred workers and its products are compliant with Ontario's feed-in tariff domestic content provisions.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadi...ph_as_site_for_new_200MW_PV_module_facility-5 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Solar )

... but not all. To get around the high tariffs that were place on China panels here in the States a few years ago the place where I get panels (Solar Blvd) told me that components could come in with final assembly here and that was what some were doing.

I've had 3 panels on the Mac that are China panels from Solar Blvd for 4 years now with no problems (granted they haven't been in salt water conditions that whole time) and another on the Endeavour to keep the battery up on her for 3 years. I just bought six more 60 watt panels that are now on the Mac in addition to the 200 watts that have been on the boat and five 80 watt panels that will go up on the framework on the Endeavour if I ever get her in the water.

I see some people spend a lot of money on panels to try to get the most efficient one and then put a PWM controller on them. I'd put the money into a MPPT controller and have,

Sumner

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[Scott B]

Re: Has anyone used these solar panels (made in North Americ

Hey yeah, support the local economy. We did the roof ( 100,000 sq.ft. ) on the addition for the new plant.

Who did you get pricing from.

 

[Chris & Lenore]

It appears that they do make some of the panels here....



... but not all. To get around the high tariffs that were place on China panels here in the States a few years ago the place where I get panels (Solar Blvd) told me that components could come in with final assembly here and that was what some were doing.

I've had 3 panels on the Mac that are China panels from Solar Blvd for 4 years now with no problems (granted they haven't been in salt water conditions that whole time) and another on the Endeavour to keep the battery up on her for 3 years. I just bought six more 60 watt panels that are now on the Mac in addition to the 200 watts that have been on the boat and five 80 watt panels that will go up on the framework on the Endeavour if I ever get her in the water.

I see some people spend a lot of money on panels to try to get the most efficient one and then put a PWM controller on them. I'd put the money into a MPPT controller and have,

Sumner

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The ones I mentioned are made locally. The reason I was asking is they claim higher efficiency, less variance between panels, more robust construction, lighter weight etc.

All this for about 2/3 the price I can get equiv Kyocera panels for and still less or the same as most of the Chinese imports.

One reason for the higher quality/less variance/decent warranty is because of the government programs to purchase power from individuals - the minimum equipment standard in order to "get connected" is quite high.

They also make a "double glass encapsulated" series of panels for environments where they get immersed in salt water (typical "big ship" power generation). I didn't find pricing on those yet.

Chris

 

[Chris & Lenore]

Hey yeah, support the local economy. We did the roof ( 100,000 sq.ft. ) on the addition for the new plant.

Who did you get pricing from.

I obtained my pricing from Solar Trader in Burlington Ontario http://www.solartrader.ca/

They have a brick and mortar store that's only an hours drive away. I'm thinking of going for a drive and checking out these products in person. It also saves a ton of money on shipping - plus makes warranty issues a lot easier.

I also found the CanadianSolar products on many of the US sites that sold higher end panels (like Kyoceria, Sharp, etc.).

Chris

 

[Sumner]

....All this for about 2/3 the price I can get equiv Kyocera panels for and still less or the same as most of the Chinese imports...

I'd buy them :dance::dance:, but like I've done don't have a problem buying china panels that come from a reputable dealer here (not e-bay panels) that has their reputation on the line.

China stuff is changing. I have a large China mill and a large China lathe and they are great and accurate and I'd rather have them than a used Bridgeport. Also now lots of other china tools as almost everyone now has their products made there and they can set the standards under which they are made there.

Remember how Japanese stuff was way back when if you are old enough and now half the people in the world or maybe more are driving their cars. China is going the same way in improved quality. Someday they will probably price themselves out of some markets like the Japanese did and we will be buying from someplace else with lower labor rates.

Sumner

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[Chris & Lenore]

I'd buy them :dance::dance:, but like I've done don't have a problem buying china panels that come from a reputable dealer here (not e-bay panels) that has their reputation on the line.

China stuff is changing. I have a large China mill and a large China lathe and they are great and accurate and I'd rather have them than a used Bridgeport. Also now lots of other china tools as almost everyone now has their products made there and they can set the standards under which they are made there.

Remember how Japanese stuff was way back when if you are old enough and now half the people in the world or maybe more are driving their cars. China is going the same way in improved quality. Someday they will probably price themselves out of some markets like the Japanese did and we will be buying from someplace else with lower labor rates.

Sumner

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I must be old! I do remember my Dad using the phrase "Japanese junk" when I was a kid. Wasn't that many years later that "Japanese" meant "quality".

It's still nice to see something (anything) manufactured locally. Southern Ontario used to be mostly manufacturing - and was gutted like every other similar country. What I miss most about the "old days" are the factory outlets. You name it and it was made within an hours drive and every manufacturer had an outlet selling product for huge savings (especially the seconds). Really miss those days...

Chris

 

[Scott B]

Re: Has anyone used these solar panels (made in North Americ

Let me know how you like them when you go look. I'll have to add that to my list for my spring boat stuff shopping trip to Mississauga / Toronto.

Are they actually 100% manufactured here or semi-assembled from components made elsewhere? All it would take is 1 Canadian worker to lift the panel to add more dollar cost to the panel than all the workers in China to manufacturer the components.

I've been inside the plant but didn't pay attention to what all they were doing. Was a few years ago just after they opened and solar on the boat was not on my radar.

 

[Chris & Lenore]

Let me know how you like them when you go look. I'll have to add that to my list for my spring boat stuff shopping trip to Mississauga / Toronto.

Are they actually 100% manufactured here or semi-assembled from components made elsewhere? All it would take is 1 Canadian worker to lift the panel to add more dollar cost to the panel than all the workers in China to manufacturer the components.

I've been inside the plant but didn't pay attention to what all they were doing. Was a few years ago just after they opened and solar on the boat was not on my radar.

I'll be sure to let you know what I see.

They do rate on par with the top Japanese panels in terms of efficiency, consistency of output and build quality. Warranty is excellent and at $1 CDN per watt for the 300 watt panels, they are certainly on par with the cheapest Chinese products (especially with our devalued dollar).

Chris