Solar Panels Brands - does it matter?

Guess everyone has a different opinion

I have a Evergreen 120watt panel about 15 to 20years old - it has lost over 40% of it original rating - still functions but no where near as good as the same age Kyrocera which I can not determine if it has lost any of it's original power rating.

560watts of solar, 60amp controller and two GC Batteries (220amp/hr) work great for us. Everyone has their own expectations of a solar system. Everyone should understand their unique wants and needs. I agree 100% bypass the 45amp controller and go for the much better 60amp version. 600 watts has MAXed out the 45amp unit before you even start.

Yes some kind of battery metering / monitoring system should be considered a mandatory piece of the solar pie.

With 600 watts of solar panels I'd go with four of those 300 AH 6 volt batteries for 600 AH total, and depending on the current output of the panels you likely could use the 45 amp solar charge controller just as well. A battery meter is mandatory.

You'd never know it, but this thread was about "Does panel brand name matter?"
Now we have 6 pages of everything but answers to the question.

I don't believe it does matter. I haven't read of any bad panels out there. And the 2 cheapo no name panels I have, work great, and seem very well built, and have a 25 yr wattanty like all the rest.

But I'll admit, I didn't read all 6 pages here either !

With 600 solar and 300 battery you can run a lot of things during the daytime when the batteries will charge up early in the day anyway, but not so much at night. The 2000 inverter will run ok on the 300 AGM batteries as long as the batts don't get drained too much by other stuff.

You will get used to running all your stuff as though the sun is shining. Problem comes with cloudy days and you still want to run all that stuff and you only have 300 battery. You will have to keep changing your camping lifestyle according to the weatherman's whims. Feast or famine. Or substitute hours of gen time for solar on cloudy days

IMO you should have more battery or less solar so you don't get used to having so much solar and keep getting caught with not enough battery to do what you want.

smk with 675 solar (and four batts) says he could have done as well with a 45 instead of the more expensive 60 controller.

Thanks Don. Yes we took some sample panel measurements and measured different configurations on the roof. Panels about 65" x 40" inches will fit really well running lengthwise along one side of the roof with no shadows, and allowing easy walking along the other side of the roof.

Thanks for advice on 60 amp controller, so I will lean that way!

Hi Steve,

Find out the dimensions of the panels. Cut a cardboard "pattern" and see where you can fit such large panels. Remember NO SHADING!

I would go with the 60 amp controller. It runs more efficiently.

As I posted in the discussion on solar freelancers:

I met today with the mechanic at the place I bought my RV from, and he seems cooperative with me bringing him the parts and he doing the installation. Also, he seemed to have a solid understanding of how the RV electrical system functioned and how to incorporate the solar into it without taking an excessive amount of time. He gave a lot of advice and seems to be comfortable working with the ideas that I gleaned from this forum. So I will go with him.

We measured the roof and I can easily fit (2) 24v 300 +/- watt panels up there for starters.

So based on what I learned here I will be starting with (2) 24v 300+/- panels (600+/- total watts) with MPPT 45 or 60 amp controller to (2) 300 ah Lifeline 6v batteries (total 300 ah) to 2000w inverter?? Probably need to include a battery meter as well.

steveexplorer wrote:
The sharing of experience and info in this forum is great and really helpful. It would be great to pair it with a pool of rv solar freelancers, who seem to be the missing piece in my area? So I am going to start a new discussion on that topic and see where it leads.

Advanced RV Service
1200 Old Conejo Road
Newbury Park, CA 91320

The sharing of experience and info in this forum is great and really helpful. It would be great to pair it with a pool of rv solar freelancers, who seem to be the missing piece in my area? So I am going to start a new discussion on that topic and see where it leads.

Thanks Traveler for the 12v vs. 24v comparisons. And thanks Almot for pointing out the importance of the roof space layout. I will be taking a close look at the roof for 24v fit.

It seems to be an advantage regardless of panel type to have them raised off the roof to reduce shadow impacts. What extent of distance off roof is best, and does not create wind resistance or driving hazards?