Used Solar Panels (?)

[Tom&Shelly]

William Prowse recommended SanTan Solar for used solar panels

https://store.santansolar.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwpH4oum89wIVwj2tBh04AAi_EAAYASAAEgJ8lfD_BwE

Does anyone have any experience with them? The deals look great, and they do have warranties.

Since one of their locations is in Gilbert AZ, and they say they welcome folks picking up at the plant, we might save shipping by making a trip there next Fall/Winter/Spring for a panel to mount on our tear, and also panels for our garage. (Camping on the way, of course.)

Tom

[Gulfcoast]

Santan is selling these panels like hotcakes, and just opened another store in south Georgia. Lots of RV folks and homesteaders buy them.

[Socal Tom]

My brother bought a pallet worth for his off-the-grid place. He is happy with them.
Tom

[GTS225]

There's this place, too. https://solarwholesalellc.com/

I did a little search for used panels, and there's a few outfits that have an inventory, with prices down around $60-$80 per panel.
Might just be worth a little searching.

Roger

[Tom&Shelly]

Thank you all for your experiences and the link to another company!

Hope the deals will still be there when we're ready to buy, but as I design our off-grid garage solar, I'll assume the used market price points for the panels. Roughly doubles the capacity for the price.

Tom

[bdosborn]

I'd look at the specs for the inverter you want to use and make sure you know what panel voltage/wattage works. There's a max/min allowable voltages as well as power limits that you'll need to observe. I was looking at putting some panels on my shed to experiment with and the panels that would fit the roof weren't compatible with the inverter I wanted...

Bruce

[Tom&Shelly]

I'd look at the specs for the inverter you want to use and make sure you know what panel voltage/wattage works. There's a max/min allowable voltages as well as power limits that you'll need to observe. I was looking at putting some panels on my shed to experiment with and the panels that would fit the roof weren't compatible with the inverter I wanted...

Bruce

Thank you Bruce. I'll probably use a charge controller and battery, so I'd be running the inverter off of the battery. I'll size the controller (most likely MPPT) to the panels and the inverter to whatever voltage I use (probably 12 vdc, but not certain yet).

100 aH, usable, would run (DC) led lights for about 5 hours and a small shop vac for a half hour, so I'm thinking of a single 200 aH AGM battery. I'm also considering lithium, but the need for heaters to charge at less than freezing is tending to dissuade me. At my age, the long term savings due to lithium life isn't as much of a selling feature anymore.

Tom