Sun Power Vs. Kyocera, Lease Vs. Buy

[J.P.M.]

Maybe I'm not reading that right but what you're saying is not accurate.

A SunPower panel WILL produce more given the same roof space/amount of panels.

For example, a SunPower E20-327 is 61" x 41" and has a rating of 327W. A competitor panel in roughly the same size (65" x 39" is a pretty standard panel size) will typically only do 250W - 275W or so. So if you have say 170 Sq Ft of roof space to work with, you could fit 10 SP panels, or 3,270W.
With a different panel, it would still be 10 panels but now it's only 2,500W - 2,750W. And to reach the same 3,270W, you'd need 12-13 panels of the competitor.

So yes, SunPower packs more power into a smaller footprint. But that's really only an advantage if you are limited on space. If you have the space there really isn't an advantage because SP so overpriced in a way that's its actually cheaper to buy more of the competitor panels vs buying the SP panels.

As apractical matter, it is the (electrical) size of the array rather than the output of each panel.

S.P. has a smaller "footprint", or greater "Watts per sq. ft."

If you are cramped for space, your money will be better utilized by spending more of it reducing the load, thus reducing the required size of the array, thus eliminating the need for expensive S.P. panels and thus allowing you to go with less expensive panels (that have a slightly larger footprint or lower "Watts per sq. ft.") but still fit in the allowable space. Reduce your load about 20%.

If you are not cramped for space, buying S.P. leaves a boatload of money on the table that may not need to be spent to achieve the desired outcome.

[Sunking]

Maybe I'm not reading that right but what you're saying is not accurate.

A SunPower panel WILL produce more given the same roof space/amount of panels.

That is what I said. SP efficiency is 21% and Kyocera is 18%. A 300 watt panel is a 300 watt panel SP 300 watt panel will be slightly smaller and more expensive.

[Sunking]

I think what he said was the Kyoceras were 250, but the SPs were about 330. Is it possible they produce more wattage?

Still playing games with numbers. Kyocera makes 330 watt panels.

[Sunking]

I seriously doubt you can back up the extraordinary claim that SunPower is lower quality than Kyocera.

Quit being stupid Ian. It is very easy to look up.

They are certified by Australia Government to have the highest average output of any panel. You put up a 100 watt Kyocera panel up next to a 100 watt SP, and the Kyocera wil generate more power in a day. In addition one of the very few panels with a IEC61701 Ed.2 Severity 6 (Salt Mist Corrosion Test) certification. They are in front of SP in about every industry test there is. It is no contest. Kyocera is #1 peer rated in the world. SP is just the most expensive.

[ButchDeal]

Still playing games with numbers. Kyocera makes 330 watt panels.

of course that is an 80 cell module, so not really more efficient just larger.

[J.P.M.]

After certain common sense criteria, quality is sometimes a difficult and elusive thing to define on an absolute basis. It often depends on the application and the person defining quality. Robust construction is certainly one criterion. Reliability is another. But at what cost ? A panel that will never fail and never degrade over the years, even when dropped from a 20 storey building may have great quality as defined by some, but if it's a maintenance or installation nightmare for some reason, the cost is outrageous, or it's heavier than a dead minister, or it's a PITA to monitor, it may fail the quality sniff test in some other circles.

S.P. is good stuff. So is Kyocera. So are lots of others, especially since panels are maturing into a commodity type of product.

At this time it may well be that most panels, once in stalled, will probably last longer than most folks will own them. I bet a lot of folks would think that long enough. Same for maintenance. Hitting an array with a hose 1X in a while is about as much maint. as most panels will ever see and at this point in the product history saga it looks like that may be enough.

I put about as much faith in "surveys" done by self proclaimed "authoritative" sources (and usually crammed, BTW, with ads for products they claim, or at least imply to be, unbiased about) claiming one product better than another on a "quality" scale, usually of their own choosing, as I do in unvetted and unverifiable "reviews" from users - Angie's list/Craig's list etc, filled with useless and irrelevant non information allegedly written by users, most of whom don't know the difference between a kW and a kWh. That is, some but not much.

Quality, like beauty is often in the eye of the beholder.