I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for
£100 each. Admittedly that was quite a bargain back then but it
wasn't a totally ridiculous price.

I've been thinking of replacing them with panels that can generate a
bit more power and/or are flexible so can be mounted directly on the
slightly curved roof of the boat.

The existing panels are about 1.6 metres by 1 metre.

I can't find anything suitable anywhere. Very few places seem to
actually sell 'full sized' panels, nearly all of what I can find are
small panels and often have direct to 12v battery connections. I just
want bare panels, I have all the charging electronics already.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available
now???

--
Chris Green
·

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On Thu, 2 Jan 2025 21:13:20 +0000, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for
£100 each. Admittedly that was quite a bargain back then but it wasn't
a totally ridiculous price.

I've been thinking of replacing them with panels that can generate a bit
more power and/or are flexible so can be mounted directly on the
slightly curved roof of the boat.

The existing panels are about 1.6 metres by 1 metre.

I can't find anything suitable anywhere. Very few places seem to
actually sell 'full sized' panels, nearly all of what I can find are
small panels and often have direct to 12v battery connections. I just
want bare panels, I have all the charging electronics already.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available
now???

Chris,

Have a look at <www.craigsolar.co.uk>

HTH

Avpx
--
Greebo could, in fact, commit sexual harrassment simply by sitting very
quietly in the next room. (Maskerade)
Thu 11447 Sep 21:40:01 GMT 1993
21:40:01 up 2 days, 12:17, 1 user, load average: 1.62, 1.02, 0.77

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Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote in news:g4cj4l-qvpf.ln1@q957.zbmc.eu:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for
£100 each. Admittedly that was quite a bargain back then but it
wasn't a totally ridiculous price.

I've been thinking of replacing them with panels that can generate a
bit more power and/or are flexible so can be mounted directly on the
slightly curved roof of the boat.

No idea on sources, sorry.

Friends in the know with campervans have returned to box framed panels from profile forming ones as they feel they are more reliable due to better ventilation/heat management despite the neater appearance.

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The Nomad <nomad@the.desert.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 2 Jan 2025 21:13:20 +0000, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for £100 each. Admittedly that was quite a bargain back then but it wasn't
a totally ridiculous price.

I've been thinking of replacing them with panels that can generate a bit more power and/or are flexible so can be mounted directly on the
slightly curved roof of the boat.

The existing panels are about 1.6 metres by 1 metre.

I can't find anything suitable anywhere. Very few places seem to
actually sell 'full sized' panels, nearly all of what I can find are
small panels and often have direct to 12v battery connections. I just
want bare panels, I have all the charging electronics already.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available now???

Chris,

Have a look at <www.craigsolar.co.uk>

Thanks, but they aren't **any** cheaper than the ones I bought 14
years ago. E.g. a 230 watt panel is £159.

--
Chris Green
·

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fred <not@for.mail> wrote:

Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote in news:g4cj4l-qvpf.ln1@q957.zbmc.eu:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for £100 each. Admittedly that was quite a bargain back then but it
wasn't a totally ridiculous price.

I've been thinking of replacing them with panels that can generate a
bit more power and/or are flexible so can be mounted directly on the slightly curved roof of the boat.

No idea on sources, sorry.

Friends in the know with campervans have returned to box framed panels from profile forming ones as they feel they are more reliable due to better ventilation/heat management despite the neater appearance.

Yes, that's what my existing 230 watt panels are, i.e. they're the
sort of panels that are used on houses. It does seem that this sort
of panel is likely to be longer lasting, it's just that I fancied
something 'neater' than the existing installation on studding stalks.
The ultimate would be panels I can (occasionally) walk on because the
existing ones do make it difficult to get at some parts of the boat
for cleaning, maintenance, etc.

--
Chris Green
·

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Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for
£100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available
now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

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Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for £100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

Now that's more like it! :-) Thank you.

--
Chris Green
·

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On Fri, 03 Jan 2025 12:33:09 +0000, Chris Green wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011
for £100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are
available now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

Now that's more like it! :-) Thank you.

The fact Google couldn't find that for you is/should be worrying ...

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Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for £100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

Now that's more like it! :-) Thank you.

Also: https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/c/product/renewables/solar-pv/solar-pv-panels/c/1870007/

(they have national branches, so you may be able to collect rather than pay delivery)

There's also a kit builder, if you want them to spec mounting rails and brackets for you as well: https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/content/solar-pv-kit-builder

Theo

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On 02/01/2025 21:13, Chris Green wrote:

The existing panels are about 1.6 metres by 1 metre.

I can't find anything suitable anywhere. Very few places seem to
actually sell 'full sized' panels, nearly all of what I can find are
small panels and often have direct to 12v battery connections. I just
want bare panels, I have all the charging electronics already.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available
now???

