Does anyone know if they are reputable?

The ratings on Google doesn't give me confidence with most 5 star reviews being reviewers with only 1 review.

 

Then the panels that this friend of mine bought is Canadian Solar CS3W-550MS (I can't find any specs on this on the internet)

 

He just called me and said he bought this and it doesn't look legit from a quick view.  Any opinions or experience with these guys?

3 hours ago, PearlJam said:

Then the panels that this friend of mine bought is Canadian Solar CS3W-550MS (I can't find any specs on this on the internet)

I also can’t find this online - the CS3W series only up to 455W, but not 550. There have been stories of fake CS panels being sold…were they sourced from a reputable supplier (not if they were bought from SunPower)? Another clue might be their size - my 550w panels measure about 115(w) x 227 (h). 

Edited June 6, 20233 yr by Kalahari Cruiser

10 hours ago, Kalahari Cruiser said:

I also can’t find this online - the CS3W series only up to 455W, but not 550. There have been stories of fake CS panels being sold…were they sourced from a reputable supplier (not if they were bought from SunPower)? Another clue might be their size - my 550w panels measure about 115(w) x 227 (h). 

Thanks.  I told him to see if they can in some way give evidence that it is what the labels says it is and is genuine CS panels.  I will also ask him to measure the panels, it was delivered yesterday.

 

This is their website: https://www.worldofsunpower.com/  I see this domain was registered in April 2022. Although nothing obviously strange on the website like the other scam sites that gets posted here often.

 

Let's see how this unfolds

 

 

45 minutes ago, PearlJam said:

This is their website: https://www.worldofsunpower.com/  I see this domain was registered in April 2022. Although nothing obviously strange on the website like the other scam sites that gets posted here often.

Smells like a scam, the solar panels prices on their website are mostly on or under supplier cost, so unless those fell off the back of a truck some where or they are fake panels or second grade panels.
Same with their inverter prices, almost zero markups from suppliers prices.

Maybe they just nice people and don't mind running their business with zero or negative profit margins 😁

Why don't you scan the QR Code?

7 minutes ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

Smells like a scam, the solar panels prices on their website are mostly on or under supplier cost, so unless those fell off the back of a truck some where or they are fake panels or second grade panels.
Same with their inverter prices, almost zero markups from suppliers prices.

Maybe they just nice people and don't mind running their business with zero or negative profit margins 😁

Haha yes.  He paid R4 150 per panel and the closest we could find was on Voltex which was also a model we can't find elsewhere which was the CS3W-545MS at R5 100 and I made the point around the price differential and Voltex imo is a well-known brand. - https://www.voltex.co.za/product/canadian-solar-panel-545w-cs3w-545ms/

3 minutes ago, VirWat said:

Why don't you scan the QR Code?

I did and it links to a model range with a max rating of 460W

 

Edit: I have also seen in the solar world that these companies in general are not great at spec sheets with version control.  If I for instance search for a specsheet on my battery, I will get three different ones and no indication on which one might be the right one.  The dimensions of the same battery (15/12) is different on all three.

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by PearlJam

Hi,

 

Okay some digging, the CS is linked to the Hiku range.

CS6w - Hiku6 - Up to 555W

CS3w - BiHiku & Hiku - Up to 470W

So the only reference to 550W is the HiKu6 panels and these are their specs:

 

So sorry to say, there is no 49.95V VOC to be found anywhere. I also referenced the CS3w range:

 

And now the plot thickens, VOC of 49.9 vs 49.95 as per sticker, for --- 470W panels.

 

If your friend measures and gets below, he has been scammed: As below are the 470W max panels if not then he has been completely scammed with some fong kong fakes

 

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by Eurard

Hi,

I have a similar issue and was wondering whether the panel was fake. My initial installation was done 4 months ago and was looking to install 4 more panels. The supplier said I needed to check the panel specs to make sure that the same panels were obtained so I took the attached photographs which have CS6W-550MS. From what I can google this is a 550W panel which can be checked through the Pmax calculation? Supposedly Pmax is Optimum operating voltage 41.7 multiplied by optimum operating current of 13.2 = 550W. The Pmax in the photograph below appears, as slightly out of focus, to show 660 though. The supplier is saying that the panel is a 660 then and that I must calculate the Pmax by taking open circuit voltage of 49.6 and multiply it by Opt operating current of 13.2 which comes to 654. This doesn't appear correct to me. Can anyone help advise.

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by JohnPS

19 minutes ago, JohnPS said:

Hi,

I have the same issue. My initial installation was done 4 months ago and was looking to install 4 more panels. The supplier said I needed to check the panel specs to make sure that the same panels were obtained so I took the attached photographs which have CS6W-550MS. From what I can google this is a 550W panel which can be checked through the Pmax calculation? Supposedly Pmax is Optimum operating voltage 41.7 multiplied by optimum operating current of 13.2 = 550W. The Pmax in the photograph below appears, as slightly out of focus, to show 660 though. The supplier is saying that the panel is a 660 then and that I must calculate the Pmax by taking open circuit voltage of 49.6 and multiply it by Opt operating current of 13.2 which comes to 654. This doesn't appear correct to me. Can anyone help advise.

Vmp x Imp gives the wattage.

 

From the pic that comes to 550w, they look legit according to the spec sheet, model number and indicated specs as per label and canadian site spec sheet for the cs6w 550w panels

 

I have noticed that the long thin labels tend to lean towards real panels, and I assume duplicating those are too difficult, snd they just do a almost square one. Are you sure it says Pmax 660w, cause that aint right.

 

Interesting from @PearlJam are that the panel pic actually comes to 555w, so they couldnt even get the math correct!

