Thanks for the pictures. The panels do look very solid. And the dimensions (36" x 26" x 1.4") might make them more resistant to a twist or bend causing breakage. And the weight (18#) is nice, a little easier to setup.
The 130W Kyocera's I was looking at are almost 2 feet longer (59" x 26") but a bit thicker (1.8") and definitely heavier (29#). The additional thickness is only in the new models as they claim to have beefed up the frame.
Just found this site that compares prices per watt of solar panels:
http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/solar_panels.htm
Thoughts about the site:
- Some pretty low prices there, but most require large quantities.
- The 60W Kaneka panels (Japanese) are very cheap but also heavy (32# per 60W panel) and high voltage (92V Open circuit) which won't work with some MPPT controllers. But they're amorphous Si which I understand to be very sturdy.
http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=kaneka_gsa60
- "We prefer not to include any cheaper Chinese solar modules at this time due to quality and after-sale service concerns", hmmm ... guess that's why there's no LaVie.
Decisions, decisions. Luckily it'll be while before we're boondocking, so there's no rush.