Is £48 about right: <https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko/jinko-54c-415w-n-ab>

You need to register with them to get that price. You'll struggle
getting an exact size match.
They also have panels with slight damage at £25+vat.

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Alan Lee <alan@darkroom.plus.com> wrote:

On 02/01/2025 21:13, Chris Green wrote:

The existing panels are about 1.6 metres by 1 metre.

I can't find anything suitable anywhere. Very few places seem to
actually sell 'full sized' panels, nearly all of what I can find are
small panels and often have direct to 12v battery connections. I just
want bare panels, I have all the charging electronics already.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available now???

Is £48 about right: <https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko/jinko-54c-415w-n-ab>

You need to register with them to get that price. You'll struggle
getting an exact size match.
They also have panels with slight damage at £25+vat.

Exact size match isn't important, thanks for this link, 'slight
damage' panels at £25 sound good to me.

--
Chris Green
·

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Jethro_uk <jethro_uk@hotmailbin.com> wrote:

On Fri, 03 Jan 2025 12:33:09 +0000, Chris Green wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011
for £100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are
available now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

Now that's more like it! :-) Thank you.

The fact Google couldn't find that for you is/should be worrying ...

I did look quite hard in my 'shopping' sites:-

Google Shopping
eBay
Amazon


--
Chris Green
·

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In article <512l4l-a1ig.ln1@q957.zbmc.eu>, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net>
scribeth thus

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011 for
£100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are available
now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

Now that's more like it! :-) Thank you.

They sometimes have "damaged" ones like a bit of paint chipped of or a
small dent on the framework and the like.

Got a couple of them, work very well:)..

--
Tony Sayer


Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a keyboard, and he will reveal himself.

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On Fri, 1/3/2025 11:53 AM, Jethro_uk wrote:

On Fri, 03 Jan 2025 12:33:09 +0000, Chris Green wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Chris Green wrote:

I have three 235 watt solar panels on my boat, bought back in 2011
for £100 each.

Where can I get these supposedly 80% cheaper panels that are
available now???

Nearly twice the power at nearly half the price

<https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy/jinko>

Now that's more like it! :-) Thank you.

The fact Google couldn't find that for you is/should be worrying ...

The Google search is now AI powered. The results are sorted
according to who pays Google to appear first in the list.
The reason Reddit postings appear so often in the Google
result, is Reddit is paying Google for the priority.

The last few days, I've gone through 15 pages of Google results
in a single search, and 90% of the links are advertising links,
and with a fair share of empty Reddit threads.

On the plus side, the AI is very resistant to SEO. It is not
tricked by infinitely deep web sites full of tags for example.

But on the other side of the coin, the search is perfectly useless.

Welcome to hell.

Paul

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Paul wrote:

The Google search is now AI powered. The results are sorted
according to who pays Google to appear first in the list.

In private browsing mode with cleared cookies, I searched for "cheap
solar panels" the first sponsored results are from system installers
rather than panel wholesalers, then it runs into a mixed bag of search
results, varying from a bit worse to a lot worse than the examples
provided here, then lower on the first page you get these for £36+VAT

<https://www.solartradesales.co.uk/astronergy-n5s-n-type-monofacial-solar-panel-485w-black-frame>

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On 06/01/2025 08:14, Andy Burns wrote:

Paul wrote:

The Google search is now AI powered. The results are sorted
according to who pays Google to appear first in the list.

In private browsing mode with cleared cookies, I searched for "cheap
solar panels" the first sponsored results are from system installers
rather than panel wholesalers, then it runs into a mixed bag of search results, varying from a bit worse to a lot worse than the examples
provided here, then lower on the first page you get these for £36+VAT

<https://www.solartradesales.co.uk/astronergy-n5s-n-type-monofacial- solar-panel-485w-black-frame>

I've found that often these days I have include "for Sale" or "sales"
or "supplier" in the search key words to avoid what Google throws up as
the "best" match. It also seems to help adding UK to the search key
words if wanting to find a UK supplier.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Paul wrote:

The Google search is now AI powered. The results are sorted
according to who pays Google to appear first in the list.

In private browsing mode with cleared cookies, I searched for "cheap
solar panels" the first sponsored results are from system installers
rather than panel wholesalers, then it runs into a mixed bag of search results, varying from a bit worse to a lot worse than the examples
provided here, then lower on the first page you get these for £36+VAT

<https://www.solartradesales.co.uk/astronergy-n5s-n-type-monofacial-solar-panel-485w-black-frame>

OP here, thank you, they're in Ipswich just down the road from me so
very handy!

--
Chris Green
·

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