Phono Solar PV Panel Manufacturer Review – Efficiency, Guarantee & Power Output
Phono Solar (a division of Phono Technologies, Switzerland) has been producing solar panels since 2004 as part of the Sumec/Sinomach group of companies, two of the oldest and most established businesses in Asia with reported $15 billion annual sales revenue behind it.
The solar PV panels of Phono Solar are used all over the world in residential, commercial and large scale utilities, as well as significant large power plants and energy parks requiring a heavy volume of megawatt.
One such facility was completed in September, 2010 – The Veprek Solar Park in the Czech Republic. It is the 15th largest in the world comprising 186,960 individual modules (185W and 190W) over an area the equivalent of over 100 football pitches at a cost of roughly £75 million. The plant’s output is 35MW and is estimated to power 10,000 homes.
Perhaps even more interestingly is the siting of a smaller plant with an output of 0.75MW that has been constructed in the Bohemian region of Pribram, also in the Czech Republic. Located on an area of land that was once a municipal dump and therefore unusable for housing or agriculture because of the contamination the area proved ideal for a facility such as a photovoltaic power plant hence its development.
Built on 1.7 hectares of redundant land, the plant comprises over 4,200 Phono Solar panels, all of which goes some way to demonstrating the extensive potential of solar power utilities and their siting possibilities.
Phono Solar PV panels have also been installed in Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, USA, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia and Slovakia, to name but a few, and the estimated shipment of PV modules globally is estimated to be around 500MW by the end of 2011.
Phono Solar PV modules are extensively certificated from a number of internationally recognised authorities.
Phono Solar Panels can currently be purchased in the UK from £6,000 for a 2.3kW system comprising 12 x 195 watt panels to £9,000 for a top of the range 3.9 kW system consisting of 20 x 195 watt panels.
The 195W and 200W panels of Phono Solar have also been granted the important MCS kite mark (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) here in Britain which means these panels are now eligible for the government’s Feed-In-Tariff incentive for home owners introduced earlier this year.
The PV panels of Phono Solar are generally regarded to be of good value with an average high-end efficiency rating of 14.8% and come with a 5 year warranty, a 90% power output guarantee of 10 years and an 80% power output guarantee up to 25-years.