45 Watt Solar Panel Kit - $199

chiefdave · 12-30-2010, 08:09 AM

Was looking at Harbor Freight and noticed this Solar Panel kit. Has anyone purchased this item for their RV? If so, how's it working? The reviews on this product have been very positive. Here's the link:

45 Watt Solar Panel Kit

Happy New Year!

Tincup · 12-30-2010, 08:47 AM

A friend of mine has bought two of these kits and is pleased with them.

Whether it works for you is hard to tell, it only puts out 3A maximum, if you have one 12V or 2 6V house batteries and not much of a load, it should be OK.

bigskymt · 12-30-2010, 08:56 AM

A friend of mine purchased that for his travel trailer when living in it w/o hook-ups. He had several problems with the controller (probably caused by him) which Harbor Freight stood behind. The working system provided 3 amps at full sunlight which isn't much but was sufficient for his battery bank.
Costco offered a similar setup.
If you dry camp a lot you might be happier with one larger panel and a 15-20 amp controller......more expensive but upgradeable for adding additional panels.

Ray,IN · 01-02-2011, 05:03 PM

I asked this same question on the escapees.com forums, where many have powerful solar systems. The consensus was that it is overpriced for what you get. They provided links to prove what they said.

bruceh · 01-09-2011, 11:15 AM

This seems like a clumsy solution for an RV. I have 150 watts on my roof and it is barely enough for me. Serious users have more.

So to get 150 watts (135 really), you need 3 of these kits @ $199 each, a quick $600. Now you have 9 panels to install on you roof. You also need a controller.

Doesn't work for me.

Hudsoner · 02-19-2011, 12:49 PM

I use those kits (three sets of them) to charge three deep cycle batteries in my shed (to operate the pumps for the solar heating). They are not able to keep up with the demand of the pumps, and once a week I need to help out with a battery charger. I would not know how you would install them on an RV because each panel is about the feet long and a foot wide.

They go on sale every couple of month, and at that time they will cost $165.00

jimbo16720 · 02-19-2011, 01:27 PM

Go to the website...sunelec.com....they have good deals on solar panels scroll down to the panels by Sun and they have 190 watt panels that put out almost 11 amps for $321. Check and see some of them you have to buy at least 2 panels. It's a wholesale place for solar equipment.

Ray,IN · 02-19-2011, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo16720

Go to the website...sunelec.com....they have good deals on solar panels scroll down to the panels by Sun and they have 190 watt panels that put out almost 11 amps for $321. Check and see some of them you have to buy at least 2 panels. It's a wholesale place for solar equipment.

Sounded like a great price,until I noticed that is the price for a pallet of panels = 20 per pallet.
Perhaps we could organize a group purchase.

jimbo16720 · 02-20-2011, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Sounded like a great price,until I noticed that is the price for a pallet of panels = 20 per pallet.
Perhaps we could organize a group purchase.

Thats not for a pallet but you can buy them by the pallet. If you click on one it tells you you have to buy at least 2 panels. They don't sell single ones you have to buy at least 2.

Midniteoyl · 02-20-2011, 02:19 AM

Ya.. its $302 at the pallet price...

Ed-Sommers · 02-20-2011, 08:25 AM

You can find a LOT of information on them at 12VDC_Power : 12 VDC Power

Just do a search for the panels.

Ed

Ray,IN · 02-20-2011, 11:32 AM

ChiefDave, that 45W 45 Watt Solar Panel Kit solar panel is listed for $229.99. Not a good buy, even at $149.99 not a good buy. The Dupont 90W DuPont Solar Panel 90 Watts 71.50 Vmp [DA090-A2] - $152.10 : Solar Panels, Inverters and Renewable Energy, Powered by Nature! panels are $$152.10 from the website jimbo linked.