Trina are another of the giant Chinese solar manufacturers alongside JinKo, JA, LonGi and others.
The majority of their output each year feeds their own local Chinese market.
In China, solar is predominately for huge solar farms not residential rooftop's.

Trina Vertex S+
This is a relatively high-voltage 'N' type panel available in various sizes but 440W (52.2 Voc) being the most popular.
440W fits neatly into the 6.66kW 'non-battery limit' for 5kW inverters and 13.32kW for 10kW inverters.
It's a dual-glass panel which has benefits with rigidity but the downside is a thin front glass of 1.6mm.
That's half the thickness of a normal single glass panel, and makes it more at risk to hail damage.

The higher than usual voltage means you can only have 10 panels max to a string (600V limit).
With a typical 2 x MPPT 5kW/6kW inverter for example that would mean 8.8kW max even with a battery.
Compare that to more typical lower voltage panels where 13 or sometimes 14 panels on a string are possible.
In WA with our 5kW limit on single phase and 80% of homes being single phase, it's this reason why the panel hasn't been as popular here.

Vertex N
Available as a 500W 'N' type model this is a lower voltage (40.1 Voc) alternative to the Vertex S+
You can easily get 13 panels delivering 6.5kW per string and 14 panels at a pinch would be possible in warmer regions.
There are two variants of this panel. A slightly cheaper one with a silver frame and 15 year warranty,
or an 'ethically produced' version with a 25 year year warranty, and a black frame.
No prizes for guessing which one most people will want for the sake of a couple of bucks price difference.

Trina pricing
Within a couple of dollars per panel in price to it's main comptitors JinKo, LonGi and JA.



Trina have an office in NSW. Call 1300 874 627. Email Trina email for support

(08) 9467 9655

or email

This review was written by Andrew MacKeith, Solar4Ever service manager since 2011.
Solar4Ever is located in Morley (Perth), WA 6062