Sunteams Inverter - China - Beijing Kinglong New Energy Technology

Lately, a lot of cheap solar companies are using Sunteams inverters out of China.

It's an unheard of inverter brand which claims to have a maximum efficiency of 98%. So supposedly 1% more efficient than the Sunnyboys 5000TL made by SMA, the leading inverter brand in the world.

That's like saying a Hyundai was saver than a Mercedes.

The inverter is only allowed to be installed in Australia since mid June 2010.
But there are already reports in forums about problems with that unit.

5 August 2010:
A 10 kW system in Sydney, NSW performed very irregular. It has two identical arrays of 5 kW each and with two 5 kW Sunteams 5000 inverters.
One array is producing 30% less power during 2-3 hours in the day than the other one. There is no shade at all and it is an identical set up. 
Something seems wrong. But what can you expect from an inverter out of a $2 shop?

20 August 2010: The story ends as one of the sunteams inverters did not start up anymore - dead.
The link to that report (in German)



If you know more about these inverters, please leave a comment.
Cheers

Maximize your roof space with Solar Power Panels

Every inch of that 9.9 kW home solar power system is used. Love it

Source: schottsolar.com
Panels: SCHOTT ASE 160
This is not in Melbourne, Australia.

SCHOTT solar vs SUNTECH solar panels test

Manufacturer	SCHOTT solar	Suntech Power
Solar panel model	Schott Poly 220	Suntech STP190-18/Ub
Nature of the cells	Polycrystalline	Polycrystalline
Made in	EU (Cells in Germany)	China
Product Warranty	5 years	5 years
Dimensions	169 x 99 cm	148 x 99 cm
Weight	23 kg	17 kg
Rated power	220 W	190 W
Power tolerance according to the manufacturer	0/+	+/- 3 %
Measured power / deviation to rated power	222.4 W / + 1.1%	184,1 W / -3,1%
Module Efficiency	13.3%	12,50%
Change of module efficiency at low light (100 W / m²)	- 7.2%	-19,00%
Fill factor	73.3%	72,20%
Change in performance with heat (70 ° C)	- 19.7%	-19,30%
Recognizable abnormalities and deficiencies (Electroluminescence and thermography)	low	low
Test result performance test	very good	insufficient
Further defects	no	yes
Test Results Further shortcomings	very good	good
Notes	-	3)
Overall rating	very good	insufficient

Source: Translated from Oeko-test, April 2010

See pdf here for better format

SCHOTT vs SUNTECH solar panels test

Solar panel efficiency? The higher the efficiency the better?

"according to the Alternative Technology Association (ATA), an energy efficiency rating doesn’t tell you how the panels will perform. “The most important figures to look at are how much energy the system will produce each year, versus the money spent,” the ATA says."(Source: Choice buyers guide)

 Efficiency doesn't tell you how much power the panel will produce. It will tell you, how much space you need.

Polycrystalline panels can have a higher energy output than Monocrystalline panels, even though the latter are more efficient. Sounds like a contradiction, but it's true.
In Europe, Polycrystalline panels are more popular than Monocrystalline.

Solar panel manufacturing

See this video about solar panel manufacturing of SCHOTT panels. Fully automated process. Check out the robot in 0:38. SCHOTT solar panels manufacturing

SunTech solar panels test vs SCHOTT solar panels test

The consumer products test foundation Öko Test in conjunction with Photon examined all major panels available on the biggest solar power market.

Here is the score:

1. SCHOTT test result: "very good"

2. SunTech test result: "insufficient", later revised to "good".

The panels examined were SunTech STP205-18/Ud and SCHOTT POLY 220


Key findings will be explained in the coming blog post.

The full test can be downloaded here. Not for free unfortunately, and in German.

SCHOTT POLY 220

SUNTECH STP205-18/Ud

Which inverter to chose?

the inverter is the heart of the system, it will define the output!!!

Watch out for cheap brands. Only rely on high quality (e.g made in Germany)

it should have at least a 95% efficiency.

Big differences are also the displays and the amount of data you can read out of them.


Make sure it has a nice LCD-Display, that shows you daily output, yearly output etc. Otherwise, you will not know, wheather the system performs as promissed.

Why i chose Schott solar panels

SCHOTT solar have a positive power tolerance only.

The weakest panel in the string defines the total capacity.

Ergo: With SCHOTT solar, I get what I pay for. Most solar panels have a negative power tolerance of up to -5%.

If you pay for a 1.5 kW system, it's very likely you'll end up with a 1.42 kW system. The bad thing, you'll never find out, unless you test each panel individually under standard test conditions.....

The difference with SCHOTT solar is, you have a positive power tolerance only. If you buy a 1.5 kW system, you will get a 1.5 kW system or potentially 3% more.

The latest scam: “free” solar power | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

Good advice about cheap solar power systems:

The latest scam: “free” solar power | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

How does the Feed in Tarrif work in Victoria?

Victoria is on a net feed-in tarrif.

That means, the energy that's generated by the solar power system is fed into the house first. Whatever is not used, is fed into the grid.

For example: My 2.8 kW solar power system generates on average around 11.2 kWh of electricity per day.

During the day, me and my partner are at work, i.e. appliances like our fridge are using only 1.5 kWh.
That means, I can feed back 9.8 kWh into the grid, every day.

My total earnings/savings are then:
9.8 kWh x $0.66 = $ 6.47 per day
+ 1.5 kWh x $0.19 = $ 0.29 per day

Makes a total income of $ 6.76 per day or $ 2,467 per year.

www.solarpowermargs.com

Whats good about the Schott panels?

first of all - the fantastic look. Dark blue, light absorbant, anti-reflective, texturized tempered glass.
Cadmium-free! therefore environmentally friendly.

Schott Solar - Made in Germany

Just got my Schott Solar PV system installed by Sun Empire in Melbourne.

It's performing great. It's on a north facing roof with an angle of 30 degrees. Which is the optimal solar power angle in Melbourne, Australia.

On 13/6/ it generated around 3 kWh (kilowatt hours) of electricity. I was able to feed it back into the grid at the premium feed in tarrif of 66 cents per kWh. All the data is displayed on the KACO inverter (made in Germany). It shows me all the information I need.

In Victoria, we are rewarded with RECs (renewable energy certificates) or solar credits which makes a solar power system really affordable.
I will pay my system off within 5 years!!!