Solar Panel Prices
Best in the USA

If you are new to the solar energy market or an experienced solar owner and user, something remarkable has happened in the past several years regarding the prices of solar panels.  Solar photo-voltaics (making electricity from the sun) has long been disregarded as too expensive and cost ineffective.  Not any more.

Our Panel Inventory August 2011

Thanks to a worldwide increase in demand for solar panels and increased manufacturing output followed by a worldwide economic decline, solar panel prices have never been better.  Manufacturer's manufacturing efficiency has also improved and competition for market share is relentless.

The alternative to ENERGY INVESTMENT is ENERGY EXPENSE with unending increases in  fossil fuel prices and declining supplies that mean consistent unending future cost increases.

Rather than paying higher and higher prices for the energy that you need, an INVESTMENT IN SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS gives you an almost 100 percent guarantee of your future energy costs for at least 25 years.  Your future energy cost is near ZERO other than replacing your batteries every 7 to 10 years.

One of the negatives regarding the current market trend is that manufacturers are working on manufacturing larger panels and small panels under 100 watts are hard to find.  We are panel hunters and have sources for smaller panels when they are available.  If you are looking for small solar panels, ask us what we know.  The market changes every day.

Best Solar Panel Prices from Sunshine Works

We are a solar panel reseller, not a major stocking distributor, but we work almost every day with the major distributors who have the best solar panel prices for the best products.  Thanks to our low operating overhead and reasonable profit margins, we can sell solar panels and compete with anyone in the USA or Canada.

Note that the market is constantly changing and special deals come and go quickly.

The top brands of solar panels that we usually sell include, in alphabetical order:

• BP Solar

• DuPont

• Evergreen

• General Electric

• Kyocera

• Solarworld

• Sun

• Suntech

• Uni-Solar

An example of our low prices at the moment (subject to change without notice) is DuPont 100 watt 76 volt panels for $1.50 per watt plus shipping.

How to Save Money on Solar Panels

If you can find them (and we can), the best deal on the market is to purchase what is called in the solar energy trade as Q or B Grade panels which have slight cosmetic defects that have nothing to do with performance or warranty.  The output and reliability of these panels is the same as A Grade panels including a full manufacturer's performance warranty, typically 25 years.

If the panels are going on the roof or a pole mounted or elevated array support, who will ever see these little defects?  Likely only the installer, the birds and the squirrels.

We just installed 410 watts of 12 volt B Grade panels on the cottage at www.nealcreekfarm.com and they are beautiful to look at and a nice increase to our power reserves.  They are kickin' amps!!

If you are interested in B or Q Grade panels, be ready to make a decision because these panels are a very good value and they move quickly.  For example, one of our sources had 237 each 200 watt 12 volt panels on Friday and none on Monday.  Someone bought all of them over the weekend.

Another Way to Save Money on Solar Panels

With many technical solar energy sales engineers the big push is on higher efficiency per square foot or square meter, which is measured in amps - when you look at solar panel specifications the measure is listed as Imp for amps and Vmp for volts.  For example, the Imp of my new 205 watt panels is 10.93 amps for 205 watts with a Vmp of 18.30.  The higher the Imp per watt, the more efficient the panel.

If you have a limited space installation, this could be important.  Otherwise, the price per watt and the amps produced is the best way to determine a panel's value.

So, rather than letting some solar sales engineer push you toward super efficient panels as a sales buzz, you can now do your own evaluation of a solar panel's price versus value?  Less efficient panels which still perform admirably usually have the best prices.

What Voltage Panels Should You Buy?

For small off grid solar power systems, lower voltages are usually the best way to go.  12 volts is the standard for small installations.  24 volt is also common and is useful if you have some distance to travel with the wire between the panels and your battery bank.  The lower the voltage the greater the resistance or impedance, which means you need bigger wire with a limited maximum transmission distance, especially for 12 volt DC.

Solar panels for off grid are also available in 48 volts.  Voltages higher then 48 are usually for grid tie systems, where you might sell the excess energy you product back to your electric utility, usually through net metering or in some states direct reverse metering.

Yet Another Way to Save Money on Solar Panel Prices

Panels with voltages higher than 24 volts are often priced lower per Imp that comparable lower voltage panel prices.  Why?  Usually because of less demand.  24 volt panels are not usually available in the range of watts available for 12 volt.

You can use these higher voltage panels for your 12 or 24 volt system by using a MPPT charge controller which automatically senses the voltage of your battery or battery bank and steps down the charge voltage automatically.  MPPT stands for maximum power point tracking, a very sophisticated method of maximizing the performance of your solar panels while protecting and maximizing your battery life by several charge control methods including temperature compensation.  Read more about solar charge controllers here, the best is Phocos which is the ONLY brand we sell.

Note that MPPT is only of significant performance improvement for solar panel arrays greater than 500 watts.  For less than 500 watts, the performance improvement is nominal and the cost of the MPPT controller is usually 3 to 5 times more than the next best sophisticated alternative.  There are other smart controllers that do an excellent job for small systems.

Don't Make These Common Mistakes

If you are planning on using your panels for the long haul, here are a couple of important things to consider.

When sunshine knocks the electrons out of your panels to make electricity, the panels degrade over time.  Most manufacturers offer a 90 percent as rated guarantee after 10 years and an 80 percent guarantee after 20 years.  When you are calculating the output of the panels you need, factor in the depreciation of performance.  If you need 100 watts, 20 years from now you will need a 125 watt panel today to give you 100 watts of output then.

If you are planning on expanding your solar energy system in the future, being able to match the panels you buy today may be important unless you are going to create a new array with the new panels.  Stick with brand names that are likely to be around when you are ready to expand your system.

We Want Your Solar Panel Business

We would appreciate an opportunity to help you with your solar panel requirements.  We can help you find the best products at the best prices with immediate delivery.  We have sources both east and west to speed delivery and save money on shipping.

We are also experts in the export solar equipment market and are here to help.

Call or contact us today.  +1-931-962-8665.  Sign up for our email newsletter so we can keep you posted on special deals we know about as soon as they come on the market.