Phono Solar Review of Panels,Generators and Kits – 1800 Generator too Expensive

Phono Solar is a JV between Phono Technologies Switzerland and Sumec Group of China.Phono’s parent company SUMEC Group has been in the  PV industry from early 2004. Sumec and Sinomach family of companies claim to have $15 billion in revenues each year.SUMEC Group Corporation (SUMEC), founded in 1978, is a key member of China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH).SUMEC’s core business consists of shipbuilding and project contracting of complete equipment and engineering; the R&D, manufacturing and export of machinery and electric products including power tools, garden tools, power machinery

Phono Solar’s three production facilities will produce more than 500MW of PV Modules in 2011.The products are widely used in many fields such as power station, telecom, transportation, lightening, broadcasting, civil defense, marine etc.The company’s products are made in China and marketed by the Swiss company under the Phono Solar Brand.The Company also sells micro wind turbines which are used in small residential installations.

Phono Solar  1800 Watts Generator

The Phono Solar 1800 solar generator combines a solar inverter, pv panel, solar charge controller, battery storage and cabling to provide a system that can provide back-up or stand alone household power for emergency outages or off-grid outbuilding applications.It has a 1440 Watt continuous watt, 1800 maximum watt, 2880 watt surge inverter and one 140 Watt polycrystalline panels with 50 foot cable and charge controller. It is expandable from 100 Amp hour up to 400 Amp hour battery storage by adding second battery box and addition AGM batteries Solar generator can hold up to 4 batteries.Phono Solar Generator is sold through Home Depot and has got a good review about its quality.Note very few companies sell Solar Power Kits as Phono Solar does which provides a complete solar system solution for residential applications.Note most companies sell solar panels while some sell solar inverters as well.SunForce sells solar systems but it outsources solar panel production from other top tier panel producers like Sharp.

Phono Solar Generators are being sold for around $1500 which seems expensive considering the fact that you can buy a 140 Watt Solar Panel these days for around $200 and 225 ah 6v batteries for about 70bucks.If you were buying these solar components separately it would be much cheaper,so in my view you are better off by not buying the 1800 Phono Solar Generator.The company is selling Sumec-phono Solar 1800sj Solar Generator Kit 1800 at Amazon at a ridiculously expensive $1919 while at Ace Hardware the price of the Solar Generator is $1699.99

Phono Solar Panels Review

Phono Solar manufactures both monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels in the 75 Watts to 240 Watts Range.

Phono Solar Polycrystalline Solar Panels

It sells 3 types of Solar Panels in the USA

• 140W G-Series
• 230-240W U-Series
• 280-300W T-Series

Phono Solar Monocrystalline Solar Panels

Phon Solar sells 5 models of mono solar panels including the 240 Watts AC Module which comes with a a MPTT and microinverter

• 140W G-Series- Phono Solar’s 140 Mono Series is a 48 cell PV panel designed for on-grid residential and commercial applications.
• 190W F-Series – Phono Solar’s 190 Watt Mono Series is a 72 cell PV panel designed for on-grid residential and commercial applications.
• 235-260W U-Series – Phono Solar’s 235-260 Watt Mono Series is a 60 cell PV panel designed for on-grid residential and commercial applications.
•  Phono Solar 240 AC ModuleAC Modules are a recent innovation in the Solar Panel Industry in which each Module is fitted with a Micro Inverter which produces AC Current.This is in contract to solar inverters which group a number of solar panels together with a string and convert the DC current to AC Current.The advantage of micro inverter over pv grid inverters is that they allow single modules to be added to installed besides improving efficiency and reliability.
• 280-300W T-Series – Phono Solar’s 280-300 Watt Mono Series is a 72 cell PV panel designed for on-grid residential and commercial applications.

Phono Solar Efficiency

Phono Solar Modules Efficiency is in the 14-15.5% range which is on the average to lower side of solar panel efficiency.Note Solar Panels from Sanyo and Sunpower are much higher at 18-20% though they are costlier as well.Phono Solar claims to have high performing ,high efficiency solar panels but from the data sheets it does not seem that Phono Solar Panels are any exception to the industry.Solar Panels from Yingli Energy come with higher efficiency using the same technology as Phono Solar does at roughly the same price point

Phono Solar Warranty

Phono Solar gives a  5-year product warranty and a 25-year performance guarantee (90% up to 10 years, 80% up to 25 years) which is standard for most of the other solar panel producers.

Phono Solar Certificates

Phono Solar products are certified by most of the international organizations like UL,CE etc

Phono Solar products are sold in USA,UK,Canada,Australia,China and Israel

Phono Solar Products are sold in USA,UK,Canada,Australia,China and Israel.The company also claims to have leading partners in the large scale solar farm development space as well as strong financial partners to provide financing and leasing for solar systems.

Phono Solar is a Tier 2 Solar Panel Supplier from China and comes in the same category as BYD,JA Solar,Sunlink,Sun Earth,ET Solar and CEEG Solar Panel Companies.It currently does not have the scale and technology of Tier 1 Chinese Solar Panel Producers like Trina,Suntech and Yingli Solar.The advantage that Phono Solar has that its parent is a big conglomerate so its in no danger of disappearing unlike some of the other smaller solar panel companies like Sunlink.

Reviews of other Solar Panel Brands

• Sunpower Solar Panels
• Sharp Solar Panels
• Sanyo Solar Panels
• First Solar Solar Panels
• Bosch Solar Panels
• BP Solar Panels
• CEEG Solar Panels
• Sunlink Solar Panels
• LG Solar Panels
• Solarworld Solar Panels
• Kyocera Solar Panels
• Sanyo Solar Panels
• Hyundai Solar Panels
• Sharp Solar Panels
• Samsung Solar Panels
• Kaneka Solar Panels
• JA Solar Panels