Used panels as low as $0.10/watt

[Texican]

each of my 3 ironridge ground mounts cost me about $2000 - $2500 DIY, will have to run some numbers to see if it makes sense to keep the old 250w panels and build another mount.
at some point soon, you wont be able to get rid of the 250w panels for free.
Im 40 minutes from signature solar so can pickup panels for about $27 cents/watt minus 30 percent tax credit and maybe sell old panels around 10 cents/watt (hoping)

the 2 arrays on the right are the off grid 6kw each
the array on the left was the 5kw grid tie array, which is now a 7.1 array using hyundai 395w panels
I got a little funky installing the new panels trying to maximize the number of panels I could fit on the ground mount, so I mounted the 2 center panels vertical and the rest horizontal




new 7.1 kw installed

 

[Siamac]

each of my 3 ironridge ground mounts cost me about $2000 - $2500 DIY, will have to run some numbers to see if it makes sense to keep the old 250w panels and build another mount.
at some point soon, you wont be able to get rid of the 250w panels for free.
Im 40 minutes from signature solar so can pickup panels for about $27 cents/watt minus 30 percent tax credit and maybe sell old panels around 10 cents/watt (hoping)

the 2 arrays on the right are the off grid 6kw each
the array on the left was the 5kw grid tie array, which is now a 7.1 array using hyundai 395w panels
I got a little funky installing the new panels trying to maximize the number of panels I could fit on the ground mount, so I mounted the 2 center panels vertical and the rest horizontal


View attachment 193908

new 7.1 kw installed
View attachment 193909

Nice system. The mounting is always the biggest problem. Maybe you can get a couple of ecoworthy sun trackers for around $380 each and fit 4-6 panels on them each

 

[Zwy]

each of my 3 ironridge ground mounts cost me about $2000 - $2500 DIY, will have to run some numbers to see if it makes sense to keep the old 250w panels and build another mount.
at some point soon, you wont be able to get rid of the 250w panels for free.
Im 40 minutes from signature solar so can pickup panels for about $27 cents/watt minus 30 percent tax credit and maybe sell old panels around 10 cents/watt (hoping)

the 2 arrays on the right are the off grid 6kw each
the array on the left was the 5kw grid tie array, which is now a 7.1 array using hyundai 395w panels
I got a little funky installing the new panels trying to maximize the number of panels I could fit on the ground mount, so I mounted the 2 center panels vertical and the rest horizontal


View attachment 193908

new 7.1 kw installed
View attachment 193909

With Iron Ridge you can get rail extensions if the panels size is slightly bigger. These are reasonably priced.

250W times 4 hours of good sun but has maybe 200W output. So 800W to 1000W per day so slightly under a Kwh per day with good sun. Is that about 20 panels total? So 20Kwh possibly per day. If grid is $0.15/Kwh, that is $3/day which is maybe $750 to $900 per year.

A 400W half cell new panel that can output on average 80% would be 320W with same daylight, an increase of 60% yield. So that increases the ROI per year to $1200 to $1440, about a $500 increase.

That is of course if you can use or store the full output everyday.

 

[Texican]

Thanks
just looked at todays data
the new 395w panels peaked today at 6.1 kw from 7.1 kw capacity = 85.9%
the old 250w panels peaked today at 7.4 kw from 12 kw capacity = 61.6%

 

[Siamac]

Thanks
just looked at todays data
the new 395w panels peaked today at 6.1 kw from 7.1 kw capacity = 85.9%
the old 250w panels peaked today at 7.4 kw from 12 kw capacity = 61.6%

Santansolar and inxeptionmarketplace have 395W to 400W bifacial panels on sale for $100 each. It's going to cost you about $5000 to replace your panels. If his calculations are correct and you sell your old panels, your ROI is around 5-8 years

 

[AntronX]

the old 250w panels peaked today at 7.4 kw from 12 kw capacity = 61.6%

You may have some bad panels or shorted diodes. What voltage did that string produce and how many in series?

 

[Zwy]

Thanks
just looked at todays data
the new 395w panels peaked today at 6.1 kw from 7.1 kw capacity = 85.9%
the old 250w panels peaked today at 7.4 kw from 12 kw capacity = 61.6%

My figures above were for 80% efficiency on the 250W panels. It appears you have 48 panels. I'd be looking for some pallet deals out there.

