Forum Discussion
ajriding
Apr 19, 2020Explorer II
Other post said $500, which is insanely pricey.
Ebay you can get panels for less than one Dollar per watt. 100 watt panel is about $80 shipped.
The issue with the flexible panels is that they are not durable. They are meant to flex once! Once when you install them onto a curved surface. They are not meant to flex all the time. Flexing will eventually break the internal parts.
The flexible panels typically have a 2-3 year warranty while the glass panels might have a much longer warranty, that tells you a lot.
There are times when you just have to have the flexible panels for your install, otherwise I would always recommend the glass panels.
I had a gel-coat fiberglass camper with a curved roof and did not want to drill into it to mount panels and did not want flat panels poking up above the curve, so taped the flexible panels up there. On my camper with a flat roof I use the glass panels as they are superior.
Be careful as the panels need air to circulate under them for cooling. I put corrugated plastic under the panels so the flutes would let air circulate. The panels will fry in the sun otherwise and also cook your roof.
Portable panels are great as you can park in the shade but put the panels in the sun. Consider just adding more glass panels to the roof so you can still park in the shade and generate enough power still.
I dont know your situation though.
Ebay you can get panels for less than one Dollar per watt. 100 watt panel is about $80 shipped.
The issue with the flexible panels is that they are not durable. They are meant to flex once! Once when you install them onto a curved surface. They are not meant to flex all the time. Flexing will eventually break the internal parts.
The flexible panels typically have a 2-3 year warranty while the glass panels might have a much longer warranty, that tells you a lot.
There are times when you just have to have the flexible panels for your install, otherwise I would always recommend the glass panels.
I had a gel-coat fiberglass camper with a curved roof and did not want to drill into it to mount panels and did not want flat panels poking up above the curve, so taped the flexible panels up there. On my camper with a flat roof I use the glass panels as they are superior.
Be careful as the panels need air to circulate under them for cooling. I put corrugated plastic under the panels so the flutes would let air circulate. The panels will fry in the sun otherwise and also cook your roof.
Portable panels are great as you can park in the shade but put the panels in the sun. Consider just adding more glass panels to the roof so you can still park in the shade and generate enough power still.
I dont know your situation though.
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