Has anyone heard of / had experience with the Fivestar brand of panels?
Some corners are not worth cutting. I would not consider off-brand panels for something like this - where you want to install and forget. The upside is not worth the potential downside.
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Thanks. And are fake panels a thing? I have an option on Canadian Solars for a good price - is there a way to know if they’re rip-offs?
Not cheap enough to make it worth taking the chance
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All suppliers should be able to give you serial numbers you can verify which are need for the Warranty. Segen actually send you a sheet of serials for your records.
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In this case they almost are. Cheapest I can get 540W JA Solar is R3500. These Fivestar jobs are R2600. That’s almost R10k cheaper on my array, which is certainly tempting.
Over the 20+ years of the lifetime of good solar panels R10k is not that much.
That is a saving of R500/year or R41/month.
I would go with the better brands.
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All I have to work on is the existence of Fivestar inverters. They are rebranded Voltronics. That makes me believe the panels are also another cheap brand that are rebranded. If it turns out to be rebranded Canadian Solar panels, that would be one thing… but what are the odds? 
Chances are, they did not pass OEM QC and were sold as seconds… YMMV
Groetnis
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If something goes wrong, and a fire starts, and insurance finds out you did not use tier one panels, you would be on your own.
I also saw that you are trying to go cheap on the inverters, you have to understand that cutting corners with solar is extremely dangerous and unwise. Stick to the basics, in the long run you will save money and sleep easy.
Always remember, in solar, you get what you pay for.
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Are LG solar panels hooked up to a Victron inverter with a Tesla battery the only options?
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This is very true. But from time to time there are areas where one can save significantly by doing some homework - hence my asking about Fivestar panels.
As for the inverters, I hear that some installers are very anti-Growatt, but there are also a few forumites who are very happy with theirs. I certainly won’t be buying the cheapest product I can find, but I figure it’s worth at least exploring the options.
Not all of us have R250k lying around to throw at a Powerwall.
If you are on a budget, plan big, start small.
Plan for where you eventually want to end up and then see what you can fit in to your current budget, keeping the upgrade path at the back of your mind all the time.
Want to end up with 10 kVA inverter power, start with a 5 kVA inverter now, but be sure to choose one to which you can add a second one in parallel later.
Want to end up with 12 kW of solar panels, start out with only 2 or 3 kW of panels, but plan your placement, mounting, wiring etc. so that you can easily add more panels in future.
Want to end up with 30 kWh of batteries, start with only 5 kWh but again, choose wisely so that you can easily add more in parallel at a later stage.
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Installers don’t like getting service calls for broken inverters. Anecdotes from individuals being happy is not really a good way to assemble statistics.
Not at all, but lets face it, in life you ask questions and a lot of times the answers were not what you hoped it would be.
Quite a few guys here started off like you, bought cheap and had to replace it later, that includes myself.
If you want to buy cheap, just do it, but at least this tread will remain as proof that you were warned by more than one guy…
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Is Sunsynk buying cheap, when there’s a more expensive Victron option? Where does one draw the line between best-on-the-market and affordable-but-good-quality?
Your original question was Sunsynk vs Growatt, we all said Sunsynk, yet you try to say that Growatt is still an option. I dont want to get into an argument, just stating the facts.
If you dont like the answers, rather dont ask then…
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I’m saying that different people have different experiences and it is worth hearing both sides of the coin. Just to set your mind at ease a bit, my current plan is Pylontech batteries (already have them), Sunsynk inverter, JA Solar panels and Renusol mounts. I realise some might consider that as being cheap / buying Chinese etc but on the balance of cost vs quality that seems to be fair compromise.
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Nothing wrong with that. I supply and install all the mentioned equipment on a daily basis, except for sunsynk. That I only do occasionally.
I am glad that you found your answers, enjoy the rest of the journey…