What are the best places to buy solar panels from for a DIY project?

[gte]

I have a quote to compare against from wholesalesolar.com and would like to get the best bang for my buck.

Thanks

[foo1bar]

I used Renvu for almost all of my solar stuff

In keeping with the forum owner's request to have installer links be to the solarreviews.com website here's the link to Renvu's solarreviews.com page: http://www.solarreviews.com/distributors/renvu

[sunnyguy]

Price was important to me too and I only ever considered buying from renvu or sun electronics.

[gte]

Thanks everyone, I have spoke to wholesalesolar and solarelectricsupply . I will check the reviews site now and call Renvu when they open, thank you for that.

Admin note i removed the links to the compnies above, please dont do that. Its fine to mention companies and if you want to make it a link it must be to their solarreviews.com page if they dont have one no link, simple

[gte]

I contacted both companies. Sun Electronics had a call center that was heard to talk over and the person answering the phone did not know a great deal about solar. Renvu had me talk directly to the engineer who had great knowledge. I do not know how serious I will take Sun's quote.

Price was important to me too and I only ever considered buying from renvu or sun electronics.

[JFinch57]

A few of us have purchased panels from Fred at Hi-Tech Solar. I've used him 3 times and the panels always were a great deal and arrived fast by R&L Carriers. Contact info:

fred operations manager hightec solar inc. michigan city

http://www.solarreviews.com/solar-distributors/

Admin note, come on man thats not cool, (removed phone number) if you want to mention companies thats fine but I feel like I am paying for your mates advertising. Link him to his solarreviews page thats cool if he dont have one email him and suggest he get the free listing

[gte]

Thank you for the suggestion, the guy was actually borderline unprofessional. I'm not sure if he was having a bad day, but first he told me he didn't sell systems, only parts, then he told me he sold parts too, then I told him the solar panel count and he took a deep breath and told me he wasn't the right guy for me. His language wasn't bad, but his tone of voice and whatever body language can be interpreted over the phone was bad. I even told him I was recommended to go to him by your username.

Either way, I appreciate the suggestion, I'm not sure what caused his behavior but I hope it isn't an ongoing situation for him?

A few of us have purchased panels from Fred at Hi-Tech Solar. I've used him 3 times and the panels always were a great deal and arrived fast by R&L Carriers. Contact info:

fred, operations manager hightec solar inc. michigan city

[sunnyguy]

I contacted both companies. Sun Electronics had a call center that was heard to talk over and the person answering the phone did not know a great deal about solar. Renvu had me talk directly to the engineer who had great knowledge. I do not know how serious I will take Sun's quote.

Yep if you go with sun you should know exactly what you want beforehand and that you may have to stay on top of everything to make sure they deliver. But if you are willing to do that you could save a few thousand bucks.

[DaveDE2]

Wholesale Solar prices are high.

Another good place for equipment, especially racking, inverter's, optimizers, etc is Res Supply. They have low prices and $149 freight shipping no matter how much big heavy stuff you buy. I bought everything but panels from them although they have good panel pricing too.

I bought my panels at $0.59/w through acosolar. They arrived just fine, look great, but I have yet to install them. They have a website with all sorts of equipment listed but very little actually in stock. All of my communication with them was through email communication and it was a little dicey because of the Chinese/ English communication barrier but their English is ok. Check their panel specials. They have killer deals on what they have but its not always top tier stuff. They will also quote you great prices on inverter's, racking and stuff. They ship out of Chino hills CA. I am probably going to buy my inverter's from them once I decide whether it's SMA or SE

[FNG AZ]

X2 on RENVU. A quick google search will get you to there site. I used them for my first setup and now using them for a second system. Great people, service, and yes price!

[gte]

Renvu told me 123 LG 365 watt panels for 43.7k ... how does that sound?

[foo1bar]

Renvu told me 123 LG 365 watt panels for 43.7k ... how does that sound?

The price sounds reasonable to me - but I haven't comparison shopped.
$.97/W for panels that are equivalent efficiency as 304W 60-cell panels is I *think* an OK price.

The quantity and amount of power doesn't seem reasonable for a DIY project.
A 45kW system is a BIG system.
Even if you have 3-phase power (which you probably don't as I think you're talking residential) that'd be 125A.
Typical 240V service you would have 187A, which probably means a dedicated 200A panel for it.
The 72 cell solar panels are about 1m x 2m - which means 123 of them are 2598 square feet. That's a lot of roof area.

[foo1bar]

123 LG 365 watt panels

You'll need to decide if you're doing 72-cell or 60-cell panels.

And what effiiciency for them.

ex. 250W 60 cell panels are a lot cheaper than 300W 60 cell panels because for the same area you get more power on the 300W panels.

Racking and other fixed per-panel costs will mean that even though a 250W is cheaper than 260W even on a per-watt basis, the 260W is more cost effective once you include the per-panel costs. (And do give some value to your time - if you can do 10% fewer panels because you're using higher efficiency panels, the install will finish ~10% sooner.)

Racking/mountpoint costs also will affect your 72 vs. 60 decision.

For my residence I used 60's. It was a much smaller DIY install than what you're planning. For the commercial install I'm reviewing proposals for, it is likely they'll be 72's.

[JTElectric]

It is the easiest way to get solar panel from DIY project.Getting DIY solar power system and solar panel cost is in your control now. If you have few conductive copper mesh, sticks, glue gun, multi-meter and a specific conductive pen, you are some steps away from producing cheap electricity. These things are easily available at art stores. You don’t need to waste time in markets to buy such items.

Mod note.don't try to embed links
And you are more than "some steps away" from harvesting actual power.

[gte]

Thank you to those that suggested Renvu

The total came in at 62k for the entire system with the LG 365 watt panels, which I think is good, I only need to put them on the house and need 120 of them instead of 140.

The only thing I will need to buy is

There are just a few items not on the proposal that you will need to finish the install: aluminum conduit, THHN wire, caulk or tar, and any special meter your utility requires (but they should provide that for free). All together, maybe $400 from local suppliers.

If only I knew someone in MD that was part of the Megawatt club, I could save another 1k ... anybody?