Which solar panel and batteries

merv61 · Member

Which solar panel and batteries

Plendo · Guru

Hi Merv, and welcome to the forum.

I am far from an expert on batteries, I only use one type, and at this stage the technology is commonly available to use them, so I prefer not to lead people down a difficult path. I will leave the others who are closer to this type of battery to comment.

Regarding the solar panel, moncrystalline are way ahead of poly crystaline, when I was working in the solar industry (a few years ago now), we were achieving about 25% better performance out of monos than we could ever dream about achieving out of polys.

I can not see anything wrong with the fold up system you are looking at. When comparing different offerings use watts to compare, more watts is better, and probably also heavier, and more expensive.

Baz421 · Guru

Mono is best and from research they come in 3 grades and cost is reflected in the grading.

Our 3.9kW home system has grade 1 panels and German inverter to match and has been known to produce over 5kW. This may be strange to some BUT our 190w panels are UNDER RATED by the manufacturer so there are no complaints.

This is a case of you get what you pay for IMHO.

I'm no expert but have 190W mono on truck for 50l WAECO fridge and it supplies the power as advertised.

480W of mono panels on the van also top quality Sharp panels produce top results.

We paid a premium price for all and are now enjoying the benefits including cash back refunds on house solar fed back to grid at 50.6c kWh.

It really does pay to do your research and get around to solar shops and "talk talk talk" to people.

Some good guys here will answer your query better than me.

-- Edited by Baz421 on Monday 19th of October 2015 08:54:37 PM

merv61 · Member

Thanks gent, appreciate your feedback.

03_Troopy · Guru

I can't agree with the "you get what you pay for" theory as far as solar panels are concerned. Some places charge ridiculous prices for average panels. Do some research on different forums if you can then shop around for the best price and backup service.

Jaahn · Guru

Hi Merv,

I have played with solar and batteries for years but am no expert but I have a practical experienced opinion.

I have used some Giant AGM batteries and they were as described and good. Just buy the biggest Ahr you can is a good way to go and AGM is a good type of battery for this use in general. Them look at the price delivered to you as batteries are heavy.

Solar panels are a problem to discuss. Some people are experts after buying ONE set. I do not agree with people who say you pay for what you get. That depends on wether you believe a Rolls Royce is better than a Toyota and worth the extra money. I do not !!

My point is that you need so many watts, that is so many amps at your required voltage. If you shop around and get this power as needed then who care if it is from a mono panel or a polly panel or a grade A or grade Ebay. I have purchased quite a few over the years and always check their out put when i get them and all seem to deliver OK more or less. Last lot I bought (2 years ago) were 5 x panels of 80 watts each delivered to my door for $450 on special. Worked great as portable panels and easy to handle too. Set up as two pairs for 24v system. With a MPPT regulator. Still have the odd panel around for use.

Portable folding panels in my experience have some problems. They are much too expensive for the watts you get. The regulators are in the wrong place if fitted on the panels. They are too heavy to handle for me in a larger size.

Jaahn

Baz421 · Guru

03_Troopy wrote:
I can't agree with the "you get what you pay for" theory as far as solar panels are concerned. Some places charge ridiculous prices for average panels. Do some research on different forums if you can then shop around for the best price and backup service.

Bob I wasn't referring to being ripped off, but the quality/price comparison.

Obviously if you see panel x for $200 in one shop and identical panel x in another for $400,,, you know what to do.

So compare ie if you have a class 1 mono panel for $200 and a class 3 mono panel for $200 you know to buy the class 1.

03_Troopy · Guru

Yes Baz, but what about places like BCF, Jaycar, Supercheap, Repco etc. Where they have panels with fairly well known brand names on them that are usually much more expensive than similar quality panels from other suppliers. People think that by buying from such places, they must be good quality, so are worth the extra cost. In most cases this isn't true.

Baz421 · Guru

03_Troopy wrote:
Yes Baz, but what about places like BCF, Jaycar, Supercheap, Repco etc. Where they have panels with fairly well known brand names on them that are usually much more expensive than similar quality panels from other suppliers. People think that by buying from such places, they must be good quality, so are worth the extra cost. In most cases this isn't true.

Yeh agree Bob but Isn't this what I have been saying, look around a bit and get the specs. The specs are available if you ask in most cases so you can see for yourself.

Most of know the difference between Panasonic and Palsonic if we buy a TV, so why would we not research something as important as our solar systems???

merv61 · Member

Thanks for all your help fella,s, it's great to advice from experienced campers.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Have you seen the stick on flexable solar ? rolls on like carpet.. Can be walked on .. ?? I guess once in a blue moon..
Maybe less efficient ? But fitting larger would be so easy especially if roof is not 100 % level..

No screws hhrough roof etc ..

-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Wednesday 9th of December 2015 03:05:54 AM

madaboutled · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
Have you seen the stick on flexable solar ? rolls on like carpet.. Can be walked on .. ?? I guess once in a blue moon..
Maybe less efficient ? But fitting larger would be so easy especially if roof is not 100 % level..
No screws hhrough roof etc ..

-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Wednesday 9th of December 2015 03:05:54 AM

At this stage the flexible panels are less efficient, some research I've done has shown as much as 30% less when compared to monocrystaline panels. If you want to do some research yourself here's a good starting point Solar Facts and Advice there's some interesting articles on the different technologies for thin solar panels. There's also some research out there into solar panel paint.... yep paint on solar! Try google for that one.

Regards Steve.

Edit Typo!.

-- Edited by madaboutled on Wednesday 9th of December 2015 10:23:35 AM

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Yep as said not as efficiant.. But it does make it MUCH easier to fit and the YouTube clip went whole length of van in one go..
Now solar has been around a while.. The cheaper panels are almost as good as the expensive..
Its not like years ago in its infancy...