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by Eurard

17 hours ago, Eurard said:

Are you sure it says Pmax 660w, cause that aint right.

I'm not. It looks blurred to me. All things point to 550W. Arguing with supplier who has agreed to come out and take the panel off and check properly before he buys the extra panels.

On 2023/06/07 at 3:45 PM, JohnPS said:

I have a similar issue and was wondering whether the panel was fake. My initial installation was done 4 months ago and was looking to install 4 more panels. The supplier said I needed to check the panel specs to make sure that the same panels were obtained so I took the attached photographs which have CS6W-550MS. From what I can google this is a 550W panel which can be checked through the Pmax calculation? Supposedly Pmax is Optimum operating voltage 41.7 multiplied by optimum operating current of 13.2 = 550W. The Pmax in the photograph below appears, as slightly out of focus, to show 660 though. The supplier is saying that the panel is a 660 then and that I must calculate the Pmax by taking open circuit voltage of 49.6 and multiply it by Opt operating current of 13.2 which comes to 654. This doesn't appear correct to me. Can anyone help advise.

Interestingly yours says 1000v on the label, mine says 1500v. I also have some 545w panels and it also says 1500v.

My label:

On 2023/06/06 at 4:49 PM, PearlJam said:

He just called me and said he bought this and it doesn't look legit from a quick view.  Any opinions or experience with these guys?

If you look at the bottom URL is says [email protected] <----very suspicious.

@PearlJam Send Canadian Solar an email and ask them if they have ever made that model

All the red flags indicate fake.  The onus is now on supplier to show its not.  

Buy from a reputable source that will issue you serial numbers correspondence when you buy. There are many businesses looking for a quick buck & that often feel how will the consumer even know. Beware...

Their prices far below industry average. Take for instance their 8kw Deye / Shoto/ JA Package System for R121k

Industry Average

8kw Deye inverter ~R 37.5k.                2 x Shoto 5.2kwh ~ R 60k.                 10 x 550 JA solar panels ~R 35k.            Total - R 132.5k🤔

Edited July 9, 20232 yr by TaliaB

14 hours ago, Sc00bs said:

@PearlJam Send Canadian Solar an email and ask them if they have ever made that model

He managed to return the panels the next day for a full refund apart from additional shipping cost.  In the end he managed to dodge that one.

30 minutes ago, PearlJam said:

He managed to return the panels the next day for a full refund apart from additional shipping cost.  In the end he managed to dodge that one.

I think that it would still be interesting to know if they are fake 

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2023-12-08-solar-panels-mislabelled-for-sale-and-fake-lego-seized-in-gauteng-police/

Fake Canadian Solar panels seized in Crown Mines

Mate of mine has recently gone to fix up an install where they had a 5 Star 11kw installed that went up in smoke.  Had to fix a few things on the install and replaced the inverter with a Mecer Axpert King 11kw.  However, there are 20x400w panels installed on the roof that are labeled "German Technology".  They are not producing more than 4500w at peak...that bridge still has to be crossed with the client as he has 20kwh battery storage installed and those panels just cannot deliver enough to charge those batteries fully during the day as his average load is 3kw during the day.

Stick to the larger suppliers and known brands is all I can say...

4 minutes ago, Douw G. Gerber said:

Mate of mine has recently gone to fix up an install where they had a 5 Star 11kw installed that went up in smoke.  Had to fix a few things on the install and replaced the inverter with a Mecer Axpert King 11kw.  However, there are 20x400w panels installed on the roof that are labeled "German Technology".  They are not producing more than 4500w at peak...that bridge still has to be crossed with the client as he has 20kwh battery storage installed and those panels just cannot deliver enough to charge those batteries fully during the day as his average load is 3kw during the day.

Stick to the larger suppliers and known brands is all I can say...

Sound advice from @Douw G. Gerber

I got 4 of those Canadian solar 545W from sunpower, they actually produced about 3kw today, they should be max 2180W but consistently produce more than spec. I installed them about 10 degrees angle on a zinc roof with 10mm2 cable near Marloth Park, its a hot place. 1 panel was R1750 on 20 December 2023. 

Note 8 x Canadian 550W I bought from solarsuppliers was R1850 each, so not far from sunpower ones. They also produce 5000W from 4400W installed.  I'm confused why as I was expecting less not more than spec. 

I didn't even check if any are genuine, i just installed them. Hopefully they don't prematurely die on me.

On 2023/07/09 at 6:04 PM, Steve87 said:

Buy from a reputable source that will issue you serial numbers correspondence when you buy. There are many businesses looking for a quick buck & that often feel how will the consumer even know. Beware...

That said, end-users sometimes are the greatest losers as they may also just rely on installers to "fix & supply". A lot of installers refuse to install products they do not buy which leaves end-users in a quandary, so they just end up never knowing. I was a victim on my first Pv install & am still heavily paying for it (damaged reputation, costs).

44 minutes ago, Skyelmad said:

I got 4 of those Canadian solar 545W from sunpower, they actually produced about 3kw today, they should be max 2180W but consistently produce more than spec. I installed them about 10 degrees angle on a zinc roof with 10mm2 cable near Marloth Park, its a hot place. 1 panel was R1750 on 20 December 2023. 

Note 8 x Canadian 550W I bought from solarsuppliers was R1850 each, so not far from sunpower ones. They also produce 5000W from 4400W installed.  I'm confused why as I was expecting less not more than spec. 

I didn't even check if any are genuine, i just installed them. Hopefully they don't prematurely die on me.

Just thinking out loud, wondering whether reflections off the zinc roof could be boosting the sun's irradiation falling on these panels and pushing up the power generation. Like the cloud effect, just longer lasting.