I would appreciate you views on the following options. The quoted price is $4800 for either Trina or Jinko panels
21 x Trina Honey + Mono 310W panels or
21 x Jinko Mono PERC 60 half cell 315 W (JKM315M-60H)
5KW Fronius Primo Dual-MPPT string inverter
Which option do you believe is the best value for money
Neale,
They are both good options as Trina and Jinko are very similar in quality and performance and have the same warranty conditions. In this case I would lean towards the 315W Jinko as it is a slightly higher (5W) rating and uses half cells which will perform better if partially shaded and should be less prone to hot spots over time.
However if these 2 panels are from different installers I would go with the installer which has the best reputation and will hopefully install the system to the highest standard.
Hope this helps,
Jason
Thanks for your response. Both options are from the same installer Skylight Energy in Sydney. They have now advised they can supply Risen 315W panels (RSM120-6-315M) for the same price and point out that they have a 12 year warranty compared to 10 years for Jinko. Based on my initial investigations Risen panels do not seem to be any better than Jinko and an extra 2 years warranty which only covers manufacturing faults as I understand it doesn’t seem to make that big a difference. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Neale
Hi Neale,
Risen are another large Chinese manufacturer but I wouldn’t classify them as being ‘better’ than Jinko based on the 12 year warranty. They use very similar cells but Jinko have been in the Austrialian market much longer and have a pretty good reputation whereas Risen are very new.
I would also consider panels from higher quality manufacturers like Winaico, LG, Sunpower or REC which have 15- 25 year manufacturers warranty and lower degradation rates. These will be a little more expensive but in my experience it’s worth paying a little more.