cheapest place to buy panels ? and other questions?

Where is the cheapest place to buy panels? I'm thinking about starting at a 3000 watt panels 48V system with 4 battle born batteries to start out. one of the all in one charger/ inverters that do split phase. I have no idea where to buy panels I was going to buy on amazon renogy but I would like to build a decent system as cheap as possible. I know battle born is not the cheapest batteries but I do like their warranty.

With 4 battle born batteries hooked up to be 48V will that be enough to run a efficient fridge, led lights, small tv , rv style water pump. and cell phone/computer charging?

Local Craigslist. 50 cents a watt or less.

Two 24 volt 50 Ah Battle Borns 48V 50 Ah = 2400 watt hours.

panels are hampered by logistics. try to find local sources.

I wound up getting 20 250w panels for $1100 shipped from santan.

if you want cheaper lithium, look at the diy lifepo4 battery sub-forum. you could probably get triple the storage for the price of two BB's. maybe order 20 cells instead of 16, that way you can make a 12v pack to play with. covid has affected shipping.

I wanted split phase at first, but I realized nothing I have requires 240 (RV) so I'm not bothering with it for now. my first big array will be 10 panels on a mpp2424. I'm also putting a panel or two on my RV's 12v system (basically all the loads you described)

the loads you described could be powered with 600 watts of panels and a single battle born most likely. the system you want to build is probably big enough to run A/C also.

I purchased ten 350watt LG panels (new, discontinued model) from SantanSolar.com for $150 each and I was originally going to go the Battleborn route as well, but ordered sixteen 3.2v 280AH batteries from Xuba for the price of 2 Battleborns. DIY batteries are more work, but worth the substantial savings IMO.

This is all great information thanks

johnsrt4 said:

Where is the cheapest place to buy panels? I'm thinking about starting at a 3000 watt panels 48V system with 4 battle born batteries to start out. one of the all in one charger/ inverters that do split phase. I have no idea where to buy panels I was going to buy on amazon renogy but I would like to build a decent system as cheap as possible. I know battle born is not the cheapest batteries but I do like their warranty.

With 4 battle born batteries hooked up to be 48V will that be enough to run a efficient fridge, led lights, small tv , rv style water pump. and cell phone/computer charging?

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So thereis a great place in both Arizona (santan) and one in Dallas (on Ebay) that have excellent cells that are used - they were removed from mostly hail damaged roofs but there is no damage to the cells ... thats what I would do if i had to do it all again ... why pay for new when used is just as good -- you just have to pay a flat rate for shipping ...

As for as BattleBorn ... @namesgolden is correct ... ordering from Xuba you can probably get 4-5X the aH for the price that you are going to pay with BB ... its left up to you .. I think 6 months ago we were all trying to figure out the best way to put batteries together and make them work - from getting the right battery to right manufacturer to right BMS -- as of today i think collectively as a group we can easily talk you through how easy it is to make your own batteries instead of paying someone allot of $$$$ to do it for you ... don't quote me -- but I think two BB 100aH batteries is going to run you right at 1900 ... for the same price XUBA can do 1120aH 12V LiFePO4 ... just food for thought ... (no i don't work for Xuba - Yes my English is pretty good) (inside joke) .... LOL

I have ordered many times from these guys -- very straightforward -- I think i paid $350 flat rate and ordered like 10 panels ...

Found my panels on Craiglist. 345W panels for $150 each (new, last year's model). Only 8 miles away. Threw a few in the back of my pick-up truck. Had 'em home in less than an hour. Was a quick transaction on a Saturday afternoon.

Panels have been working as expected since I got them last September.

Craigslist for sure! I just picked up some of the 260W REC panels mentioned above, and I only paid 59$ per panel (<23 cents/watt). I can get panels so cheap from a local provider that I'm buying them for all my mountain neighbors. I'm adding additional panels to my systems at 1000W a pop.

johnsrt4 said:

Where is the cheapest place to buy panels? I'm thinking about starting at a 3000 watt panels 48V system with 4 battle born batteries to start out. one of the all in one charger/ inverters that do split phase. I have no idea where to buy panels I was going to buy on amazon renogy but I would like to build a decent system as cheap as possible. I know battle born is not the cheapest batteries but I do like their warranty.

With 4 battle born batteries hooked up to be 48V will that be enough to run a efficient fridge, led lights, small tv , rv style water pump. and cell phone/computer charging?

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shipping can be a killer, so I second try to find a local place

I am in Utah, and found a DIYer place (Salt Lake Valley) to buy their panels (made in USA) NextEnergyAlliance. 310 watts, I got 2 a few weeks ago for $450

ok took your advice and went to online market places and found some panels. Now I'm going to list all info I have about them here and can you guys help me pin down the best deal and tell me what to look for.

