Are Bricodepot solar panels worth it?

French DIY chain Bricodepot sells solar panels, like so many others doo too. We sometimes get questions from customers about these solar panels, and would therefore like to give our evaluation here.

Who is Bricodepot?

Checking Wikipedia, we learn that Bricodepot is a France-based DIY store chain, operating hundreds of stores in Belgium, France, Romania, Spain and Portugal. Wiki describes it as a “low-cost warehouse format which sells a limited line of around 10.000 products in large quantities”. We’ve been checking the offering of Bricodepot in Spain for solar panels. 

What solar panels does Bricodepot sell?

In their “Construction & Installation” section, Bricodepot has a “Solar Installation” section where we found a multitude of different products and kits related to solar power. We found almost no solar panels at Bricodepot. The few solar panels bricodepot offers are older models, with low output power and efficiency. For example, we found on the spanish site of bricodepot a solar panel with the ID stp545s-b72. The manufacturer of this panel is Suntech Power, a little known brand from China. The model is from 2022. The output power is indicated as “600 W”, but in reality is 550 Wp. We couldn’t compare the price, as this model isn’t sold elsewhere any more.

We also found an offer for 2 Ecoflow panels of 400 W. Ecoflow is a manufacturer of batteries mostly, and also offers small lightweight solar panels for camping use. The 400 W power indicates that these panels must be models from some years ago. Right now 420 Wp are the norm in the size category of these panels. The price for 2 panels of €843 is exorbitant.

We also found smaller panels of 100 W output, and plenty of kits and accessories. We could not find a single solar panel on Bricodepot that is of current models.

Conclusions