Solar Panels (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Apr 3, 2010
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Parkersburg Wv
Hello All trailer builders

I have been looking for solar panels to put on my m416 trailer build. I was wondering if anyone had a specific place that they have purchase them from. We have a harbor freight tools in Parkersburg Wv , that has a couple of units. Seem to be a little pricey just to charge a couple of batteries

Do any of you have any suggestions and mounting location.
All comment welcome

Thank you
 
Bought mime from BP solar. The Harbor Freight panels are 15 watt with minimal amps. The 80 watt panel I bought puts out 3.75 amps if I recall. It has been running my Waeco 50 fridge for months now. Unfortunately the panel was about $450, the Lifeline batt. was $250, but no worries about keeping the beer cold.
 
Expedition Ops has a really nice selection of 40 and 80 wt panels. Check the site and/or call Jeremy. Have some time though cause the guy loves to talk your ear off, because he is so helpful.
 
I'd stay clear of any of the HF panels. You get what you pay for with panels. Lets just say that.

We run an 80 watt Carmanah panel with an easel so we can aim it anyway we need. Many people don't realize but if you hard mount them and even get as much of a tree limb shadow it will knock down the output considerably. Also we can aim and change the angle throughout the day to get the most out of it.

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Other products to look into are roll ups like Powerfilm and Goal0.
 
To maximize a hard mounted solar setup, you'll need alot of panels to equal a portable adjustable panel setup like SocalFJ showed a pic of.

The monocrystaline panels are very powerful but only perform well in direct sunlight as opposed to the flexible films which pick up better power at in-direct light. Down side of te flexibles, they don't last as long. , but if you are ok with that, great option. Monocrystaline panels are generally garanteed for 25 yrs or so, but take up more space and require a bit more attention for mac efficiency.

I like my folding 80watt, run the fridge and charges the battery if I'm in and around camp to adjust it.

Good luck with the search.
 
Saw a 55W or 50W tri-fold setup at Costco today. Decent brand (can't remember which, Panasonic or something) that also came with a small battery and 200W inverter. It looked like it folded fairly compact, was of decent quality, had an angle stand. Right around $200 if I remember correctly. I don't see it on costco.com, but they had it in the St. George, UT store.
 
I've been curious if anyone has tried one of these: BatteryMINDer® Solar Charger-Controller-Desulfator 12 Volt with 15 Watt Panel | All | Battery Chargers by BatteryMINDers.com

Its an inexpensive option, but we can't all spend $400+ on a panel. 15watt, 1amp max

I have and use this system above but IIRC it is made for keeping batteries charged only.

I use a high quality Siemens panel mounted on the roof of our 100 that will keep up and run our frig without needs to start the vehicle.
 
Saw a 55W or 50W tri-fold setup at Costco today. Decent brand (can't remember which, Panasonic or something) that also came with a small battery and 200W inverter. It looked like it folded fairly compact, was of decent quality, had an angle stand. Right around $200 if I remember correctly. I don't see it on costco.com, but they had it in the St. George, UT store.

I checked them out at my local Costco today. They look nice! Especially for $200! I don't know much about solar panels, so I'd love to get some input before I pick some up! Here's the details:
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Thanks,
Billy
 
I saw that same thing at costco the other day too.
Just a little fyi on it.

Its a re branded sun force kit that costco used to sell.
The only differences being that they removed one of the panels and called it 55W instead of 60W and looks like they upgraded the mounting hardware.

I bought some Aluminum C channel and some aluminum 1x3 L channel and made my own sliding brackets that are bolted to the underside of my roof rack. they store up there and I can run a line to the trailer and charge my battery while I drive. I'll post some pics tomorrow so you can see what I did. So far so good with the kit. It does Awesome in direct sun ( about 3.8A or so) overcast days are another story only about 0.1-0.8A. but It averages out and seems to keep the ARB Fridge running totally fine.
 

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