Sunpower vs. Suniva vs. LG

[henrysalt]

Hi all -

Could use some feedback on trying to find the best choice in solar panel among three choices. We have good sun exposure on our house with minimal shading.

For an approximate 5.0 kW system our preferred vendor has offered us three choices:

Suniva 330 watt, 15 panels, Solar Edge 5kW Inverter with Optimizers, 7,400 kWh first year production, $3.38 per watt, 20 year labor and 25 year production warranty

LG 365 watt, 13 panels, Solar Edge 5kW Inverter with Optimizers, 7,100 kWh first year production, $3.63 per watt, 20 year labor and 25 year production warranty

SunPower 327 watt, 16 panels, Solar Edge 5kW Inverter with Optimizers, 7,704 kWh first year production, $4.30 per watt, 25 year labor and 25 year production warranty

I'm leaning towards the Suniva or LG's because I'm not sure if the additional efficiency, warranty, and look factor from SunPower is worth almost an extra $1.00 per watt. The payback period for SunPower would be an additional eighteen months or so. Have peopled had good experiences with Suniva and LG? I

Thanks in advance for your help!

[solar pete]

Hi henrysalt and welcome to Solar Panel Talk. I tend to think of panels as a commodity these days, and would get any teir 1 panel at the best price. So although I have no experience with Suniva I would be leaning in that direction or pushing for a better price on the LG. In my opinion SunPower are overrated and over priced, cheers.

[TONI]

Hey Henry,

Suniva 330 watt panels is 17.6% efficiency rating-USA made (in michigan) and a 6%-7% degradation with a 25 year warranty (good panels for the price point-alot of my clients choose this option)
LG365- 18% efficiency 6% degradation (well known manufacturer is a plus-security) this is actually the panel I have on my home- i have a 21 panel system with LG 365- the only big con to this is the manufacturer voids the warranty for resdential install if the system is under 15kw because LG 365 is meant for commercial installs ( so you have to make sure the company installing and providing the panels are going to cover your warranty and back the panel up- I work for LA Solar Group and we also installed my system - and we just keep lg 365 in stock to cover the warranties ourself) GREAT panel and power output for the price. SUNPOWER AC modules are now availible, and have a intergrated microinverter that you can get lower then the sunpower price you listed in your post- great option 20% efficiency, all in one system, low degradation, but highest prices which means longer ROI. They are all truly great system, and tough to decide, if you plan to expand in the future and have limited roof space, I would recommend SUNIVA 330 out of these three options.