(First ones )are 265 watt used for 3 years at a school for a STEM program they have 10 panels and will sell all 10 to me for $975 I don't know brand or much else about these.
the specs on the back of these panels
model # - SS265P-72
max power (w) 265
open circuit voltage (v) 44.20
voltage at Pmax (v) 35.33
short-circuit (A) 8.20
current at Pmax (A) 7.50
max system voltage (V) 1000
fuse rating (A) 15

(second panels) boviet solar technology co. made in Vietnam. he claims these are brand new not in box no warranty? 330 watt he said he will sell me 20 for $3600 picked up. The sticker on the back of the one he sent me is
model # - BVM6612P-325-H
rated max power- 325 ( I know this one says 325 but he claims he has 30 that are 330?)
voltage at Pmax (v) 37.2V
current at Pmax - 8.74A
open circuit voltage - 45.7v
short circuit - 9.25 A
max system voltage- 1500VDC
max series fuse rating - 15A
cell technology- poly-si

(third set of panels) these are Panasonic used about 5 years he says a little less says they have 15 years left before they drop 10 percent of the power capacity and claims they will last at least another 20 years after that? these are 200 watt panels he will sell me 40 for $2400 .
here are the specs on these.
Panasonic model number- VBHB200AA20
max power- 200w
short circuit- 3.83A
open circuit - 68.7V
max power current (lpmax) 3.59A
max power voltage (vpmax) 55.8V
max sytem voltage - 600V
date of manufacture 120621
made in mexico

What is the best deal here? Was planning on doing a 24 or 48 volt system are all of these capable of that? They all seem like a good deal the second sets seem kind of odd they are new but not in box and no warranty kind of worried me? I would like to build this system this spring yet. after buying panels I want to do a all in one charger inverter set up would like to do split phase. I have 2 mobile office trailers on my off grid land they both have breaker boxes in them and would like to make one the power house and wire directly in to the breaker box then run from there to the camper and small cabin. Thanks guys for being very helpful and bear with me I am still learning. I have watched all off will's videos and dave poz too and I think its information overload. I seen a new one that had a all in one unit that could run his saws and stuff yesterday low frequency sigineer MPPT 2500 w all in one that looked interesting does anyone have more info on them or know if you could take 2 of these units to have split phase set up?

Also just looked on SANTAN solar those prices are super cheap but I'm sure I will get socked on shipping to PA so maybe santan would be another good route?

IMO, forget the age and the warranty and focus on cost per watt. Most agree $.25/watt for a panel is a good deal, and easy to find at that price. Of your options #3 is best at $.30/watt (but 40 panels is a lot to mount and wire), then #1 at .$37/watt (still paying 50% more than you should per watt) and then #2 at $.54/watt (I'd only pay this if they are shipped to my front door, but still great compared to the $1-$4/watt uneducated consumers pay retailers or installers). Depending on the size of the array you want (and you have three very different examples at 2.6k, 6.6k and 8k) you'll also need to decide if you'll have to buy them all at once or is your source reliable enough to allow you to buy some now and perhaps more in the fall as your system grows (and they all do). Lots more to think about but I'm too noob to advise on much. I'm chiming in here because I just went through the same process, sourcing and getting my panels. I'm going to have to make another 4 hour drive soon to go get more of the REC panels from Dallas.

The final part of your panel selection process should be to make sure there is a suitable SCC that you like, before you buy. This process may make one of the options an obvious choice.
And can the panels be configured so that they stay within the SCCs input constraints?

johnsrt4 said:

Also just looked on SANTAN solar those prices are super cheap but I'm sure I will get socked on shipping to PA so maybe santan would be another good route?

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shipping for 20 panels from santan to my house in AL was $300.

it would have been $230 if I picked them up at a terminal about an hour away.

the panels, 250w 60cell, were $800. shipping was $300, in total it was just under $1850 for 20 panels, a mpp2424 and epever 30a delivered to my garage.

I really don't want to build batteries. Just making this system will be and adventure enough. I got the price from lion energy on the Safari UT 1300 batteries. Never hurts to ask for a discount lol. well I want to buy 4 to start so I can make a 48V system. They quoted me $849 each with free shipping. which sounds like a good savings over battle born and has a good warranty also! I would like to go with a all in one MPPT inverter charger which one do you guys recommend? I really want to order the parts and get moving on the install.

How do people know what they are getting from local craigslist is good? Do you only meet when there is sun and test right there? Any brands to avoid?

solarfather said:

Do you only meet when there is sun and test right there? Any brands to avoid?

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Check volts and amps with your trusty DMM. Doing it during the daytime will yield best results.
Any brands to avoid? I dunno, there is not much banter about "this brand is best" or "make sure to avoid that brand". I don't even know what brand mine are... they have black frames and black everything to match my roof. The most important thing is to match the panels with your SCC, and the SCC to the batteries.