Solar Panels

Brand, model, where, why.

Hopefully we are getting a "new" CT soon ad as it comes with a boat rack, I want to install a few solar panels on it.

So does anyone have any experiences of buying solar panels and who/where did you get them from?

the Home of 12 volt has a good range and are said to be very good quality. they are the makers of the Thumper battery packs. i've not had any personal experience, only researching recently for my own requirements. for me (40L Engel & lights & 100ah AGM deep cycle) an 80 watt would pretty much do me indefinitely.

Welcome to Home of 12 Volt check out the Blue Apple brand.

I've seen good reports about Steves Solar panels and the prices are certainly fantastic. Bit better than the $850.00 per 80w panel we were quoted last year. Quality looks to be great with good output as well.

Mandrake/solarsteve infests the myswag.org/forum and seems to have quiet/quite a fan club there. Also offers a discount off the list price for swaggers. So far, they are the best price I've found, but I've only started looking seriously.

I've read some comments about diode count and am still looking into it. AFAIK, it is something to do with partial shading of the panel and still allowing it to produce some electrcity rather than shut down.

Mine are definitely going on the boat rack, so that may be an issue, and although we tend to keep clear of trees, you can still get moving shade.

jaycar? not sure of quality or price but they have a range of them.

We bought an 80W monocrystalline panel from Solar Online (Warners Bay, may be elsewhere too) for $400.

Bloody thing is marvellous. Pumps out the amps even in indirect light, I'm wondering how long I should wait before I tell the wife I'm hankerin' for another to replace the 64W polycrystalline one up there.

Got myself a decent solar regulator as well, don't forget you need one of these to ensure that you don't cook the battery. Jaycar's 20A does a good job.

Check this out. not sure if the price is an error or not, but it seems pretty damn cheap.

100W FOLDING SOLAR PANEL KIT Camping Caravan Generator (eBay item 280531333699 end time 05-Mar-11 03:44:49 AEDST) : Electronics

We installed one of these (or very similar) on the cattle trailer this morning to maintain the 120AH battery.

15W Monocrystal solar panel 12V DC&RV Bettery Charger (eBay item 260739989972 end time 22-Feb-11 18:14:52 AEDST) : Electronics

Obviously it will never charge the battery from flat but the trailer is stored outside permanently and the battery isn't in use when it's not on the car so it's not like the battery will be flat often, and if it does there is always 240V and a $100 SCA 12A trickle charger.

We need to idiot proof the install and add a regulator tomorrow but in the very windy, often rainy and always cloudy weather we had this morning this panel was producing in excess of 20V under no load and connected directly to the battery it increased the terminal voltage by 0.1-0.2v (for the 3 secs we measured it). Will have more idea of just how well it will maintains the charge tomorrow when things are hooked up better but as a maintenance charge it already appears to work fine.

terryc said:

Mandrake/solarsteve infests the myswag.org/forum and seems to have quiet/quite a fan club there. Also offers a discount off the list price for swaggers. So far, they are the best price I've found, but I've only started looking seriously.
I've read some comments about diode count and am still looking into it. AFAIK, it is something to do with partial shading of the panel and still allowing it to produce some electrcity rather than shut down.

Mine are definitely going on the boat rack, so that may be an issue, and although we tend to keep clear of trees, you can still get moving shade.

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He gets all my business...
Bill

Here's a solar power calculator from Solar Steve's web site.
http://www.solarsteve1950.com/index.html

12v shop has some interesting panels-- The 12 Volt Shop - check the solar panels link
some are foldable , others rollable and others is on a stainless back u can walk on- with no glass -and they cant break/crack--as u will always forget about the bloody thing in the heat of a serious 4wd session- damn that tree was low

At this stage, I think I'll get my panels from Jaycar wholesale (Electus). Price is better than anywhere else and they are upfront about what they are actually selling. Also offer a good warranty.

Just make sure you attach them well, there are certain areas of this country where solar panels appear to be free game for scumbags and morons wanting a quick buck. The panel we mounted on the cattle trailer is almost impossible to get off without a hacksaw which for the $120 it cost us (panel, regulator cable and mount) if some rotten turd wants it that bad they can have it.

If you have them on whilst touring around, mount them on rubber mounts. The glass will shatter reducing its IP rating. If your forking out money you might aswell spend a little bit on saving them

SCA (Super Cheap Auto) has 20watt panels for $249 buy one get one free in a current catalogue.

Will, that's not exactly cheap. Solar Online sold me a shade-tolerant 80W panel for $400.

Those 20W panels (with the freebies account for) would cost $500 for the same power output and you have to mount 4 panels separately.

I think the name "supercheap" is sometimes a misnomer.

Don't forget, everyone, that solar panels NEED to have a GOOD regulator as well. Jaycar sell a 20A unit which is very good and handles Gel batteries nicely for about $300. I would not run more than three 80W panels through it - the panels will deliver up to 6.5A each, and 3 * 6.5 = 19.5A which is a little close to the limit.

Unfortunately the solar power industry knows where to make money too, and higher current devices cost significantly (and disproportionately) more, which if the technology were all new I'd understand, but we've been able to deal with high current DC voltages for quite some time now, so it's my opinion that they're still milking the buyers for as much as they can manage.

Each to their own but $300 for a regulator sounds over the top to me. I agree you need one but at $300 there is alternatives.

Precisely why I wrote the last paragraph, Krafty.

KraftyPg said:

The panel we mounted on the cattle trailer is almost impossible to get off without a hacksaw

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Sadly, it is their business, so they come with battery powered tools (or So i'm told).

The boss is bitching about how she wants the scrap yard in front cleaned up before the "new" CT comes. it is going to stay until I have triple locking points installed, including a concrete axle lock down point(ideas on pouring). with the old LWB van at front, out of sight is out of mind atm.

<edit - speeling {>

Old.Tony said:

Unfortunately the solar power industry knows where to make money too, and higher current devices cost significantly (and disproportionately) more,

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Current plans are to go for redundancy and have two separate installations in case one breaks.

<edit> More to do with it being the area(roof top installations) that the government is subsidising, so prices always go up in those areas, e.g. first home buyers grants resulted in instant increase to new houses.