[clug] OT: Solar power recommendations and advice

[Felix Karpfen]

On Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:58:22 +1000, Alastair D'Silva wrote:

> I suggest that the most important metric is power/cost, which at the
> moment pushes you towards the lower efficiency thin film solutions.

Given that all my information is out of date and the PV world has moved
on, I have attempted to get some up-to-date costs.

And have ended up totally confused.

3 years ago PV panels that used mono-crystalline silicon were considered
the best that were commercially available in Australia (and were priced
accordingly). Since then thin amorphous silicon films have become
readily available. These are much cheaper to produce and hence systems
based on them ought to be cheaper to install.

Based on my (very limited) search, this does not appear to be the case. 

Solarshop Australia (http://www.solarshop.com.au) sell thin film panels
and charges twice the amount that Solargain charges for some of their
(monocrystalline panel) installations that deliver the same (nominal)
wattage.

It is possible that the supplied inverters differ greatly in quality
and account for the differences in the installed costs.

But how do I find out?

Felix Karpfen






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Felix Karpfen
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