415W LG NeON H+ Solar Panels Now In Australia

January 14, 2022 2022-01-14T05:47:42 by Michael Bloch 7 Comments

Australian solar buyers keen to get their hands on some high-wattage, high-end panels now have another option – the LG 415W NeON H+.

LG NeON H solar panels became available in Australia in lower wattages around the middle of 2021. LG were pretty pumped about these modules and most of the company’s enthusiasm was probably justified as LG cranks out some pretty solid solar panel gear.

I’ve noticed over the last week a few local solar installers, including SQ client Solaray, mentioning the more powerful NeON H+ 415W model is now available in Australia.

LG NeON H+ 415W Specifications

You can find a full datasheet for the LG NeON H+ 415W panel here – the following are some highlights:

Capacity: 415W (but you probably already figured that out)
Cells: 132 (6 x 22) monocrystalline N-type half-cut solar cells
Module efficiency: 21.2%
Temperature coefficient: Pmax: -0.33 %/°C, Voc: -0.26 %/°C
Weight 19.7 kg
Dimensions: 1,888 x 1,042 x 40mm (L x W x H)
Salt mist corrosion to maximum severity 6 and ammonia resistance
Hail testing: 35mm hailstones at 27.2m per second
25 year product and performance warranty

The NeON H+ is a little shorter than the equivalent wattage NeON 2 (2024 mm), but a bit wider than the 2’s 1024 mm. It’s also lighter than the 2, which is 20.5kg, and has better efficiency (NeON 2: 20.0%).

LG Solar Panels Pretty Pricey, But..

According to the SolarQuotes January 2022 auSSII report, around 12% of the thousands of prospective solar buyers using our service in December had a preference for “top quality” (most expensive) systems. That’s been a fairly stable figure, so there’s certainly some consistent local appetite for high-end solar hardware.

SQ’s Ronald noted in November while wholesale prices of good quality, lower-cost panels with 12 to 15 year product warranties had roughly doubled from their lows of two years ago – largely due to the knock-on impacts of the pandemic – the cost of higher quality solar panels had held steady.

While prices for good quality “budget” panels may be showing signs of dropping again, when seeking solar quotes it might be worth finding out how much top-shelf panels may add on to the cost of a system and if that sits within your budget.

However, it’s also worth bearing in mind that it’s fine to not aim quite so high when it comes to the brand of solar panel, but trying to save a bunch of bucks on a solar inverter isn’t such a good idea as it is the real workhorse of a solar power system and the component most likely to fail first. So, if budget allows, perhaps more focus should be on inverter quality.

There appears to be plenty of pleased LG panel owners about the place. LG solar panel reviews submitted to SolarQuotes by Australians who have them on their rooftops have generally been favourable, with the company achieving an average 4.8 out of 5 star rating overall and 5 stars in the last 12 months.

LG is currently listed as an SQ approved brand – you can view specifications of LG panels available in Australia and compare them to models from other brands on SQ’s solar panel comparison table. While the NeON H+ 415W model hasn’t been added yet; there are a few lower-watt NeON H’s on there.

Comments

George Kaplan says

January 14, 2022 at 3:29 pm

Completely unrelated question\threadjacking. Have you written any articles, or know of any articles elsewhere, discussing\comparing La Nina and El Nino on solar output?

I’ve been wondering if the current La Nina could be responsible for frequent cloudy and\or rainy days and barely average to below average monthly output e.g. November. https://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/how-la-nina-affects-solar-and-renewable-energy-in-australia/ seems to suggest that it is, but says that it’s really complex and waffles a lot.

I know BOM climate data for roughly my locality shows anywhere from about 3-16 clear days per month, and loosely the inverse for cloudy days with rain on about half of these.

Since I don’t have an extensive history yet I can’t compare performance to anything other than the estimate monthly averages I was given. Up until November I was beating said average by a decent margin. Now … well I’m questioning whether I can make the average due to all the cloudy and rainy days. :-\

Any thoughts? : )

Geoff Miell says

January 15, 2022 at 10:27 am

“Temperature coefficient: Pmax: -0.33 %/°C, Voc: -0.26 %/°C”

With temperatures set to inevitably increase over the next few decades, I’d suggest the temperature coefficient would be a very important specification characteristic to seriously consider when comparing the merits of various brands/models of panels, given good quality solar-PV panels are expected to last for decades. Ronald stated on 29 Nov 2021:

All the solar panels we recommend are likely to last for 25 years or more on your roof. But if you get a panel with a 25 year product warranty, the odds of them lasting that long are even better. They’re also more likely to last well beyond 25 years, and I expect many will still work after 40+ years.