48 panels times 395W = 18.98Kw 18.98Kw x 5 hours = 94.8Kwh in a day with 5 hours of good sun compared to 37Kwh form the 250W panels. At $0.15/Kwh that comes to $8.67 per day. If you spent $4000 for panels, that is about 1.25 years for payback if using all the output.

Can you use that power? It doesn't make sense to change out panels if you don't have a use for the power as these are for off grid use according to what info you gave earlier. You can do what I do and use the excess powering dump loads like house heating and hot water. "Batteries" for home heating can be heating water or other mediums to store energy.

I would look at 500W panels. Many of these are sized like a pair of 250W panels and might fit your mounts better.

 

[Hedges]

Santansolar is having a sale on some of their panels. The sale says buy one get one half off on all used panels, but the code only works on some of their panels. It might be a glitch. But it stacks on top of sale panels.

Santan's Valentine's day code bogohalf is effectively 25% off entire order of used panels.
I put pallets and individual panels in my basket and it came to that discount (may or may not work best for even number of a given panel.)

That code is applied during checkout. Be careful when you reach payment; if it says a coupon can be applied, in my case it replaced bogohalf with a 10% discount. Had to back up and repeat process.

I was tempted to go hog wild, but I'm running low on space to store pallets (or stacked individual panels, since that's how I unload.)
I previously bought pallet of 25 Qcell 315W, so bought all 10 they had today. That can be strings of 12, 12, 11 for my coming install. Would have been nice to have 36+, but oh, well

BOGO HALF ON ALL USED PANELS!

use code: bogohalf
​

Shipping
Local pickup
R+L Freight with lift gate delivery and residential delivery: $217.42
Estes Freight with residential delivery and liftgate delivery: $270.02

Last time XPO cost $295 for pickup at their terminal (one pallet of 25). I'm hoping this new order will ship to a terminal even cheaper than the above liftgate service.

 

[Siamac]

Santan's Valentine's day code bogohalf is effectively 25% off entire order of used panels.
I put pallets and individual panels in my basket and it came to that discount (may or may not work best for even number of a given panel.)

That code is applied during checkout. Be careful when you reach payment; if it says a coupon can be applied, in my case it replaced bogohalf with a 10% discount. Had to back up and repeat process.

I was tempted to go hog wild, but I'm running low on space to store pallets (or stacked individual panels, since that's how I unload.)
I previously bought pallet of 25 Qcell 315W, so bought all 10 they had today. That can be strings of 12, 12, 11 for my coming install. Would have been nice to have 36+, but oh, well

BOGO HALF ON ALL USED PANELS!

use code: bogohalf
​

Shipping
Local pickup
R+L Freight with lift gate delivery and residential delivery: $217.42
Estes Freight with residential delivery and liftgate delivery: $270.02

Last time XPO cost $295 for pickup at their terminal (one pallet of 25). I'm hoping this new order will ship to a terminal even cheaper than the above liftgate service.

How much per Watt?

 

[Hedges]

I think the 10 pieces 315W Qcell I bought came to $0.276/W
Despite me being a "Form follows function" kind of guy, I bought these for appearance match to others. My roof will have REC and QCells that look identical.


The pallet of 25 325W would have been $0.189/W

Used QCells 325W Solar Panel | SanTan Solar

Used QCells 325W 120 Half Cell Mono Solar Panel that is designed for optimal yields, whatever the weather with excellent low-light and temperature behavior. Normal wear and tear in good working condition. SanTan 1 year warranty.

www.santansolar.com

A pallet of 25, 420W SunPower would have been $0.170/W

Used SunPower 420W Solar Panels Lot of 25 | SanTan Solar

These 25 high-wattage panels are surplus panels with scratches and / or scuffs. They are in good working condition. The back spec label is faded; see pictures for more details. They are all covered with our 1-year SanTan Warranty.

www.santansolar.com

As for oats that have already been through the horse,

255W Renesola for $0.26 x 0.75 = $0.076/W

Blemished ReneSola 255W Solar Panel | SanTan Solar

These used blemished ReneSola 255W solar panels have developed cell-side vinyl cracking, which is cracking in the vinyl layering beneath the cells. This has allowed for water intrusion, which has caused discoloration on the vinyl and busbars. Please see pictures.

www.santansolar.com

In all cases, shipping is extra.

