Module brands to avoid?

[five.five-six]

So, I’m doing my first system design. I’m leaning toward SolarEdge for inverter and optimizers but now I’m looking at modules and wow, there are a lot of them. Researching each module is time consuming to find a good fit and value. I’d really like to know of some manufactures to just skip over and save time.

TIA

 

[pv_n00b]

Just avoid the no name cheap modules, the name brand modules are all pretty good and have good support from the manufacturers. When I hear of someone having problems with modules it's because they got a "good deal" on some no name garbage modules from a manufacturer who was gone the next day. I remember a guy who got a whole 40' shipping container of modules from China that ended up being worthless, but it was a good deal that he could not pass up. I think he ended up making tables out of them.

 

[ggunn]

Just avoid the no name cheap modules, the name brand modules are all pretty good and have good support from the manufacturers. When I hear of someone having problems with modules it's because they got a "good deal" on some no name garbage modules from a manufacturer who was gone the next day. I remember a guy who got a whole 40' shipping container of modules from China that ended up being worthless, but it was a good deal that he could not pass up. I think he ended up making tables out of them.

One thing to watch for is the lack of the UL listing logo.

 

[five.five-six]

One thing to watch for is the lack of the UL listing logo.

But it’s china, can’t they just buy on UL label and choppy it 1,000,000,000,000,000 times?

How about Hyundai?

 

[PaulMmn]

It's cheaper to just put a big >CE< on the side of the module and be done with it.

 

[BandGap1.1eV]

It would be very difficult to list manufacturers to avoid. New names/manufacturers pop up on a monthly basis. In general look for the UL mark on their data sheet, modules with MC4 or amphenol branded connectors are preferred (rather than MC4 equivalent), minimum 10 year product/25 power warranty, mono-crystalline preferred.

Check the install manuals to be sure the wind/snow loads work for your area and the desired mounting configuration/orientation is permissible.