Latest information received by me is that representatives of Shenzhen Topray Solar, a company consistently found in different studies to be manufacturing products with false-labels, are pretending to be so upset with the results obtained by Humboldt University’s Arne Jacobson that they implied legal action if the study was not retracted in an attempt to prevent it from being publicized any further. Their position (apparently) is that Dr. Jacobson could not paper trail the solar panels he bought from Brunton, Northern Tool, Sportsman’s Guide and others, all the way back to Shenzhen Topray Solar factory.
It would be good to review some facts:
Fact– Shenzhen Topray Solar supplies those modules tested to the various retailers/distributors listed in the study and are the only maker in the world to feature them on their website.
Fact– Thousands of people have now seen the study and press coverage.
Fact– The results mimic what was found to be the outputs of Topray Solar panels in 2004/5 by Dr. Jacobson, as well as the initial power results obtained by Bodycote Materials in Canada , Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, and West Marine’s testing at CalPoly in California.
So here’s my suggestion to Dr. Jacobson and Humboldt U; replace the name “Topray Solar” with those of Sunforce, Brunton and whatever other brands are on the labels of the panels in the study, since there is no way to deny the paper trail conclusively leads back to them.
Comical at best…sad at worst. My message to Topray Solar and its middlemen is simple: “Stop marketing panels that are falsely-rated and join the rest of the manufacturers in our great solar industry in growing the business ethically, honestly and with integrity. Everybody is willing to forgive the past if you clean up your act and begin today! “
Sincere Solar Regards,
Sass
PS. The democratization of marketing springs to mind here. You can’t stop the truth from getting out, no matter how hard you try. Just see how fast Google, Yahoo and MSN jumped on the news…However, I guess I must admit…I am enjoying this a bit too… 