diy solar

diy solar

New solar searching website

J

jacobjace

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2024
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6
Location
berkeley
I have recently developed a solar searching site designed for finding panels easier. You can search by price, watt, size, ect. Solar Searches is in beta at the moment, and I was wondering if you guys leave any and all feed back on Solar Search please don't hesitate to post any questions or concerns. You can visit it here: https://solarsearches.com

-Solar Searches is a student developed project and earns zero commissions, this website was also approved to post by Will Prowse.
 
Clearly, a lot of work went into compiling this list but unfortunately the vast majority of these panels are out of production and unavailable. There's still a lot of usable info to be obtained when trying to search out similar used panels for adding to an existing array.
Perhaps a new, current production PV list can be assembled as well.
 
First, thanks for developing this site.Should be very useful to many people.

One suggestion: Searches always seem to sort with largest value at top. Might be good to also allow for sorting in reverse of that (e.g., smallest values at top).

I searched for panels in the 200-500 watt range but did not find my Newpowa panels (which have been very reliable). So, in whatever way you update your sources, will be good to see continued coverage/expansion.

Nice work!
 
Madcodger said:
First, thanks for developing this site.Should be very useful to many people.

One suggestion: Searches always seem to sort with largest value at top. Might be good to also allow for sorting in reverse of that (e.g., smallest values at top).

I searched for panels in the 200-500 watt range but did not find my Newpowa panels (which have been very reliable). So, in whatever way you update your sources, will be good to see continued coverage/expansion.

Nice work!
Click to expand...
Thank you for the suggestion we just added your Newpowa panels and added more sorting options. If you have any other brands you think we should add, or other options that we don't have already don't hesitate to reach out.
 
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Great timing. I was just going to post about finding companies that sell panels for a decent price. Looking for 48 400watt panels soon. Prices were actually lower on the site than your finder listed. I'm sure there are always ways to improve it, but awesome work!
 
What about sorting by $/w? Maybe I want 280w panels if they are the cheapest $/w.
 
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740GLE said:
What about sorting by $/w? Maybe I want 280w panels if they are the cheapest $/w.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feed back! We now have the feature under sorting options. Sort by price per watts calculates the $/w of all panels and ranks it from best to worst. If you also want to plug in values like for example minimum watts that is also possible. The search results we give you all panels whose watts are >= minimum value and sort all the resulting panels by $/w. Before we had it as sort by efficiency.
 
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Pretty amazing! It will be a nice tool for solar builders and beginners.

Just one more little thing..some famous brands cannot be found in the drop down menu. Will you update the list in the following versions?
 
BryceFreeman said:
Pretty amazing! It will be a nice tool for solar builders and beginners.

Just one more little thing..some famous brands cannot be found in the drop down menu. Will you update the list in the following versions?
Click to expand...
We are planning on expanding our data base of panels. Are there any specific brands that you believe are necessary?
 
You need to add:
1) More sources. I know of at least 2 different sources with lower prices for the same products. And that's retail. Some of your products like Bluesun, should have the direct from manufacturer price, as that is how they sell it, as opposed to a reseller pricing.
2) Need to be able to sort columns.
3) Need to have a $/watt
4) Also need $/watt/foot2
5) Results should show "seller" so I don't have to click through to it

Really, if you are interested, you need to help optimize for overall price for shoppers, which includes pricing a "kit" using multiple sources for all products like inverters, PV wiring, optimizers or microinverters, and includes delivery prices and taxes, while optimizing for the size of their roof and electric needs. But that algorithm doesn't exist, yet.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, We added the ability to sort by $/watt and $/watt/foot2. Also now showing sellers. Pricing for kits using multiple sources like inverters, etc is something I have been thinking about. It will take time to get the necessary data for everything, and using that to optimize kits is something that we will consider doing.
 
So, that is better, but really you should have it sort by clicking the top columns, toggling between ascending or descending. Also, you should show the cost/watt in a column. Should be an easy fix. The kit pricing should really not be by store, but should be aggregated between stores, like when you get hack fares on Kayak (eg, you get different tickets for different legs). Otherwise, you will get suboptimal results as no one store seems to price all their products low. So far, the best solution is to buy the largest panels you can get and that will optimally fit your roof, for under 33cents/watt, combine with optimizers (under $45) and low cost string inverters (growatt is very low priced). Buy wire, mc4 connectors, clamps, and racking from Amazon or ebay to minimize pricing. The racking is tricky because you need approved systems, but all of those are outrageously priced for their value. Racking really should be under $5/panel based on actual manufacturing cost ($1 for roof mounts and rails, and that's with their profit), but it is usually about $100/panel. They usually price by the KG or ton, not $15-20/piece like they do in the US.
 
frasere2 said:
So, that is better, but really you should have it sort by clicking the top columns, toggling between ascending or descending. Also, you should show the cost/watt in a column. Should be an easy fix. The kit pricing should really not be by store, but should be aggregated between stores, like when you get hack fares on Kayak (eg, you get different tickets for different legs). Otherwise, you will get suboptimal results as no one store seems to price all their products low. So far, the best solution is to buy the largest panels you can get and that will optimally fit your roof, for under 33cents/watt, combine with optimizers (under $45) and low cost string inverters (growatt is very low priced). Buy wire, mc4 connectors, clamps, and racking from Amazon or ebay to minimize pricing. The racking is tricky because you need approved systems, but all of those are outrageously priced for their value. Racking really should be under $5/panel based on actual manufacturing cost ($1 for roof mounts and rails, and that's with their profit), but it is usually about $100/panel. They usually price by the KG or ton, not $15-20/piece like they do in the US.
Click to expand...
I’m not seeing the comparison of buying panels and booking a flight.

Seeing panels are the hardest thing to ship it seems like this covers the solution of just finding the cheapest panel delivered to your door.
 
frasere2 said:
The racking is tricky because you need approved systems, but all of those are outrageously priced for their value. Racking really should be under $5/panel based on actual manufacturing cost ($1 for roof mounts and rails, and that's with their profit), but it is usually about $100/panel.
Click to expand...
knew when I was removing all those old systems , hanging onto all the racking and all the parts it would pay off in the long run. Still have a fair amount left, years later.
 
That is a nice website that you setup.
I really like it when people do something for a hobby and are not looking to make a buck out of it.

Cheers..
 
740GLE said:
I’m not seeing the comparison of buying panels and booking a flight.

Seeing panels are the hardest thing to ship it seems like this covers the solution of just finding the cheapest panel delivered to your door.
Click to expand...
Normally when you buy a "kit" you get it all from one place. However, to optimize prices, you have to get components from 2-3 different places. That's what I meant.

Panels are but one part of the cost, and maybe not even the largest cost now with new panels going for 32c/watt or less (I was quoted 25c/watt just yesterday for new panels, plus shipping). They were 20% of my total cost of installation. If you get a great deal on the panels and then get jammed on the wiring, racking, and inverter, then did you really save any money? As I said, you should be below $1/watt for all equipment, pre tax credit. If we had normal pricing on racking, then maybe $0.8/watt.
 
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