There is something about humans and nature that is hard to explain. It is a love-it or hate-it relationship and it is a huge part of us. Thankfully most of us understand the necessity of nature and most of us love it.
Those that are huge nature lovers love their piece and quiet, sounds of water, wind and animals and when we want to feel those soothing sounds we tend to go outside town into cabins. This is the only place where this kind of tranquillity can be achieved.
Cabins are a great way of escaping city life and there is always a lot of work around them. From basic maintenance to things like heat, clean water, electricity and more. Thankfully we live in that day in age where everything is easily accessible.
As you can see the topic of the day is solar panels and throughout this article, we will try to list the best ones that are fitting for your cabin in the woods. We also had help regarding some information from renogy.com, so check them out as well if you need more details or a bigger offer.
Without any more procrastination, let’s dive straight into this buying guide!
Table of Contents
1. Silfab Solar
Source: prnewswire.com
Silfab Solar makes great solar panels and the top pick we made for today’s list is the Silfab Elite 380W all-black solar panel. Now we understand that most of you will aim for practicality instead of aesthetics, but for those picky ones out there that want something to look and fit the roof good, Silfab Elite is the answer. It is a current state of the art panel with a black design which will fit any roof. This panel is a 66-form factor (66 cells) panel which will offer you power ratings of up to 380W in STC and 280 W operating conditions per panel. Its module efficiency is 21.4% meaning it can output 19.86 of power per one square foot. Its temperature coefficient is -0.377% for every Celsius that the panel is hotter than 25 degrees. The degradation rate of this panel is 0.5% per year and you can expect cell degradation of 85.1% by the year 25. This is probably the best solar panel you can get for the lowest price and it will offer you the strongest warranty on the market – they guarantee the performance of their products for up to 30 years. All in all, this is a great looking, great dollar for dollar payback value solar panel check out this one for sure.
2. Hanwa Q cell
Source: secondsol.com
Hanwa makes great solar panels but today we are focusing on their QPeak 405W Duo panel. This manufacturer became famous because of their Quantum tech that uses a reflective paste on the underside of the panel that can catch some of the sun rays that have gone through the panel and reflected off the roof, generating more energy. This company has been in the solar business for 23+years and the model we are talking about can achieve 405 W in STC and 304 in operating conditions which is great. The temperature coefficient is rated at -0.34% and the efficiency rating of this particular panel is 20.6% where for 1 square foot of space you can expect to get a maximum of 19,16 W of power. If you are working with smaller roofs or placement spaces then you need to consider higher efficiency panels because they will be smaller and denser packed with cells. Hanwa offers a 25-year product and 25-year performance warranty which is also amazing, and it is all at reasonable pricing. It has the same rate of degradation as Silfab at 0.5% per year and you can expect cell degradation of 86% by the year 25.
3. REC
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Most of you probably heard about REC before, and today we are bringing you their Alpha Pure Black Series panel. This manufacturer is considered to be a premium in terms of the warranty where they offer a 92%+ warranty at the end of the 25-year warranty term which brings them closer to super-premium manufacturers that we will discuss later. REC always boasted of great cell efficiency and thanks to their technology this panel boasts with same features. REC offers around 20% more power, great aesthetics, greater energy yields and highly efficient energy cells which you will need in your cabin. This panel will offer you up to 410W in STC and 312 W in operating conditions. This panel efficiency is one of the top ones on the market rated at 22.2% with the temperature coefficient being one of the lowest for today’s standards at -0.26%. this panel will allow you to fit 20.6W of power per square foot which is rather impressive. REC made an awesome combination with this Alpha series panels where you get a premium warranty with prices that are not premium. You will be offered a 25-year warranty, 25-year production warranty and 25-year labour warranty. The last important thing to know is that cell degradation is rated at 0.25% meaning you are guaranteed 92% of power output at year 25, which is another great thing.
4. Panasonic
Source: brandgenetics.com
The model of a panel from Panasonic we are choosing today is their Evervolt 410W one which has proven to be an awesome choice for reasons we will tell you about. Panasonic’s tradition in solar panels spans from 1975 and that means that they have the knowledge and tech to satisfy all your needs. They will offer you a premium product for a premium price. What you get with Evervolt is 410 W in STC and around 350 W in operating conditions. Its efficiency is as high as REC one at 22.2%, the temperature coefficient is -0.26% and its power density is 20.6 W of power per square foot. It offers the same warranty as the REC does with a degradation rate that is again similar at 0.25% that guarantees 92% of power output at year 25. If we were a betting site, we would have guessed that the REC is probably the company that makes panels for Panasonic, but we will leave that for you to dig into and decide on the answer.
5. Sun Power
Source: sunpower.maxeon.com
Sun Power panels are the ones that are usually proposed to homeowners, or in this case cabin owners who want to go green energy. Their Maxeon 5th Gen panels come in 410 W and 420 W options but for the sake of gathering as much energy as possible, we will go with the 420W option. This panel reaches 420″ in STC and more than 360W in operating conditions, but we couldn’t find a specific number regarding this. The efficiency rating is the highest of all panels rated today, at 22.5%. the temperature coefficient is rated at -0.29% which is slightly worse than Panasonic and REC, but its density is better with a rating of 20.9 W of power per square foot. The warranty is the same as the previous two – 25 years all across the board with panel degradation rated at 0.25% per year meaning you will get 92% guaranteed power output by the year 25. Premium terms, service and price, but it has lived up to that, so if you want reliability and performance be sure to check it out.