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/panels-25-year-warranties/

On Jan 13, James Hansen, Makiko Sato and Reto Ruedy published their Temperature Update: Global Temperature in 2021. It begins with Figure 1 showing the global surface temperature relative to the 1880-1920 average, from 1880 through to 2021, followed by (bold text my emphasis):

Global surface temperature in 2021 (Fig. 1) was +1.12°C (~2°F) relative to the 1880-1920 average in the GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) analysis.1,2,3 2021 and 2018 are tied for 6th warmest year in the instrumental record. The eight warmest years in the record occurred in the past eight years. The warming rate over land is about 2.5 times faster than over the ocean (Fig. 2). The irregular El Nino/La Nina cycle dominates interannual temperature variability, which suggests that 2022 will not be much warmer than 2021, but 2023 could set a new record. Moreover, three factors: (1) accelerating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, (2) decreasing aerosols, (3) the solar irradiance cycle will add to an already record-high planetary energy imbalance and drive global temperature beyond the 1.5°C limit – likely during the 2020s. Because of inertia and response lags in the climate and energy systems, the 2°C limit also will likely be exceeded by midcentury, barring intervention to reduce anthropogenic interference with the planet’s energy balance.

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2022/Temperature2021.13January2022.pdf

From Degrees of Risk: Can the banking system survive climate warming of 3˚C?, on page 10 (bold text my emphasis):

Prof. Andy Pitman, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes in Australia notes that global mean warming is badly understood. As a general rule of thumb, global average warming of 4°C (covering land and ocean) is consistent with 6°C over land, and 8°C in the average warming over mid-latitude land. That risks 10°C in the summer average, or perhaps 12°C in heatwaves. Western Sydney has already reached 48°C. If you add 12°C to the 48°C you get summer heatwaves of 60°C.

https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au/dor

That should give people an idea of what we could be in for in the coming decades. The choice of panels need to cope with and perform adequately in these likely worsening extreme temperature conditions over their expected operating lives.

George Kaplan says

January 15, 2022 at 2:24 pm

LG and 415W, are both definite pluses for those looking at solar, but for how much longer will solar be popular? My current contract isn’t set to expire for a few more months, but on a whim I looked up current FiT.

Eeek! Well was a mistake!!!

We have gone from a payback period of roughly 7 years, to a payback period of … never.

How come? FiT have crashed to the point that companies are offering roughly a third less as their tempter rate (limited kWh accepted), but two-thirds less for their standard FiT. Supply charges and usage charges remain largely static.

Thus under the new rates and charges, instead of walking away with roughly a seventh of my solar paid off each year, and profit in year 8, as of year 2 I’m instead looking at maybe $50 cash back a quarter total!!! (Okay if you count ‘unpaid’ supply and usage charges then maybe 20 years for the solar to pay for itself – assuming no further changes).

To say I’m unhappy is an understatement!!! Yes we can maybe use the AC to burn through ‘waste solar’ but the worst days tend to be when it’s cloudy and humid, so generation is low. When it’s sunny and hot, but not humid, well a fan usually suffices. An off-grid battery option is perhaps a long term solution, but until battery prices (and reliability) come down to something reasonable (perhaps a quarter of current prices), they probably won’t be an alternative for most.

With FiT looking so low, folk who are away from home for most of the daylight hours and using most of their power around dusk\dawn, solar may no longer be a viable option.

Or perhaps I’m just working through my shock. As I say I’m really quite unhappy with the changes.

Of course I guess there’s always the possibility that Labour will win the next federal election and mandate a high minimum FiT?

Perhaps I should bury my head until it’s closer to the contract expiry date? That way at least it’ll hurt less, maybe???

- Ronald Brakels says
  
  January 15, 2022 at 8:51 pm
  
  Wholesale electricity reached extreme lows with the global recession resulting from the pandemic, but now economic activity is up, wholesale electricity prices are as well. In December 2020 they were 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour in South Australia and in December 2021 they were 7 cents. Solar feed-in tariffs will rise for most Australians in July. While the long term trend to towards lower wholesale electricity prices during the day and so lower solar feed-in tariffs, there’s still a lot of coal power stations to close before we get there.
  
Slava Joukoff says

January 18, 2022 at 1:30 pm

I was introduced to the REA Solar “Enphase” system in which each panel has it’s own inverter; ie: each panel puts out 240V. How does the above system/panels compare? you

Timothy Olo says

January 18, 2022 at 9:21 pm

Can each panel have its own inverter with this system?

Lindsay George Hawking says

January 18, 2022 at 9:58 pm

I have a 5.4 KW system with a Fronius inverter, connected via wi-fi to my pc. Every 2-3 days I receive a warning that my amperage output is too high.
(It does not happen when the AC is running).
Speaking to my installer, they inform me that the wire to my house is probably too small and to see my energy supplier.
My energy supplier says that the installer has to check the output.
Basically no-one is interested.(How do they check over a 2 day period)?
Can anyone explain to me as to whom is responsible for this anomaly?