backchannel: panel rated output is “a marketing ploy”

from a comment on an amazon review

>Thus 175W is just really a misleading a marketing ploy to take advantage of dumb consumers, and the number is nowhere realistic.

No, 175w is the measured output in lab conditions which customers can use to compare apples to apples.   The company can’t help it if customers are idiots.  The best they can do is provide correct information.

Consider these analogies:

  • “The pamphlet says the car has 400hp but it only makes 45hp when I have the cruise set on the highway.”

  • “The pamphlet says the car’s top speed is 200mph but it only goes 15mph when I tow it with a tractor.”

A given customer’s ignorance does not mean measured ratings are marketing ploys.

> > > Wouldn't it be great if the solar industry came of with , and used, a realistic "actual 12V delivered" (A12D) power spec that consumers could really trust (and respect). > >

“Actual 12v” delivered in what conditions?  With what controller?  What battery voltage?  What insolation?  What weather?  What panel tilt?  What ambient temperature?  Output is affected by all of these.

Counter-query:  wouldn’t it be great if customers understood the products they bought and didn’t shit on sellers out of ignorance?

The panel’s specs are published right in the listing, dingus.  Learn what they mean, and learn how they apply to your very specific (and always changing) situation.

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