Are there any flexible panels worth buying now?

[jedics]

I know they usually aren't worth buying over regular but I want deployable ones and my system could handle another 1200w going by the sbms120 specs.

[sailingharry]

They have always been worth buying, and continue to this day.  Sure, they have never been as inexpensive, high performing, or long lasting as rigid.  But, if you need light weight (your use) or flexible to bend over a curved surface (I have two), then all the benefits of rigid go away, and you are left with flexible.  My flex, high-end (Solbian) are 10 years old and put out about 20% of their rated power (I can't find new ones to fit the footprint, or I would replace them).  Just know that you are trading price, longevity, and performance to get your primary objective (weight or flexibility).  And in your use case, where damage is a real potential, flexible also add some immunity to damage.

[Cary Cupka]

Check out Aptera for a possible standard of excellence 

https://theevreport.com/aptera-expands-solar-tech-into-new-industries

--Cary

[Dacian Todea (electrodacus)]

In nice sunny days you probably are fine with the 6 panels on the roof. You need to consider than when you will need the extra panels weather will probably be worse and maybe even not suitable to install light flexible panels on the ground.

If most days you have excess energy and only few days in a year you could use a bit more energy it may be more convenient to increase a bit the battery capacity for the money you want to spend on flexible solar panels.

In a cloudy day panels may only produce as low as 10% of what they produce in a sunny day.

So say you get 1200W of flexible solar panels (asumme they are rated correctly as many of those have fake spec) then you may get up to 4kWh or 5kWh in a sunny day and only about 400Wh in a cloudy day.

Say you have 3 consecutive cloudy days and the flexible panels generate in total 1.2kWh so they will perform similarly with having a 1.2kWh of extra stored capacity in the battery and that will take less space and be more convenient.

Just two 3.2V 280Ah cells can store that 1.2kWh and that probably cost 200 to $300 much less than the flexible panels.

So it depends on exactly why you think you need the extra panels in what sort of conditions.

[sailingharry]

Aptera does not appear to make, or even intend to make, solar panels.  They sort of appear to be a vehicle company -- but not sure they make anything yet.  Looks like production is promised to begin in 2025.

As far as standard of excellenct, their glossy sales pitch is very high quality.  The quality of the product will be known in 2025, maybe 2026.

[Chris R8]

You can try the semi flexible one from offgridtec Germany, only the semiflexible ETFE ones.

Know several they have them on the boat and RV and producing actually its rating.

https://www.offgridtec.com/offgridtec-pcb-etfe-200w-30-8v-v2-semiflexibles-solarpanel.html

They deliver their rating over approx 5 years and 80% around 7 years IF mounted correctly and are quite cheap with 170Euro for a 200W panel.

Will get also 3 for the softtop and curved bimini of my cat where i cannot mount fixed ones.

Don't like the semi flexible too but these are the best compromise output versus price i know.

Solbians are completly overpriced and they are not better quality but simply replace bad panels while other denies.

Offgridtec is quite correct and replace is not up task/spec.

[Peter]

I have 3 offgridtec 120W running, bought 2 to start with. One has developed a hot spot after 2 years, another one after 3 years. Also both show first signs of top layer delamination (white marks). I actually did get one replacement panel from offgridtec (smaller, but same 120W spec'd :-/)... Now int the 4th year, the still work, but I expect having to swap out the first two in a couple of years. 

So I like the lower profile compared to framed ones and therefore are ok with the penalty in performance and lifetime, but it definitely seems significant.

(I left the damaged one installed, as it is still more power with 2 good +1 damaged compared to 2 good ones).

[jedics]

THanks for this, the offgridtec 200w panel would be perfect if it was a slightly different shape as my plan is to put them underneath my fixed panels completely protected from the sun and slide the fixed panels exposing them only when there isn't enough sun which should vastly extend their life. Unfortunately my panels are about 1680 by 900mm so these wont fit under. Im surprised flexible panels haven't progressed quicker...

[Chris R8]

@Peter: that's exactly how I would expect they perform and last. Did you walk over them?

As with all semi-flexibles a) installation with back cooling counts. B) expect them to last the warranty periode and then they need replacement. The offgrid for 5 years 200Euro for 200W is a fair deal. Solbian are not better but cost 5x and they simply replace in warranty.

While with offgrid if there is something better in 5 years just get better, if not offgrid again.

[Chris R8]

Flexible panels is an absolute nich market, what drives solar is house and Comercial use and in solar farms which are all fixed panels. What is developing is the very thin ones which you can glue on any surface but they have a very bad efficency and still cost a fortune.

[Barry Timm]

The CIGS flexible panels sold by BourgeRV have a 25 year performance warranty and have pretty astonishing shaded performance. They offer 17% efficiency, so quite a bit lower than regular panels but seem like a good fit for some applications.

200w panels are 83" x 27". $579.99.

[sailingharry]

As said above, it's a niche market.  17% efficiency means you get 20% less power on a given surface (not a big issue for land based, but a major issue for mobile (vans and boats).  $579/200W is about triple the cost of rigid panels.  And I'm not terribly confident that BougeRV will be around in 5 years, let alone 25.  Granted, they are 8 years old, but they are a reseller, not a manufacturer, and these kinds of companies tend to grow fast and die fast (but sometimes grow fast and just keep growing).

Still, if you needed a 83" x 27" panel, and needed flexible, then I for one would buy it in a heartbeat.  My dead flexible panels, 100W each, are on a curved surface that is 32" x 34" each (or 32" x 68" if I found a single large panel).  If I could find a pair of 100W+, or a single 200W+, at almost any price and longevity, I'd be really tempted to buy it! 

[Barry Timm]

I'd agree, there's a valid question about the BourgeRV longevity. 
But getting back to the CIGS panel, it has amazing shading performance compared to many other flex panels. Even compared to glass panels with 10 busbars, it seems to hold onto solar harvest very well with any shading affecting the panel. 
In some applications like RV and probably even more in boating, I'd suggest that the overall solar throughput would be comparably much better than the full-sun 17% metric suggests. Possibly even greater overall harvest.

There are some YT videos comparing this panel with shading. One should always take those with a pinch of salt but it does appear to me that these CIGS panels are a pretty decent option for lightweight / curved / shaded applications.