A word of caution to the potential Solar buyer

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Solar power is all the rage in today's world. Solar power is becoming more and more available to the average citizen with more and more companies offering solar capabilities. There are many places and brands to purchase the equipment to go solar. Outlets ranging from harbor freight to Amazon, eBay and more. What are the main things to look for when purchasing solar panels?

eBay is a great place to shop for many things but it is also a place one can become easily burned. As with most things else solar can be purchased from eBay -- essentially every thing needed to do solar. eBay is a great place to be offered a diversity of sellers with there own unique deals including new and used and even sellers that are not in your own country -- countries such as China.

eBay does have guardrails against scammers - essentially the would be scammer skimmed out from participation in there market place. This article should serve as a word of caution to the would be Solar buyer looking at eBay's market place -- from some one who has bought and sold on eBay and has installed solar panels.

A quick search on eBay shows they do have a lot to offer in regards to "solar".

They do indeed have a lot to offer such as the solar panels, solar charge controllers, the connectors needed to plug in your panels or even kits. There are actually several kits that could potentially serve all your off grid needs but this is where the buyer should beware. There are several listings offering "kits" which include everything needed to operate your solar panels but most of these kits are for relatively small operation.

Compare solar panel prices between eBay and Amazon here: solar.betterparts.biz

These "kits" do offer value but they have big ole headlines proclaiming a large wattage -- usually for less than 100$. For example some claim to be a "400 watt solar kit". Please note that the shown solar panel is a tiny fraction of the 400 watts. It looks to be only 25 watts. The 400 watts is what that kit could produce during a full day of sun light - not 400 watts all at once. It seems like this could be misleading -- and wind up with some burned out customers.

Such a "kit" would be sufficient to operate a single security camera or some lights.

What to Look For in Solar Panels

1. Maximum or "PEAK" output power. This is the maximum wattage it will produce at a time under full sunlight.
2. Maximum Voltage. This is the maximum voltage it will produce under full sunlight.
3. Solar cell type. Monocrystalline is the most efficient solar cell out there.