325w Solar Panels for 4,999 Baht!

[sfokevin]

I was just in the Chiang Mai Global House (I think it’s still Global House as they have totally revamped the place including a huge sign out front in Thai that I don’t think says Global House?...)

 

But inside they had a display and stack of 325w solar panel with MC4 connector price at 4,999 baht !... I have never seen them that low of price... I asked the guy If they sold charge controller to go with it and he ran off to get another guy who came and said “no have - just panel” ?

Edited July 13, 2018 by sfokevin

[johng]

Amorn should have some chargers.

[VocalNeal]

Amorn Solar also have cheap panels.

[johng]

I made a cheap   charger from this diagram..and use it to trickle charge 12v  car/bike batteries

 

note this one is rated at 1.5 amps

my 40 watt panel in theory can supply 2.28 amps  and I managed to draw 2.17 amps (35 watt bulb)

through this charger.....(heatsink got hot) your panel  can supply something like 18 amps so an uprated design would be needed.

 

[sfokevin]

On 7/14/2018 at 9:34 AM, VocalNeal said:

Amorn Solar also have cheap panels.

 

On 7/13/2018 at 2:40 PM, johng said:

Amorn should have some chargers.

 

Lazada has plenty of good and cheap controllers... I am just trying to get my head around the marketing strategy of selling solar panels without offer any wiring or charge controller option?... ?

[BritManToo]

What voltage was the Solar Panel?

[Bandersnatch]

Hi sfokevin the Global House price is the lowest "Advertised" cost per watt that I have seen in Thailand. The same price can be seen at GH Surin. I talked to Canadian Solar at Renewable Energy Asia show last month and they said they could beat the price, but you have to contact them for more details. The problem seems to be to get a good deal on the price and get the support as well. 

Edited July 18, 2018 by Bandersnatch
Add pics

[David B in Thailand]

Solar Panels must cost more in Chiang Mai or at a chain home improvement store than in Buriram at a high volume family owned builders merchants store. 400 baht here and there might not matter on a one or two panel electrical power system. However for a larger solar power system I try to consider the free delivery in my province and if the owner of the store will back up the purchase. I was able to speak English in person with a UK expat in charge of the solar department of a Buriram Builders Merchants and get a proper quotation for all of the equipment and labor to install. 

[tracker]

Checked the back of the panel: 49v open voltage and 42v under power. (So i guess that puts the panel in the "36v" category).

[Fruit Trader]

Got to love them thumbs up loved up cardboard box pix from the Buriram stable.

[tracker]

Bought one yesterday. So 36V under full power load.

 

Edited July 21, 2018 by tracker

[stud858]

Individual solar cells are sold at a fraction of the cost if you want to make your own solar panels. 

If you have access to cheap perspex or glass it could be worthwhile.

Search on Aliexpress.

When I get back to Oz I intend to try and also score some cheap batteries from the Golf course to recondition. 

Overall an off grid is totally doable now if you have the know how. 

Go solar, go tigers, and go Trump! 

 

[johng]

2 minutes ago, stud858 said:

go tigers, and go Trump!

I dont get it ?     are the tigers and trump on  treadmill generators  for when its overcast and dark ?  ?

[BritManToo]

5,000 for the panel + 2,350bht for a 600w grid tie inverter from Lazada, plug and play (But don't tell PEA)

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/600w-solar-micro-inverter-mppt-pure-sine-wave-grid-tie-inverter-dc22-60v-input-ac190-260v-output50hz60hz-auto-intl-i107665554-s109036622.html

 

Not really worthwhile, assuming 50% for 12 hours/day, gets you 54 units/month.

Saving 200bht/month off the leccy bill, 2400bht/year.

Break-even in about 3-4 years.

Edited July 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[stud858]

15 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

5,000 for the panel + 2,350bht for a 600w grid tie inverter from Lazada, plug and play (But don't tell PEA)

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/600w-solar-micro-inverter-mppt-pure-sine-wave-grid-tie-inverter-dc22-60v-input-ac190-260v-output50hz60hz-auto-intl-i107665554-s109036622.html

 

Not really worthwhile, assuming 50% for 12 hours/day, gets you 54 units/month.

Saving 200bht/month off the leccy bill, 2400bht/year.

Break-even in about 3-4 years.

If you intend to live only an extra 4 years then its not worth it. Otherwise free power for the rest of your life.  Certainly worth it..also people often forget to include that their actual solar equipment has value and should be included in the accounting values. 

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, stud858 said:

If you intend to live only an extra 4 years then its not worth it. Otherwise free power for the rest of your life.  Certainly worth it..also people often forget to include that their actual solar equipment has value and should be included in the accounting values. 

You assume the equipment won't fail within 4 years.

What's the failure rate on this equipment?

Edited July 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[jvs]

15 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

You assume the equipment won't fail within 4 years.

What's the failure rate on this equipment?

No moving parts ,should be 25 years or more at the rated power.

Our first solar converter burnt up but it was too small for the application.Now we are running a dc pump for the irrigation and it works fantastic!!!

 

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, jvs said:

No moving parts ,should be 25 years or more at the rated power.

3

Grid inverter has a fan

[jvs]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Grid inverter has a fan

Sorry i was thinking solar panels.

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, jvs said:

Sorry i was thinking solar panels.

