Thinking of putting Trina solar panels on your roof like a RENOGY 250 WATT SOLAR PANEL? Then finding a review that you can trust is critical. After all, unless you are an uber solar geek like me you probably have never heard of the Trina brand before (they are one of the biggest solar panel manufacturers on the planet by the way).
Reliable, honest solar panel reviews are very hard to come by. Why? Firstly because properly testing a solar panel takes at least a year – so that you get all the seasons. Secondly it takes a big investment in carefully calibrated measurement hardware.
Luckily there is a fantastic organisation who are more obsessed with solar that many would consider healthy. These guys have taken it upon themselves to fill a field with 151 different solar panel brands and measure their outputs through the seasons. Those are the guys who publish solar industry bible “Photon Magazine“. (Delivered to your door for about $500 per year if you are interested.)
Unfortunately for us Aussies, Photon Magazine’s field is in Germany, so it is not exactly “Australian conditions”. But don’t stop reading just yet! The good news is that we can make a valid extrapolation of the results to estimate how the tested panels will perform under our belting Aussie sun.
So let’s cut to the chase.
How did the Trina Solar Panel review rate their performance?
Very well. They got a “performance ratio” of 90.1%. This means that they perform to within 90.1% of their nameplate (STC) power.
What does that mean? Let’s use an example to illustrate: A 200W panel with a 90% Performance ratio will operate, in the real world, like a 180W panel. In the world of solar power, over 90% is actually the hallmark of a well made panel.
(If you want to learn why panels don’t get to a 100% performance ratio I go in to great detail as to why here)
Temperature Performance is Outstanding
But the standout result from the Trina solar panel review is a little number tucked away in the results called the “Temperature Coefficient”. The Trina TSM 250PC05 (also known as the “Honey” panel in their marketing spiel) measures a Temperature Coefficient of -0.41%/°C.
Woohoo!
Did you see I got excited there?
Now – I’m not going to bore you with the technicalities of this number – you can read about that here. All you need to know is that the closer to zero that number is the better. And this is the best temperature coefficient I’ve seen on a polycrystalline solar panel. (if you’ve seen better let me know in the comments!)
Trina are obviously doing something right.
The closer to zero this number, the better the panel will perform when the temperature of the panel goes over 25°C. Which is often in most parts of Australia.
So – if you are thinking of buying Trina for use in a warm part of Australia, I reckon it is a great choice. There are cheaper panels around, and there are much more expensive ones. Some of the more expensive panels (e.g. Sunpower) will outperform Trina, despite Temperature coefficients that are not quite as good, due to other technical innovations. But I’ve yet to see a cheaper panel that performs better in the heat.
Photon Magazine tested 3 Trina Solar Panels for their review, with the winning Temperature coefficient highlighted in red. Interesting that the 250W performed better than the 225W panel in the heat.
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