At the onset of California's solar rebate program, the California Energy Commission wanted to level the playing field for solar panel manufacturers, so they hired an independent testing laboratory called PVUSA to test and rate every solar panel that was to participate in the State's rebate program.

For example a solar panel that had a manufacturer provided STC (Standard Test Condition) or labeled rating of 100 Watts would have their panel tested by PVUSA and might be given a PTC rating or PVUSA rating of 89.4 Watts. It wasn't that the manufacturers were being dishonest it's just that PVUSA uses different parameters that they feel represent more real world conditions.

So the higher the PTC rating, the more power you'll get from a solar panel.

Here's a comparison of the Mitsubishi PV-MF165EB3 165 Watt solar panel PTC rating to the PTC rating of several other manufacturer's 165 Watt solar panel as listed on the California Energy Commission's website.

A higher PTC rating means a bigger cash rebate and better real world performance !

And Mitsubishi uses no lead in the construction of their solar panels !

Sharp Corporation

NE-Q5E2U

165W Multisilicon Module

145.2

NA

BP Solar

BP4165S

165W 24V Monocrystalline Module w/ Multicontact Conn.

146.1

NA

GE Energy

GEPV-165-MCA

165W Single Crystal Module w/MC connectors

146.7

NA

Schott Solar, Inc.

SAPC-165

165W Multisilicon Module

145.4

NA

 Visit the State's website and compare Mitsubishi's performance for yourself !                 

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/cgi-bin/eligible_pvmodules.cgi

The difference in PTC rated wattage may not seem like much, but add up the difference over 365 days per year for the next 25 years and the difference is obvious !

 

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