Mitsubishi Solar Panels
We recently received our first container load of Mitsubishi Electric solar panels, which by the way, sold out in less than 48 hours. The first thing that we immediately noticed was the fact that Mitsubishi Electric had so much concern for the safe shipment of their product that they actually shipped them on galvanized steel pallets. Galvanized steel pallets ! When was the last time that anyone went to the expense of shipping anything on galvanized steel pallets ?
If they went to the expense of shipping their product on galvanized steel pallets, we could only imagine the quality that went into the construction of these long awaited panels. It took over an hour to unload the tractor trailer, as I raised our forklift to unload the last pallet, I noticed that one of our sales reps had removed one of the Mitsubishi boxes from a pallet and hurried it into our showroom.
I couldn't wait to set the last load down and sign the bill of lading so I could see the panels for myself. As I approached the showroom, I could hear oohs and ahs coming from the guys in the sales department. The way they sounded, You would of thought that they were looking at the latest Ferrari model !. I remember thinking, "Come on guys, it's just a solar panel !" I wish I would have had a camera handy so that I could have captured the looks on their faces !
I soon found out what all the excitement was about. This was no ordinary solar panel, this was craftsmanship that none of us had ever seen before in our industry and believe me we've seen a lot of solar panels.
The fit and finish was that of a finely crafted automobile. Unlike the broken collection grid traces that we were use to seeing with other manufacturer's cells, the collection grid traces of the Mitsubishi Electric solar cells were virtually flawless.
Here's a close up of one of the Mitsubishi Solar cells:
Note the large grain crystalline structure and the flawless collection grid.
Silver based lead free solder is used throughout, providing higher efficiency as
well as protecting the environment from the toxic effects of lead. In fact using
Non-Mitsubishi solar panels in a typical 3 kW system requires the use of
approximately 864 Grams of lead. Using these state of the art Mitsubishi Solar
panels requires 0 Grams of lead !
The mating surfaces of the anodized aluminum frames matched perfectly and stainless steel screws are used throughout. And speaking of frames, the Mitsubishi Solar frames felt more rigid than frames that we've seen in the past.
Here's a close up of Mitsubishi Electric's massive, anodized aluminum frame:
Note the sturdy wide span of the Mitsubishi Electric frame and the tight fit of the anodized aluminum mating surfaces.
Now here's where it gets really good ! Check out the electrical specs of this awesome panel.
Of course to meet UL specifications in the U.S. the panel must indicate a maximum system voltage rating of 600 volts, but note the actual maximum system voltage rating of 780 volts ! Also note the high maximum power voltage and current which is perfect for grid intertie and other MPPT based solar applications. Also note the triple safety listings: UL 1703, TUV Safety Class II and IEC61215 !
Here's a close up Mitsubishi Electric's patented triple layered terminal box.
Three layers consisting of a resin cover, a metal barrier cover and UL94 V-0 certified potting material all add up to unmatched water resistance and flame retardancy.
And finally we saved the best for last ! Take a close look at the specification pointed out by the arrow on the Mitsubishi Electric solar panel label. This specification is known as the warranted minimum power max. Just about every brand of solar panels will post their maximum power rating but only a small handful of manufacturers will post the minimum warranted maximum power. We did the math and this panel's minimum power max is an amazing -5% !!
We won't mention names but many of the manufacturers that we checked out had a warranted minimum power max rating of -10% or higher. In plain English what that means for example is that, when purchasing a 165 Watt panel from some other manufacturer, its minimum power max rating can be off by (negative) -10% or 16.5 watts !! So you could be paying for 165 Watt panel and only getting a 148.5 Watt panel.....ouch !
This is why Mitsubishi Electric solar panels are in such high demand in Europe. In Germany and several other European countries, the 10% or more tolerance panels that are generally available in the U.S. would never make it into a European solar electric system. As much as I hate to admit it, the Europeans are about 10 years ahead of the U.S. when it come to solar electricity and they demand only the lowest tolerance panels on the market, it's got to be -5% or less or the Europeans don't want anything to do with it. When shopping for solar panels, always look for the lowest negative tolerance rating possible !
We don't mean to sound like a commercial but add these
features up and you'll see that there's nothing out there like a Mitsubishi
Electric solar panel. We waited until this shipment of panels arrived so
that we could give you our honest opinion first hand. For price, performance,
quality and durability, Mitsubishi Electric is a true winner and receives our highest
rating of 5 stars 
hands down !!
Click here to compare Mitsubishi's performance to that of other solar panels on the market !
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