Solar Panels at the best prices

[craig3d]

There are a few on alieexpess that do 100min

Thats great. will check it out.

wetkit did have a point though. what happens when things are faulty and so on. How would one cover the warranty. Or would everyone just accept that its a chance we take?

 

[itareanlnotani]

I can source / ship if needed ( I'm already doing it !)

Right now I'm busy sourcing / doing MSDS requirements for lithium LIPOS04 batteries, as I need some for myself. Pricing should be competitive with Lead Acid.

Would definitely be interested in getting a group buy together for panels and shipping a container over if theres enough interest.

 

[itareanlnotani]

wetkit did have a point though. what happens when things are faulty and so on. How would one cover the warranty. Or would everyone just accept that its a chance we take?

I usually bring in 10% as spares. Shippping and clearance are equal costs to hardware pretty much for panels, so you can't really ship stuff back - doesn't make sense. You *do* need to do QC on panels if you're buying container loads though.

Last ones I brought in were Cotech Panels. I think I've posted the links on the solar thread before, or they're on my goingsolar site.

 

[Beachless]

Thats great. will check it out.

wetkit did have a point though. what happens when things are faulty and so on. How would one cover the warranty. Or would everyone just accept that its a chance we take?

I think there is plenty of thought that would still have to go into it but for the savings its worth the risk. Besides I dont think there is much that can go wrong with panels like these they either work or they dont.

 

[spiderz]

Hey akescpt . I must say. I am very surprised at how far i have been able to come on a R13k Budget.
I was able to purchase a 5kva UPS with solar charge controller built in, as well as a "small' bank of 4 x 65AH Deep Cycle Batteries along with LED lighting throughout the house.
.

craig3d - More info on the UPS please

lsheed_cn - I'm also looking at using lipo type batteries. Haven't yet look at sourcing them. Keep us up to date when you bring them in.

 

[craig3d]

Hi guys.
Sorry for the delay. I will have the UPS Details tomorrow morning. well worth the wait i guarantee.

I will also post a few pics of my setup tomorrow morning, just to get an idea of size and config.

 

[craig3d]

I usually bring in 10% as spares. Shippping and clearance are equal costs to hardware pretty much for panels, so you can't really ship stuff back - doesn't make sense. You *do* need to do QC on panels if you're buying container loads though.

Last ones I brought in were Cotech Panels. I think I've posted the links on the solar thread before, or they're on my goingsolar site.

Your info has been invaluable so far.
I made an enquiry yesterday and wanted to know if these prices were in line with what you can get them for. Also, what size panels would you normally import.

Lastly, how long would it take for the shipment on average?

Here is the enquiry i made:

Thank you for your inquiry, we are happy to receive it.
My name is Vivian Hang, from Unifit Industrial Supply Co., Ltd.

Our EX work price for solar panel as follow:
1. Mono crystalline Solar panel 250W USD130/PC
2. Poly crystalline Solar panel 250W USD120/PC

If you can tell us your order quantity, we can check FOB price for you.
If you also want to know CNF price, please let us know the name of destination port.

For any other requirements, please don’t hesitate to contact with me.

Best regards,
Vivian Hang
Unifit Industrial Supply Co., Ltd.

 

[itareanlnotani]

Shipping for batteries is a bit "fun" - new shipping requirements for 2015, need new style MSDS report for shipping etc.
Busy on that; essentially I need to pay for testing in order to be able to ship specific sizes of LIPOSO4.

First shipment will be in about 2-3 months +-

 

[itareanlnotani]

I'd ask for DDU pricing.

Also, why 250W, I'd do 300W panels.
Ask for a data sheet - the most important thing for us is looking at temp co-efficient, so the voltage curve / temp is important to check.

Don't forget to bring mounting and cables in also, as the markups here can be horrendous.


See the large solar thread for more info (particularly my posts where I talk about that sort of stuff).

Also useful -
http://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/the-top-10-things-to-check-on-every-solar-panel-specification/
http://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/...specification-part-1-power-temperature-specs/

I'd strongly suggest poly panels for here, as mono isn't as good at our higher temperatures.
Essentially my thoughts are - for Europe - Mono, for Africa poly, as we have hot sun, there, its cooler and less sun.

 

[craig3d]

I'd ask for DDU pricing.

Also, why 250W, I'd do 300W panels.
Ask for a data sheet - the most important thing for us is looking at temp co-efficient, so the voltage curve / temp is important to check.

Don't forget to bring mounting and cables in also, as the markups here can be horrendous.


See the large solar thread for more info (particularly my posts where I talk about that sort of stuff).

Also useful -
http://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/the-top-10-things-to-check-on-every-solar-panel-specification/
http://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/...specification-part-1-power-temperature-specs/

I'd strongly suggest poly panels for here, as mono isn't as good at our higher temperatures.
Essentially my thoughts are - for Europe - Mono, for Africa poly, as we have hot sun, there, its cooler and less sun.

Sorry , had a deadline to contend with over the last few days.

Thanks again for the information. I will look at those links this weekend, and send out a mail to see if i can get anyone that i know on board for a bulk buy. Thanks again for all your effort. Your insight is very useful And that does for everyone so far.

 

[craig3d]

craig3d - More info on the UPS please

lsheed_cn - I'm also looking at using lipo type batteries. Haven't yet look at sourcing them. Keep us up to date when you bring them in.

Hi Sorry for the wait.....Deadlines.
So the UPS/Inverter we bought was from a place called Electrilabs. http://www.electrilabs.co.za/
Model MKS 5K VTONIC for R9k.

 

[Arcane9]

Hi all

I'm looking to start small and get my pool pump running of solar. I currently have a 750w pump and a 70000l pool. Has Anyone done this? Should I rather replace the pump with a dc pump? Any advice on what to get and installers in Johannesburg? The lorentz pumps seem to be on a number of local sites - would anyone recommend this?

