DIY 5kW system in San Diego Hyundai panels anyone?

[MARKSDCA]

First post here! I have been putting together a system on paper for my roof in Pt Loma (San Diego). I have found what looks like a very low price on Hyundai panels (250 watt panels at 0.75/watt or $188/panel) The shipping from Massachusetts is about $600 for the pallet. That's 87 cents/watt including delivery and no sales tax.

I can't seem to find a better deal and being a natural born skeptic I am thinking "why do I want 75 cent/watt panels when so many in this forum are paying 10-20% more?" Am I doing something wrong or did I hit a home run? Is Hyundai dumping these panels because they are bad or ??

And for the record I am meeting with a solar planner tomorrow who will for a fee get me measured and get me permit approval from the City. I also will hire an installer but I plan to buy everything myself per the recommendation of the planner and the installer. I already bought the inverter (a new version Fronius 6000w with AFCI) as I stumbled on a great deal on it.

Input appreciated and thanks in advance. PS: My south facing no shade roof is gigantic.

[Panelmal]

Just a comment from an installer - those panels are slippery as hell for some reason. Stack them up and watch them float around like like a puck on an air hockey table.

[foo1bar]

I can't seem to find a better deal and being a natural born skeptic I am thinking "why do I want 75 cent/watt panels when so many in this forum are paying 10-20% more?" Am I doing something wrong or did I hit a home run? Is Hyundai dumping these panels because they are bad or ??

I paid $1/watt, but wanted/needed 280W panels because 250W panels wouldn't have had provided enough power in the roof area I have.
For 250W poly-crystaline panels, it looks like $.70 to $.75/watt is price at where I got my panels.

[MARKSDCA]

So I ended up with 22 270KW Solarworld panels at 80 cents/watt. I picked them up so the delivery was $125 (Rented a minivan plus gas!!)

[foo1bar]

So I ended up with 22 270KW Solarworld panels at 80 cents/watt. I picked them up so the delivery was $125 (Rented a minivan plus gas!!)

Who/where?

[MARKSDCA]

Who/where?

Found them on Craigslist in Topanga / Agoura

[JFinch57]

Found them on Craigslist in Topanga / Agoura

There are so many scams on Craigslist, I'd forget about that! I bought panels twice from Fred at HiTech Solar. He's on Ebay as Fred480V and here's one of his listings. He ships R&L and only takes Paypal, for which there is no additional fee. I recently bought 260W Isophoton mono panels that were not listed on Ebay, he sent me an invoice and I paid. The panels arrived 1 week later. See http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-255-MOTEC...item3cf69c81bf

[JFinch57]

I got the 260W version of this panel but they're not installed yet. He probably has more. http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-245w-Isof...item3f4a5caa18

[MARKSDCA]

There are so many scams on Craigslist, I'd forget about that! I bought panels twice from Fred at HiTech Solar. He's on Ebay as Fred480V and here's one of his listings. He ships R&L and only takes Paypal, for which there is no additional fee. I recently bought 260W Isophoton mono panels that were not listed on Ebay, he sent me an invoice and I paid. The panels arrived 1 week later. See http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-255-MOTEC...item3cf69c81bf

I picked them up already......they were in an unopened pallet and had 2014 manufacture date on them...great looking panels......seems legit to me. http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...951536238.html

[JFinch57]

Oh, I missed your post that you picked them up, thought it was Craigslist from MA. Good luck, looks great!

[MARKSDCA]

Oh, I missed your post that you picked them up, thought it was Craigslist from MA. Good luck, looks great!

Now you have me paranoid. I am going to pick up a multimeter from Home Depot and make sure they generate some voltage when in the sun....I guess I could have done that when I picked them up but they were in an unpacked pallet.....hmmmm.

[bcroe]

Now you have me paranoid. I am going to pick up a multimeter from Home Depot and make sure they generate some voltage when in the sun....I guess I could have done that when I picked them up but they were in an unpacked pallet.....hmmmm.

Its pretty hard to do a meaningful test in transit. And a voltmeter is the least meaning
test, if the first & easiest. I'd recommend getting a panel in good sun and check the
short circuit current. Hard to do that with a cheap meter, I'd find a 100 watt one ohm
resistor and connect it to the panel. Every volt across it indicates an amp of flow, and
yes it will get hot.

The real test is running at Vmp & near Imp. In string operation, I rejected several
panels that passed all the prelim tests, but just couldn't keep up with the rest of
the string. Bruce Roe

[MARKSDCA]

Got the $20 multimeter from Home Depot and got 35V and 6.9A at 8:45 in the morning for a total of 240 watts from this 270 watt panel. It weas just leaned up against the BBQ in my backyard.

Disclaimer: I'm not an electrician or a solar expert but I did plug in a vacuum cleaner and wore sunglasses this past weekend so please understand the level of my credentials.

[J.P.M.]

Got the $20 multimeter from Home Depot and got 35V and 6.9A at 8:45 in the morning for a total of 240 watts from this 270 watt panel. It weas just leaned up against the BBQ in my backyard.

Disclaimer: I'm not an electrician or a solar expert but I did plug in a vacuum cleaner and wore sunglasses this past weekend so please understand the level of my credentials.

Wearing sunglasses while vacuuming seems a bit eccentric.

[MARKSDCA]

Wearing sunglasses while vacuuming seems a bit eccentric.

Not at the same time! But you knew that already.

So I sat there and waited for the sun to pop out from a morning cloud and I saw the amps shoot from 1-2 to 6 pretty fast...very cool stuff! I will test a bit later when the sun is stronger.