Solar PV – Is SunPower worth the extra money?
Bruce_Davis
| Posted in General Questions on
After much research, it seems the top three solar PV brands are SunPower, LG & Panasonic. I’ve eliminated the Panasonic as it does not have a labor warranty. SunPower & LG both have full 25 year warranties. It seems Sunpower X21-335w Black has some advantages over LG Neon 2 Black 320w in performance specs, but the actual benefits are hard to ascertain. The upcoming LG Neon R Black would be more comparable in specs but is not yet in production. The SunPower warranty is slightly better than LG’s. Both would use Enphase iQ7 microinverters.
SunPower makes a big deal about the copper backing that makes it more resistant to microcracking. Supposedly, the competition is vulnerable to any impacts, mishandling, etc. which can cause non-visible and/or undetectable damage to the cells. The salesman had me demo both cells for breakage. They both seemed to break pretty easily in my hands. I ruined the demo.
The big difference is price. A 12k system for SunPower is $48,000 vs $38,000 for LG. After 30% tax credit, the difference is about $7,000. Anybody have any advice on SunPower vs LG; is it worth the extra money? Thanks.
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Replies
Bruce,
In my experience, PV modules are incredibly durable. (I have a PV module from 1980 that still works fine. It is 38 years old.)
These days, PV modules are commodity items. Most customers choose a brand based on price.
I'm still a little wary of microinverters that are installed on the roof. I like my inverter to be wall-mounted on the ground floor, in a mechanical room -- somewhere where the inverter operation can be tested. If I were interested in buying a PV module that comes with a microinverter, I would pay close attention to the warranty.