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greenrvgreen's avatar
greenrvgreen
Explorer
May 13, 2014

Renogy 100w Bendable Solar Panels!

I just bought two of these, and I LOVE them. The panels are rated 100w at 19v, and using the world's cheapest, dumbest PWM charger I'm getting 60w out of each (120w total), all day long. ALL DAY LONG!

The key here is that these panels are so light (4lbs) and easy to use, I can set them on the ground and repo them every hour so that they're always perpendicular to the sun. I love them!

When I think of the 600w of Kyocera panels on top of my TT, the words that come to mind are "Giant Boat Anchors". At $2/watt for the flexible Renogy panels, I feel I'm getting much better value than the $1/watt I paid for the 150 lbs of glass panels and brackets sitting on my roof just waiting to break, or fly off on the freeway.

Next up: Tying these panels into my Flexmax 80--and buying more panels.

48 Replies

  • jrnymn7's avatar
    jrnymn7
    Explorer
    Oct 17, 2014
    Yeah, that's my concern. I would like to have them going while at work, and I don't really want to mount panels on my roof. I would much rather have things set up so I can attach them (temporarily) pretty much anywhere on the camper, as well as set them out in the sun while parking in the shade.
  • greenrvgreen's avatar
    greenrvgreen
    Explorer
    Oct 17, 2014
    It's raining where I am so I'm only GUESSING, but my guess is that the angle of the windshield to the sun would be the main issue. After all, most solar panels have glass on them already.

    One Renogy 100w bendable would probably fit perfectly on my dash. Much less stealable when charging a spare battery when away from my car, say parked at a ski area.

    FWIW, I had also considered strapping two of them flat to the roof, tied down at the roof racks. Most people passing by would not notice them, I'm thinking.
  • jrnymn7's avatar
    jrnymn7
    Explorer
    Oct 17, 2014
    How practical/impractical is it to place one of these flex panels inside the windshield? I'm not concerned about the heat generated; that can be easily dealt with; but would the efficiency drop drastically?

    Thanks.
  • JiminDenver's avatar
    JiminDenver
    Explorer II
    Oct 15, 2014
    You are looking at a 24v grid tied panel. It requires a MPPT controller to convert the excess voltage to usable amps at 12v. 24v panels are cheaper per watt than 12v. The PWM controller you can run 12v panels on can be MUCH cheaper than a MPPT controller.

    A example is my 245w panel is rated for under 9a but put out 17a with a MPPT controller.
  • jrnymn7's avatar
    jrnymn7
    Explorer
    Oct 15, 2014
    I'm new to solar, at least when it comes to the technical stuff, but it seems to me wattage is irrelevant. For example, 180w / 36v = 5amps; which seems to me to be the important thing to consider... amps... for charging. And one must buck the voltage down to a useful range, so isn't that extremely wasteful, or does one gain amps while bucking voltage?

    Or, is needing 36v to obtain 12-16v just the nature of the beast when it comes to solar?

    thanks!
  • JiminDenver's avatar
    JiminDenver
    Explorer II
    Oct 15, 2014
    Some day I'll be on that end of town and will drop in. Maybe they have a discount bin with refurbished scratch and dent clearance batteries that...who am I kidding. I probably couldn't afford those either, lol
  • pnichols's avatar
    pnichols
    Explorer II
    Oct 15, 2014
    Jim(?),

    Thanks for the link! An interesting read.

    Note that they are using a lithium compound in them ... I'm sure that this is an "upgrade" from what Edison originally came up with!
  • JiminDenver's avatar
    JiminDenver
    Explorer II
    Oct 15, 2014
    pnichols wrote:
    Well .... if one can believe Wikipedia, here's what they say about the Edison battery:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_battery


    Interesting, thank you. This is the company that is here. iron edison

    of course according to them, these are the next best thing since sliced bread and you'll get the same from the customers. They are almost as proud of them as 300 AH is ONLY $2910. lol

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