 

[mmacleod]

Hello,

Interesting thread - I've been wanting to go solar a long time - but the local panel prices are disgusting.
I would also be highly interested in a group buy if someone is willing to arrange it and float some numbers etc. out there.

Perhaps also worth discussing what the group buy will include i.e. what everyone is interested in:

1) Solar panels, size and type?
Should we maybe start collecting Kw numbers for each person involved so we can get an idea of how many panels we would be looking at?

From my side I'm purely interested in price per watt i.e. I don't care about efficiency as space is not limited, if it works out that a larger less efficient panel can produce more watts per rand and I need more of them thats perfectly okay with me. Most household solar installs seem to use only a fraction of the roof space available, something I've found in my research on solar is that people seem to be preoccupied with efficiency even if the more efficient panel is actually pushing the price of the system up.

2) Batteries - Will the group buy also include batteries?
Again maybe we should collect numbers on how many batteries each person thinks they would need?
What type of batteries, again from my side I'm not necessarily interested in the most compact batteries ever (something that most battery manufacturers focus on these days) but rather price and how long they will last, if they are a bit bigger/less efficient but cheaper and last much longer thats great in my books - I think its worth considering e.g. less conventional options like NiFe though I don't really care overly much.

3) Inverters - Is it worth including these as well or should everyone just arrange their own locally here?
Personally I would prefer to include inverters as well but I'm not sure what other peoples thoughts are.

 

[mmacleod]

One more thing - we shouldn't count out local providers either - if we approach some of the local places with a large enough group buy offer they may give us much more reasonable prices perhaps - something worth a try at least.

 

[BGE]

Hi all

I'm looking to start small and get my pool pump running of solar. I currently have a 750w pump and a 70000l pool. Has Anyone done this? Should I rather replace the pump with a dc pump? Any advice on what to get and installers in Johannesburg? The lorentz pumps seem to be on a number of local sites - would anyone recommend this?

Lorentz is insanely expensive... probably a good product, but insanely expensive. Grundfos make an excellent option, the PoolFlex model! It's solar(using a specially wired high voltage Grundfos panel) or std 220v(selectable). The unit is 1.1kw and operates from 110v to 430v(iirc). How it works it that you match the panels to the flowrate you require. Small pool = lower flow rate = 3 panels = about 115v. Bigger pool = say 6 panels = say 210v = higher flowrate... need higher flowrate just add another 2 panels and so on. Oh and if needed you can switch over to 220v. Compared to Lorentz and the other options on the market it's relatively inexpensive. Last I queried price, Maskam could supply the entry-level package including pump(inverter built-in) and 4 solar panels for 18K.

You can contact Coen from Maskam for the latest pricing!

 

[BGE]

Oh... here's a link with more info on the pump:

http://www.solarsolved.co.za/index....p/grundfos-poolflex-swimming-pool-pump-detail

 

[Beachless]

Hello,

Interesting thread - I've been wanting to go solar a long time - but the local panel prices are disgusting.
I would also be highly interested in a group buy if someone is willing to arrange it and float some numbers etc. out there.

Perhaps also worth discussing what the group buy will include i.e. what everyone is interested in:

1) Solar panels, size and type?
Should we maybe start collecting Kw numbers for each person involved so we can get an idea of how many panels we would be looking at?

From my side I'm purely interested in price per watt i.e. I don't care about efficiency as space is not limited, if it works out that a larger less efficient panel can produce more watts per rand and I need more of them thats perfectly okay with me. Most household solar installs seem to use only a fraction of the roof space available, something I've found in my research on solar is that people seem to be preoccupied with efficiency even if the more efficient panel is actually pushing the price of the system up.

2) Batteries - Will the group buy also include batteries?
Again maybe we should collect numbers on how many batteries each person thinks they would need?
What type of batteries, again from my side I'm not necessarily interested in the most compact batteries ever (something that most battery manufacturers focus on these days) but rather price and how long they will last, if they are a bit bigger/less efficient but cheaper and last much longer thats great in my books - I think its worth considering e.g. less conventional options like NiFe though I don't really care overly much.

3) Inverters - Is it worth including these as well or should everyone just arrange their own locally here?
Personally I would prefer to include inverters as well but I'm not sure what other peoples thoughts are.

I'm keen too I think people are a bit apprehensive to take the lead as its not a small task. Personally I would just buy the inverter here as that has to be SABS approved and has a few regulations around it.

So the ideal for me would be to get panels and batteries that are already sold here but as cheap as possible.

I only need 3-4KW worth of panels though at this stage but if I ask around I could have more people that are interested.

 

[mmacleod]

I'm keen too I think people are a bit apprehensive to take the lead as its not a small task. Personally I would just buy the inverter here as that has to be SABS approved and has a few regulations around it.

So the ideal for me would be to get panels and batteries that are already sold here but as cheap as possible.

I only need 3-4KW worth of panels though at this stage but if I ask around I could have more people that are interested.

Yeah - I would only need 3-4KW worth as well, but I'm sure there are plenty of other people who I could pitch the idea too if the price is right, especially given the current situation the country is in...
Would need some kind of ballpark figure though before I could do that.

The current lowest going rate seems to be around $0.5 a watt?
How much would shipping cost I wonder if we could get enough people to fill e.g. a signle shipping container?

 

[akescpt]

105ah deep cycle. Reasonable prices. Where? Please!?

 

[DominionZA]

105ah deep cycle. Reasonable prices. Where? Please!?

I picked up 2 x 102Ah Ellies batteries at Makro for R1,499 each on Monday. Not sure about quality, but were cheap enough to make me want to try them.