If you have solar panels, you need a battery to charge or a grid inverter.

Both of which are likely to have limited lives.

There are very few people running 'end devices' directly off a solar panel.

Edited July 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, jvs said:

 

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[scorecard]

On 7/16/2018 at 3:49 PM, sfokevin said:

 

 

Lazada has plenty of good and cheap controllers... I am just trying to get my head around the marketing strategy of selling solar panels without offer any wiring or charge controller option?... ?

 

Many marketers would say no need to think past good revenue with good margin on any item. All done. 

[stud858]

If you are relying on hiring people to install or repair solar then it will get expensive. Those with the knowledge can repair any problems that arise easily. 

Much like a car.  If you can fix most things yourself you will safe a bundle.

But to the positive,  most of solar is reliable.  You are extremely unlucky if your inverter blows up completely or all your panels were to crack up. 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

On 7/16/2018 at 3:49 PM, sfokevin said:

Lazada has plenty of good and cheap controllers... I am just trying to get my head around the marketing strategy of selling solar panels without offer any wiring or charge controller option?... ?

 

Panel + grid tie inverter bolted on the back.

To use, you just lean it against a wall and plug into the nearest mains socket.

I believe it's called 'distributed energy production'.

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[jvs]

40 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If you have solar panels, you need a battery to charge or a grid inverter.

Both of which are likely to have limited lives.

There are very few people running 'end devices' directly off a solar panel.

I must be one of those few then.

[eisfeld]

22 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Not really worthwhile, assuming 50% for 12 hours/day, gets you 54 units/month.

Saving 200bht/month off the leccy bill, 2400bht/year.

Break-even in about 3-4 years.

The 325W panel might get you maybe 450kWh (units) (or less depending on your location) per year.

 

Add the inverter (I don't know how long these cheap ones from lazada will last) and the other costs for install/cabling etc and you are quickly at 10k THB. It would take roughly 5 years to break even under good conditions. The calculation becomes much better if you add more panels as the price per watt for the inverter should drop.

 

A proper quality inverter from say SMA would cost 30k+ for 2.5kW and would allow for 7 panels. So 30k inverter + 35k panels = 75k + Xk others. Even at that scale you are looking at ~6 years break even, but at least you'll have good equipment with warranties which should last 10+ years.

 

I think 5-6 years break even is a good rule of thumb for residential setups.

[stud858]

1 hour ago, eisfeld said:

The 325W panel might get you maybe 450kWh (units) (or less depending on your location) per year.

 

Add the inverter (I don't know how long these cheap ones from lazada will last) and the other costs for install/cabling etc and you are quickly at 10k THB. It would take roughly 5 years to break even under good conditions. The calculation becomes much better if you add more panels as the price per watt for the inverter should drop.

 

A proper quality inverter from say SMA would cost 30k+ for 2.5kW and would allow for 7 panels. So 30k inverter + 35k panels = 75k + Xk others. Even at that scale you are looking at ~6 years break even, but at least you'll have good equipment with warranties which should last 10+ years.

 

I think 5-6 years break even is a good rule of thumb for residential setups.

My thinking on this break even rule has changed.  5-6 years if you consider the system has no asset value after you've installed it. But in fact the value of your house will increase.  Payback period is a lot less if you want to follow that accounting mindset.

[eisfeld]

51 minutes ago, stud858 said:

My thinking on this break even rule has changed.  5-6 years if you consider the system has no asset value after you've installed it. But in fact the value of your house will increase.  Payback period is a lot less if you want to follow that accounting mindset.

Absolutely correct. The panels, inverter etc will depreciate very quickly. Especially because the price of panels is dropping like crazy. But on the flip side, like you mentioned, your house appreciates in value even if just a bit. If you take that into account then it can surely be less than 5 years. BUT the property market in Thailand is... interesting, let's call it that way. It would be very hard to establish any kind of value that your solar installation provides over the standard property value and so I didn't take it into the calculation.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, eisfeld said:

A proper quality inverter from say SMA would cost 30k+ for 2.5kW and would allow for 7 panels. So 30k inverter + 35k panels = 75k + Xk others. Even at that scale you are looking at ~6 years break even, but at least you'll have good equipment with warranties which should last 10+ years.

1

You're a bit behind the times, modern thinking says panels with own grid tie inverter, and you can just plug them into any nearby socket.

Your 'proper quality inverter' is outdated. Distributed and you don't suffer loss due to long (and expensive) DC cable runs, it all goes down AC cables.

[beddhist]

I, too, found this interesting promotion when I stumbled into GH Singburi for the first time. As I have been following developments in solar tech I found this report by Greentechmedia, which they do every year: https://www2.greentechmedia.com/l/264512/2018-08-21/6fw2l/264512/64213/DNV_GL_2018_PV_Module_Reliability_Scorecard_Final_Report__1_.pdf

 

Jinko turns out to be one of only 4 companies that came out tops in their reports for all of the last 4 years.

 

It looks like the promo ends at the end of the month. I intend to buy some. Comes with a 25 year performance guarantee, if I understand the blurb correctly. As always, the question is: will they still be around then?

 

I looked at inverters and charge controllers on Lazada, but could find none with more than 1 year warranty from unknown or unnamed companies. I suspect it's all cheap Chinese.

 

Cheers,

Peter.