Best suppliers
(that we know of)
We have losts thousands of dollars buying solar supplies from the wrong sources. Let us share the current list of suppliers that we like.
Battery Lugs - https://selterm.com/
In our noob days we bought highly rated lugs on amazon.com, especially if they were on sale. Then we bought some lugs made by selterm and they felt heavier. Turns out a cheap lug is cheap for a reason and it turns out that many lugs made by selterm are truly UL rated. If you buy direct from selterm you get better prices than if you buy from their amazon store.
LifeP04 cells - https://www.18650batterystore.com/collections/lifepo4-prismatic-cells/
Our most expensive lose was buying "new - grade A" LifeP04 cells from aliexpress. More than half the cells from two different orders were majorly swelled and worn out. I've both called and emailed 18650batterystore.com and got a native english speaker. (I had to leave a message once but got called back quickly) If you are in the USA, buy from someone who you can call if you have a problem with your order.
BMS - https://overkillsolar.com/
If you are a beginner, overkill solar is a great place to buy your bms from. According to their website, overkill solar has an "Unbeatable support and warranty" Overkill solar is in the middle of designing their own BMS and should start selling it soon.
There are other good brands of BMS's, do your research before you buy.
Used solar panels - https://santan.com/
If you are on a budget buying used solar panels is an option. Sometimes santan removes the original manufacture labels on the used panels they sell which means an inspector will never pass the solar panels if inspected. If you need the panels to pass inspection, make sure they have the original labels before you buy. Once we bought some panels from them that claimed to have the original labels on them, they did not. We contacted them and got a partial refund. We have never had a problem getting refunds when the panels we got were not as advertised. Make sure you take pictures and screenshots, having good records pays when getting refunds
There are other good brands of BMS's, do your research before you buy.
Our main solar supplier - https://signaturesolar.com/
The signaturesolar.com link is the only affilate link. The other links are not affilate links and are there only because we like the companies.
We buy tons of panels and other equipment from these guys. We have never had a problem that wasn't resolved. Make sure you do your part and take good records/pictures if you order solar products from them to prove shipping damage.