Choosing the Right Solar Panel

If you are just discovering solar panels as a new affordable way for you to produce electricity you are probably wondering what is the right solar panel for me?  Quickly you will see that your first step isn’t what panel to choose, but instead you will be directed by companies to get an solar assessment done on your house and they will give you a quote.  

These people are the experts after all so why not let them do all the work for you and take their word for it.

Typical quotes come with one price that considers things like installation and materials cost.  The provider will often have a preferred source for their solar panels.  Most often you will hear brands like LG, Sunpower, Panasonic and Canadian Solar.  The solar panel module will vary based on a size and production.

But why did they choose that solar panel for you?  

I truly can’t tell you about their choice but I can tell you about one difference to look at because of the Canadian solar climate.

Let’s compare an LG 72 cell Module to a Canadian Solar 144 dual cell module.

LG 72 Cell Module

This module has a high nameplate rating of 410 Watts and uses full sized cells.  This means there are 72 cells.  These are strung together in 3 strings that run down the entire length of the panel.  So if one cell in one of the strings is covered with snow or shade you lose ⅓ of the panel.  If you cover a cell in the second string as well with snow or shade you lose ⅔ of the panel and if a cell is covered in all 3 strings then you lose the whole panel.  

Canadian Solar 144 Dual Cell Module

This module has a lower nameplate rating of 385 Watts but uses dual cells (basically half cells).  This means there are 144 cells.  These are strung together in 6 strings that run down the entire length of the panel.  So if one cell in one of the strings is covered with snow or shade you lose ⅙ of the panel.  If you cover a cell in the second string as well with snow or share you lose ⅓ of the panel and if a cell is covered on a 3rd string as well then you lose only ½ the panel.  If you cover the bottom half of the panel the top half will still be able to produce electricity for you.

Now let’s talk about your situation:

Do you live in a place like California where the sun shines every day and you can tan without getting snowed on?

If so, then the LG module would be the far superior choice!  It produces at 410 watts compared to the lower producing 385 watt Canadian Solar module.  The only threat to production there is things you can control like tree shading or critters chewing through wires (check out how we take care of those critters with our critter guard)

Or do you live in a typical Canadian climate in which it likely snows half the year?

In Charlottetown, PEI there are an average of 177 bad weather days a year.  So that’s potentially a disruption in your production for ½ a year.  Don’t worry those conditions are accounted for in OUR estimates (check out our bad weather article to learn more).  But this does mean that you are likely going to have some snow on your roof blocking some of the panels from getting sunlight to them!

Usually snow accumulates at the bottom of the panels and is typically pretty spotty from the wind blowing it around.  This is where the lower watt 385 watt Canadian Solar module can outperform that LG module.  The solar panel was designed to only lose half of the production ability compared to the LG module when one cell is covered by snow.  

I guess that is the benefit of being a local producer.  They design a product that is fitted for our Canadian climate.

So when doing your research on if solar is right for you, you should also ask your provider:

“Is this solar panel ideal for our weather?”

Want to get a free solar assessment to find out if your house is right for solar? Click here