 

[Siamac]

Code is not working on Sunpower lot or individual panels

 

[Hedges]

Did for me, try again, see if something needs to be done to refresh or apply. Maybe browser differences?
May be a sequence of application, or something funny in the code. Previous promotion, someone observed it was only applied to a single panel not the entire order. This time it was my whole order.

What happened when you tried? I saw a discount $ amount listed, at first thought it was just for a portion, then realized that this bogo wasn't "one free" rather "one half off".

I did copy/paste of it. bogohalf
Off chance the italics format was part of the code??

 

[Siamac]

I get this error for the Sunpower panels:

Sorry, this coupon is not applicable to selected products.

I tried copying and pasting. It does work for some of the panels though. It seems like anything marked as "sale" isn't working

 

[Eber]

Correct. They also wash them, sort them and test a few in the batch

I just got some Canadian solar panels from SanTan that were so dirty it took me 2 hours to wash 4 of them. I finally used laundry soap and scrubbed the bajeebees out of them.
They work good, but if they were that dirty the first owner must have had terrible output.
I wish they had washed them a bit better.
to date, I have bought every panel I have from SanTan LOL!! Good times. And all the racking from Home depo, lowes and Zoro

 

[Siamac]

I just got some Canadian solar panels from SanTan that were so dirty it took me 2 hours to wash 4 of them. I finally used laundry soap and scrubbed the bajeebees out of them.
They work good, but if they were that dirty the first owner must have had terrible output.
I wish they had washed them a bit better.
to date, I have bought every panel I have from SanTan LOL!! Good times. And all the racking from Home depo, lowes and Zoro

How many panels do you have?

 

[Hedges]

I get this error for the Sunpower panels:

Sorry, this coupon is not applicable to selected products.

I tried copying and pasting. It does work for some of the panels though. It seems like anything marked as "sale" isn't working

Maybe that is the case. I'm getting same "not applicable" for 10x individual and 1x pallet of SunPower.
Can't remember if I did confirm it worked for discounted panels before, and don't have my order in front of me right now.)

Try calling them.
Ask if you can get bogohalf off undiscounted price (looks like 10% +/- discount for some, vs. bogohalf worth 25%)
But figure out in advance if that makes it worthwhile, and determine shipping cost too.

 

[Eber]

How many panels do you have?

78.
48 that are 250W and 30 that are 265.
there are 26 more in storage.
I am trying to catch up with Tim.

 

[Siamac]

I just got some Canadian solar panels from SanTan that were so dirty it took me 2 hours to wash 4 of them. I finally used laundry soap and scrubbed the bajeebees out of them.
They work good, but if they were that dirty the first owner must have had terrible output.
I wish they had washed them a bit better.
to date, I have bought every panel I have from SanTan LOL!! Good times. And all the racking from Home depo, lowes and Zoro

How to Clean Solar Panels

Learn how to clean solar panels efficiently for maximum energy. Get expert tips and answers to FAQs on solar panel maintenance.

www.protoolreviews.com

 

[Hedges]

Any luck with that Bogohalf? The home page says enter email (and then phone #, sign up for their appealing form of SPAM) to get the code.

Today may be the last day, so call or whatever if you like what they have.

Then again, searching their site I do see $80 Qcells panels (out of stock), having now used Bogohalf for 10 pieces that were about $108. $108 x 75% = $81, same difference, just a different promotion?

 

[Siamac]

Any luck with that Bogohalf? The home page says enter email (and then phone #, sign up for their appealing form of SPAM) to get the code.

Today may be the last day, so call or whatever if you like what they have.

Then again, searching their site I do see $80 Qcells panels (out of stock), having now used Bogohalf for 10 pieces that were about $108. $108 x 75% = $81, same difference, just a different promotion?

I contacted them and they said sale items are excluded. But the email says "ALL used panels" with all being capitalized, without any restrictions noted. I think this is a clear case of false advertising.