dadwolf2 wrote:
Right, the spokesperson from Travel Lite seemed to imply that because it's portable and you can easily adjust it into the sunlight for maximum gain, 80 watts is enough. Well I don't want to spend my time during the day turning a solar panel and I would rather have double the wattage. Plus now I have a fold up solar panel that I have to store somewhere.
x2
This strikes me as a token gesture. Just getting a bulk deal on some portable solar panels and throwing them in with the sale, welcome as it is, is not the same as physically installing panels on the roof, with all the extra man-power that entails during construction. Regarding their claims about the benefits of the portable panel, I'm sure if they were fitting a pair of 80w panels as standard and a competitor was providing an 80w portable panel instead, they would be talking about how superior their 160w of fitted panels were.
These small portable panels are a great idea for people travelling in 4x4s who don't have the roof space for fixed panels, but with truck campers we have that space. Plus this particular truck camper is a very luxurious one - so I suspect people wanting that luxury will also not be looking to skimp on their use of electricity.
I don't feel the small portable panel is a substitute because:
1) It is only 80w.
2) You have to spend time setting it up and putting it away.
3) To make up for the smaller size you need to keep re-arranging it to track the sun.
4) More chance of it being tripped over or walked on if left out at night.
5) Chance of being stolen or lost. So it won't be generating power when you are parked away from your campground during the day because you won't be able to deploy it.
6) You want to keep the cables as short and thick as possible to reduce resistive loss. Portable panels are more likely to have longer thinner cables for convenience.
Steve.
