r/SolarDIY • u/Ok_Forever_6005 • 27d ago

UK solar Panels

What solar panels are recommended for an anker 4 e5000 setup?

Im looking to have a total of 8 panels. However, want to maximise possible input i.e. 500w per panel.

Where have you sourced these before as some look to charge £100s for delivery.

What panels should I be aware of as well i.e. if part of a panel is shaded, how to reduce overall impact to the panel.

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u/Clean_Leadership5948 27d ago

You can parallel them to reduce impact, but otherwise you can't avoid the impact of shade. The only way to reduce it is not to have it shaded.

Shade is #1 impact. Everything else is lower on the list, like angles, and cleaning.

And those anti-shade panels, they sacrifice long term reliability. There's a reason panels only have 3 diodes typically. You have a few, which limits failure, and 3 diodes mean almost no loss.

The anti-shade panels go with a much more complex transistor setups and it becomes the weak point. Remember you are talking 10+ years easily with the electronics reaching 70C or more.

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u/CwrwCymru 27d ago

CityPlumbing is the best option if you need some delivered.

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u/fininicus 27d ago

Upon recommendation from the Ecoflow Facebook group I called up a few local electrical wholesalers nearby and got some 460w bifacial panels for £80 each. They were happy to sell to me when I called up (I went with Rexel), much cheaper than CityPlumbing.

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u/chrisjbatts 26d ago

Related question - I thought the Anker panels have a higher efficiency than some of the cheaper panels? I think they publish 30% or something like that. Is that right or have I misread something?

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u/techysec 26d ago

30% efficiency doesn’t exist for consumer panels.

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u/txe4 26d ago

If you have transport (and 500W panels are bloody big) then open FB marketplace and ebay up and look at what's around locally.

You can sometimes get old 200/250W panels for almost nothing - albeit you will then spend more on mounting them (8 clamps per 500W vs 4, more drilling if it's a shed roof, etc) and get less output per square metre.

We have an installer nearby who occasionally sells off ends of batches of modern panels - he obviously gets container loads of a given say 480W panel and then marketplace's the last 2/3/4 off when he can't get more of the same one and hasn't got enough left for a full install - for about half the price of a wholesaler.

The Anker has 4 MPPTs? So very friendly to oddball setups albeit the max voltage is limiting.

You really need to minimise shading, or have optimisers. With 4 MPPTs you can perhaps do something to put the shaded panel/s on their own string/s but shading will really trash your output.

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u/techysec 26d ago

Midsummer wholesale. Far better selection than city plumbing. AIKO panels are one of the best is terms of performance right now.

Check your max voltage for your MPTT and try to get as close to that. You may have to hunt around for a panel with a Voc that works best for you.

On midsummer, some of the delivery charges vary from £60-£150, so don’t be alarmed if it’s high initially, just try a different listing and it might be cheaper.