Question - does anyone have expereince with China made vs German made products?

[anandamayi]

Hi There,

I would like to ask some questions about installing solar in our home, and if anyone has experience and feedback on a similar system in their house.

We live in Doon Doon, Northern NSW, Australia.

We have a single storey, north facing roof, with no shade.

We are requiring minimum 5kw system.

My 2 options are:
1) AGL
panels: Renae Solar Panels, made in China,
inverter: EKO inverter, made in china.
Warranty: Inverter warranty is 8 yrs, panel manufacturer warranty is 10 yrs, efficiency warranty is 25 yrs.
Total cost including meter change: $6500.


2) Rainbow power company

panels: Trina

Inverter: SMA, made in Germany

Warranty: Inverter is 5 yrs, panel manufacturer warranty 10 yrs, effiecience warranty is 25 yrs

Total cost including meter change: $8700


So my question is, obviously the price difference makes AGL look attractive. However, how reliable is their system?


Will I end up getting more KW per day with the German model? (factoring in how well it performs on cloudy days also)


Will there be any issues with the EKO inverter after the 8yrs warranty?


Has anyone gone with AGL in the past? Does anyone have experience with either product, or both?


Thank you,

Anandamayi

[solar pete]

Hi Anandamayi and welcome to Solar Panel Talk.

I work for the company that runs solar panel talk and solar reviews in the Australian solar retail/wholesale business www.solarwholesalers.com.au

I don't have any experience with that chinese made inverter you mentioned, in the past the chinese inverters were total crap, apparently they are getting better but I still don't trust them. The SMA inverters are good, have used them for about 8 years and I recommend those with confidence.

Rainbow have been around for ages might even be one of the oldest solar companies in Australia, so I think that's a good thing. Rainbow will have their guys doing the install where AGL will subby it out to the lowest bidder, so I would try to get Rainbow to do a bit better deal.

Typically you don't have many problems with panels, but you do with inverters, so I would recommend you send a bit extra to get a good inverter, but that is just my opinion and opinion vary, cheers.

If you were in SA I could do the rainbow system for about $7,500, but there may be things regarding your install that I don't know about

[anandamayi]

Reply

Dear Pete,

Thank you for your reply.

OK, that is good to know.

So I would like to find out about this EKO inverter. Do you have any idea of a good website that would have non biased reviews on the product?
It is called EKO Energy 5000 2G inverter.

Thanks again.

Anandamayi