Panasonic 330 Watt HIT High Efficiency Solar Panel, 35MM by Dwight Hewitt |
Panasonic 325 Watt HIT I installed 15 of the Panasonic 325 (replaced 22 Evergreen 210's) so far I am impressed with their performance. These panel are rated A+ when it comes power output at very high temperature in the Caribbean; A comparison was made with the same quantity SunPower panels, the difference was ... (more) Rating : |
MT Solar Hand Crank for 4" Top of Pole Mounts by |
MT Solar Hand Crank Poor crank design for an excellent array system. The crank is not easy to turn when adjusting array angle closer to horizontal as opposed to vertical. The links at the pivot point are twisting to the point where they will shear. I would recommend that MT Solar add some grease fittings to the c... (more) Rating : |
Outback Flexmax 80 MPPT Solar Charge Controller by Ed Geis |
solid units Two of these came with my Outback Flexpower system. It's only been 2 months but they're performing well. Have had a couple brief power spikes of 4200 watts from the array into one of them, handled it fine (4000W max. recommended). Also make sure when you size your strings you s... (more) Rating : |
Hanwha Q Cell 305 Watt Mono Solar Panel by Ed Geis |
So Far So Good These are my first panels (other than a portable one on my sailboat), so I don't have much basis for comparison, but they've been in service for 2 months now and they're working great. I have them in strings of 3, Voc runs 115-120 typically (we've had some extremely col... (more) Rating : |
Xantrex Freedom HFS 1000W 12V 55A Inverter/Charger by Randy Cone |
Bad Transfer Switch This inverter is used as a grid tie back up for a solar thermal pump. Our rural electric coop has occasional power interruptions which the inverter works well to switch to battery power. The problem lies in the fact that it doesn't always switch back to grid power and then drains the battery ... (more) Rating : |
Fronius DataManager 2.0 - IG Plus A Inverters by |
Not the Datamanager 2.0! I ordered this and was sent the Datamanager 1.0. The 2.0 version has the ability to set up wirelessly, the unit I was sent does not. I was able to get it to work but had to hook up a lan cord directly to the unit to be able to configure it. Since I'm a homeowner, not an installer, it too... (more) Rating : |
Pika Energy X7601 7.6kW Energy Island Inverter by Tony Nuzzo |
How to purchase the Pika Energy Island If you are looking to purchase a Pika Energy Island, you should know that it is not available for sale directly to end users. Home and business owners may only purchase the Energy Island through qualified solar installation professionals. Contact Pika Energy today to be connected to a local sola... (more) Rating : |
Outback Power MATE3s System Display and Controller by |
Not worth the money! I am away from my off-grid cabin for extended periods of time and depend on the Mate3 Ethernet/Internet connection to monitor the health of my system while offsite. The Mate3 has been plagued with Ethernet connection issues since Optics Re was introduced three years ago. Recently, OutBack Suppo... (more) Rating : |
SolarWorld 345 Watt Solar Panel, Sunmodule SW345 Mono, 5 Busbar by jim wetzel |
solarworld panels ordered solar panels and they arrived in 3 days, super service. panels work great. ive shopped around and found them to have best prices, I will be doubling size of my array next year, and will order again from them. (more) Rating : |
Midnite Solar E-Panel, White Steel, 175A for Magnum MS-PAE Series Inverters by Jeffrey Selby |
Good for keeping wiring enclosed This is good for keeping wiring enclosed and all in one place but a few things you should know. It does not come with DC breakers for the PV and charge controller side so order those with the panel. The mounting bracket is too small for the ME-RTR so you can only get one screw in to hold it up.... (more) Rating : |
SMA Sunny Boy Rapid Shutdown Box by Emil Brown |
SMA RSS Review The SMA Rapid Shutdown System is a necessary evil if you are installing SMA string inverters under the US 2014 National Electric Code (NEC). I am currently installing 3 of these for my 4 string, 3 inverter rooftop system. A couple of gotchas first: If you are using only 1 of the tw... (more) Rating : |
Morningstar TS-MPPT-60 Tristar 60 Amp MPPT Charge Controller by John Hogan |
AltE store and Morningstar for a win win combination of Quality and value together. I ordered the controller and meter together. Price may seem a bit high but when compared to any other company I have found AltE store actually had the better price. Delivery was quick too. This is a simple to hook up and setup controller. Although it can ... (more) Rating : |
Laing D5/710B PV Circulating Pump- threaded by |
Laing D5 I had a Laing D5 710 B connected directly to a solar panel to circulate water through a solar water heating system. The pump worked flawlessly for 6 years then failed. I was talked into buying a Topsflo TD5 to replace it. The TD5 is obnoxiously loud, I could barely hear the Laing. I'm goi... (more) Rating : |
SolarWorld 345 Watt Solar Panel, Sunmodule SW345 Mono, 5 Busbar by Russell Martinez |
Russell Martinez AltE customer service is awesome, and shipping was quick and arrived in perfect condition. These solar world panel are great and would definitely buy agian. I am looking for to future purchases with the alte store. (more) Rating : |
Sundanzer 8CF Battery-Powered Refrigerator by |
I Love My Sundanzer Refrigerator! We lived for a few years with a propane Servel refrigerator and it worked good, but decided to save our money by not buying propane, so we could save up for the Sundanzer refrigerator. We lived for six years with no refrigeration and believe me, it is not as easy as it sounds. In 2013 we purchase... (more) Rating : |
IronRidge FlashFoot Kit by |
Loose cap foot connection I bought in to the hype and decided to give these a try. These seem great in theory. However if you install the flashing square and screw the cap foot on the cap foot was not tight at all. The cap foot rattles around. I didn't have time to return so I went back and turned the flashing out ... (more) Rating : |
Panasonic 330 Watt HIT High Efficiency Solar Panel, 35MM by |
Works Great I worked with my installer to put 8 Panasonic HIT solar modules on my house and they work great. Super happy with the results. (more) Rating : |
Schneider Electric Conext SW Inverter/Chargers by |
Disappointed Went to Arizona to help a friend to install his off grid system. Had a glitch from the beginning, no ac or DC breaker boxes. Not to bad were able to get them with the help of Jason in technical support at Schneider. However when installing the ac and DC boxes found a less than simple build. The a... (more) Rating : |
Soladeck AC/DC 3R Pass-Through Box - 5 Position Ground by |
Soladeck pass through box works well This is a heavy duty powder coated steel enclosure. This works well on a standard comp roof. Kit includes mounting screws, foam seal strip, cut out template, 5 wire ground block, and instructions. This is well made and does exactly what its supposed to do. Made it a snap to connect conduit, g... (more) Rating : |
Midnite Solar Classic 150 MPPT Charge Controller, 150V 96A by William Vincent |
Full of features, best off grid controller on the market! Have this controller setup with 9 Canadian solar 270m panels, makes tons of power and has great control and features. Logs tons of data to look back on. (more) Rating : |