THE BEST SOLAR PANELS IN 2022

how can a homeowner pick which solar panel is ideal for their home we're going to be answering this question in today's video let's get started [Music] hi everyone martina with solar time here and for the past 13 years i've been part of a solar family business over the years i gained knowledge on every aspect of the industry and helped thousands of people go solar this channel will focus on solar and storage facts i want to provide you with reliable information in a nutshell the goal is to save you time on researching unnecessary details so you the future system owner can install the most cost-effective and reliable system please watch the video ask questions give us some feedback and subscribe as a woman many may think we can't do this and i will prove you wrong today we're going to compare top 5 solar panels available in the us market but before i start i want to let you know that solar panel industry is currently flooded with many choices in fact there are over 300 solar panels manufacturers out there everyone has a perfect website a ton of information but most panels really do look pretty much the same we're going to talk about top five most commonly sold in the market but you have to know that if only you do your research based on the criteria we will talk about today you will be absolutely fine picking something else moving on there are a lot of different things we can look at when it comes to the specifications of a panel i will not bore you with every little detail that makes no difference when deciding whether the panel is good or not to make it simple we're going to look at the main factors that you need to be aware of when deciding which panel is the best for you starting with the brand who makes the panel how long have they been in business wattage and temperature coefficient and this second one being really important showing how the panel is performing in higher temperatures we're going to talk efficiency who makes the most dense solar panel and how much power can we fit into one square foot we're going to talk about product and performance warranty and which one's more important degradation of a power output this is the skeptical one for me but it's worth mentioning and lastly we will figure out the pricing and decide which one has the fastest return on investment i want to mention we are going to compare panels in similar wattage range to make it as fair as possible so let's take a look at silfab 380 watts elite full black this panel made it to the list primary for its looks i mean it's a very good looking panel if your main concern are the aesthetics this is the one worth considering silfab is the youngest producer among those discussed today they've been making their panels since 2010 on our continent so you can consider them american-made this panel is rated 380 watts in scc and 285 watts in operating condition just a reminder all panels are always rated in standard testing condition this is 25 celsius with a radiance of 1000 watts per square meter whereas some manufacturers will also test their panels in operating conditions which are more realistic considering higher temperatures of 45 celsius and 800 watts of irradiance this number will always be lower but it'll represent a good response of a panel to heat its temperature coefficient rating is 0.377 for every celsius that the panel is hotter than 25 degrees for example if temperature is 40 degrees the difference between 40 and 25 is 15 so we will multiply 15 times negative 0.37 percent to get 5.6 percent this means with temperature higher by 15 degrees you can expect the max power output to be by 5.6 percent less than the rated power this particular model's efficiency is 21.4 percent based on the size of this panel one square foot of the module can generate 19.86 watts their product warranty is 12 years and can be extended to 25 and their production warranty is 30 years one of the longest in the industry here i would like to point out that production warranty is just a fancy way to sell a product in my opinion product warranty is where your eyes should be focused on not the production warranty it's very easy for manufacturers to blame lower production on the environment angles of the roof or shading so i would not focus on this one its degradation rate is half a percent of drop each year with guaranteed output of 85.1 percent at year 25. and finally price wise this panel has a lower price tag than some of the other premium panels we will talk about today so if you're comparing quotes with panasonic or rec panels this self up one should definitely be on the lower end next on our list is hanwa kyuso cute peak 405 w duo black mlg10 those panels became very popular for its quantum technology that uses a reflective paste that is applied to the back of the solar cell and some sun rays that would otherwise pass through the pass through it and hit the shingles are reflected to the solar cell generating more energy hanawa q cells have been in the solar business since 1999 so a little longer than silfapp the model we're looking at today can achieve 405 watts in sdc and 304 in operating conditions its temperature coefficient is rated at negative point three four percent per each cells use that the panel is hotter than 25 degrees this panel's efficiency rating is twenty point six percent slightly lower than the cell fab panel now let me take a step back and explain how the efficiency of a panel really works because most people will believe when their sales reps tells you that the panel is more efficient so i'll give you more power this is not the case same wattage panels for example 400 watt panel at 20 efficiency will produce the same amount energy as 400 watt panel at 22 percent efficiency one will just be slightly bigger in size so the higher efficiency the denser the panel when it comes to the solar cell that is it so if you're working with extremely limited roof space efficiency will play a bigger role but if you have plenty of roof efficiency does not have to be the deciding factor and you can choose panels that are lower in efficiency and price and save yourself some money so back to cue cell panel one square foot of this one will give you 19.16 watts of power right their warranty is pretty standard at 25-year product as well as performance the panel degradation rate is just like self-app half a percent per year with 86 percent at year 25 and finally price wise this is a very similar panel as silfab as well as most standard panels this is definitely a high quality panel with a reasonable price so you should definitely consider one of those when making your decision next on rec 410 watt alpha pure black now we're getting to the more premium brands and this model will be on the similar level as panasonic one and i'll explain why later in the past i would also include lg neon r among the highest quality panels however lg just made a statement as of february 22nd of this year that they were exiting the global solar industry so we can't really look at those panels anymore ric was started in 1996 in norway so they have a pretty good history as well to be honest with you any brand that has been in business of doing solar panels for over 15 years is a solid pick in my opinion this panel wattage rating in standard