What do you think about "Suntech, Astroenergy and micro-inverter Hoymiles"?

[FerCosme]

I would like to know your opinion, thanks!!!

[Marty]

Hi FerCosme

I do not have any experience with Hoymiles micro inverters. It looks like they have done some big projects though worldwide. Hopefully someone here has direct experience.

Suntech were the leading solar panel manufacturers for a long time, until they ran into financial difficulty. They nearly went bankrupt around 2012 and needed to get help from the Chinese government I believe. Since then they have fallen behind the best manufacturers, but still make a decent panel, and still produce around 2GW of panels a year (which is about what they were doing back in 2012).

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Astronergy solar panel review

Hi @jarama Astroenergy are a lower cost panel. Their parent company name is CHINT Solar, and they have an office in Adelaide, Australia. They have Bloomberg Tier 1 status, but as mentioned many times elsewhere, this reflects the company’s financial position, not the quality of the solar panels they produce. They are not on our Best Solar Panels list. It’s a good idea to start there: I would start by reading our article on which inverter and panel brands to buy. Ch 6. What panel and invert…

[Canno]

I have also been just quoted on Astronergy – 18 x 274kw 6.6kw Violin Baseline CHSM6610P (FR) Series Crystalline PV Module and Kehu 5kw Latest SPI-B2 Series Single Phase String Inverter -----Total Price $3,300 installed at Miles Qld… My Question is can they handle hot days upto 45c. Hello solar is the company

[Marty]

Hi Canno

Looks like the temperature coefficient is a pretty standard -0.47%, which I believe means you lose about half a % of efficiency for every degree over standard test conditions, which is 25C. So, the panels will work, but you’ll lose about 10% efficiency on a stinker of a day.

Check out the temp coefficient of some of the top panels that we recommend on our site. For example LG Neon 2 has a temp coefficient of -0.37% per degree, so you’ll lose 7.5% efficiency instead of ~10% on a 45C day.

Cheers
Marty

[Canno]

Thanks Marty. Also do you think that these solar panels will stand the test of time, bearing in mind they are very cheap. Also the invertor is a a – Kehau Latest SPI-B2 Series Single Phase String Inverter. Would this invertor be ok for the higher temperatures.

Kind regards

Les

[Marty]

Hi Canno

I definitely wouldn’t recommend buying cheap panels. There are plenty of things that can go wrong over time. It’s not worth the risk. Same, and perhaps more important, with inverters. I haven’t heard of Kehau.

Check out this chapter on “Which Panel and Inverter Brands to Buy” in our Guide to Buying Solar ebook.