condition is 410 watts and 312 in operating conditions this panel efficiency is one of the top at 22.2 percent with temperature coefficients being the lowest in today's comparison at negative 0.26 percent per any degree over 25 celsius this mean this panel will work really well in hot climates in this case we can fit 20.6 watts into one square foot very impressive now that we're talking about premium options for panels we also start to see additional warranty called labor warranty rec offers 25-year product production as well as labor warranty for certified installers now this is a good addition considering rac states that they will pay a certified installer a fee to cover the cost of repair or replacement or will even refund the defective panels for 25 years as far as degradation goes this manufacturer promises 92 of power output at year 25 very high now pricing this will be your premium quote it's a premium panel rec panels will definitely be more expensive than silfab or qcell but not as expensive as panasonic or sunpower great aesthetics with premium warranty and performance in my opinion this is the best product for a reasonable price next on panasonic evervault 410 i don't think i need to present the brand to anyone here panasonic has been part of the solar panel industry since 1975. they've been a big player in the industry with a premium product for a premium price as if last year panasonic unfortunately stated that they will no longer produce their own panels but rather outsource it to a third-party manufacturer now this does not mean that the panels will be any worse after all big names stands behind the brand this model will hit four 10 watts in standard testing conditions however their operating conditions are not listed on their data sheet so we're unsure about those the efficiency is as high as rec at 22.2 percent and to be frank with you data sheet of panasonic evervault as well as rec alpha pure is so similar we're guessing that rac is the one who makes the evervault panels for them the temperature coefficient rating is identical as rec at negative 0.26 percent per celsius degree and their power density is 20.6 watts per square foot their warranty is also premium 25-year product performance and labor for certified installers and degradation rate is also very good at 92 percent of power output at year 25. now price wise this panel will cost you more specifically for the brand so if this is what you're looking for you can consider panasonic production-wise you can expect same results as the rec ones all right we made it to our last fifth pick yay the well-known sun power panels at first i didn't want to include them in our picks for the reason of them being rather an outlier and not very common but i figured since a lot of homeowners get proposals from sun power it is good to see how they play out compared to the other brands that we're talking about today so sun power maxion fifth generation i specifically picked a 420 watt panel rather than the 410 just so we can compare all the other panels with the highest one from sunpower so let's get right into it sunpower has been in the solar industry since 1985 so they have a lot of experience when it comes to the panel production their maxim panel reaches 420 watts in scc they don't provide operating condition ratings so no data here efficiency rating is the highest of the panels today at 22.5 percent their temperature coefficient is at negative point two nine percent so slightly worse than rac and panasonic now when we get to the density of this module we get 20.9 watts per square foot their warranty is just like most premium panels at 25 years all across the board along with a great degradation schedule at 92 percent of power output at year 25. so now you already know they come at a much higher price than any other panel in the industry so this will be your highest bid of all the ones you'll be comparing so the question is which panel is ideal for you before i summarize it i hope you enjoy the content and info i prepared for you today and if you did make sure to give this video a like and subscribe to the channel next week we will be talking about the best solar inverters in 2022 so make sure not to miss it all right let's sum it up you can take a look at the table i prepared for you today starting with the history of these companies you can see that four out of five have a history of over 20 years manufacturing panels silfab has the shortest 12 years but still pretty good as far as the operating conditions and how these panels are affected by heat rec and panasonic have the best temperature coefficient at negative 0.26 percent which is the lowest i've seen across all panel brands not just the ones that we're talking about today next looking at the efficiency and power density meaning how many watts can we squeeze into one square foot rec and panasonic as well as sun power have all over 20 watts in one square foot with sun power being slightly denser which is consequently reflected in their efficiency as far as the panel degradation goes we have both silvap and qcell warrantied at 85 plus percent at year 25 rec panasonic and sun power all promised 92 output after 25 years all of these numbers are great when it comes to overall product warranty it looks very similar to the degradation with the first two being warrantied for 25 years for product and performance and our premium versions you get additional 25 years of labor which means on top of covering cost of the product they will also cover the cost of labor lastly price for some most important part we're comparing here a 10 kilowatt system in state of texas and our average price here is around and sixty nine cents per watt so for the first two you can expect to pay around 27 up to twenty thousand dollars rec will cost you a bit more maybe one to three more thousands panasonic will cross three dollars per watt for sure these panels are expensive but sun power will definitely beat the record and you can expect the price to be around 35 to 38 thousand dollars for a 10 kilowatt system this is all before any incentives i think with all the details we covered today you should be able to know what is most important for you when it comes to solar panels on your roof is it the looks the efficiency warranty price or a combination of a few factors all of those five panels will produce amazing power on your roof so whichever one you pick will be a good choice and make sure you remember if you're quoting systems for your home the system size and design will determine the production of your panels not the efficiency efficiency specifies how dense a panel is that is it personally i would install any of those panels on my roof all these products are reliable very high quality now the question is for you what is important to you and that question i cannot answer let me know which one is your favorite which one would you consider for your home and i'll see you guys next week and remember the sun will never send you an electric bill

Channel: Solartime with Martyna

Views: 257,686

Keywords: solar, solarpower, solarenergy, solarpanels, recpanels, panasonic, sunpower, thebestsolarpanels, trinasolar, silfab

Id: wy5H3lTQ3lQ

Length: 16min 29sec (989 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 09 2022