If you're talking about the so called solar blankets, I'm not too impressed with mine.
Pros - They are lighter than fixed panels because no aluminium frame or glass - Easy to store as small and no sharp edges, and no glass to break
Cons - Mine only produces 70% of its advertised output even under perfect conditions, but then it was cheap so I expected that! - If you lay them on the ground they are not at the optimal angle to the sun, but it's difficult to prop them up unless you put them on the car windscreen, and then you have to move the car around as the sun moves during the day. - Also if you leave them on the ground they are at risk of people and animals treading on them, and if it's at all windy they rapidly get covered in dust/sand reducing their output further
I'm thinking of replacing them with fixed folding type with built in stand, mono cells, but no glass, like this...
I was thinking of buying a stand alone folding solar panel of around 250w and have been looking at similar to your post Mamil, but some of the reports and reviews have not been the best, however this has mainly been about one supplier, the reports have been about the flaking of the layers. I have not been looking at many as yet but sure interested in peoples opinion and reviews with brands and suppliers.
Solar blankets are not really meant as permanent panels, they are top up panels or emergency panels, as they sit on the ground or on the vehicle they heat up rapidly and therefore reducing the output of the panel, I have a 200w blanket and purchased it only as a backup device for overcast/shady conditions, and sorry I haven't tested it's output in good conditions as yet.
I have gone over to the Kickass ETFE panels,so light and more versatile than a the solar blanket we had.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNXmCB9mDU0
-- Edited by Plain Truth on Wednesday 18th of August 2021 03:10:45 PM
Hi PT, that's the kind of panel I'm thinking of. Can I ask if there's been any downsides to the KickAss ones as I was thinking of getting the Redarc one I pictured above, but at $750 for 200W it's a lot more expensive than $479 for the KickAss ones which seem to be a very similar product?
Hi Mamil,we have the 150 watt.,had it 2yrs. now.Very happy with it, very light,easy to setup and close down.No trouble putting it in the bag.
Keeps up with our 60 liter Engel combo,fridge - freezer,maybe in hindsight would have gone for the 200 watt. just for those scorching hot days and nights.
Hi Mamil,we have the 150 watt.,had it 2yrs. now.Very happy with it, very light,easy to setup and close down.No trouble putting it in the bag.
Keeps up with our 60 liter Engel combo,fridge - freezer,maybe in hindsight would have gone for the 200 watt. just for those scorching hot days and nights.
As ETFE flexible panels are a new thing to me I thought I'd take a deeper look at this new and expensive technology... and my initial comment is "Let the buyer beware".
Suppliers are selling ETFE panels at significantly different prices and I suspect claims as to output power should, usually, be take with a shovel of salt. Solar panel efficiency is a goal chased by all and top of the market panels are currently around 23% so we can get some idea as to the truth of a sellers claims for power output by calculating the panel area and dividing that into the claimed watts in order to arrive at a figure of watts per meter squared for that particular panel.
As a base measure I did the calculation for six Victron standard mono panels ranging from 55W to 360W and arrived at an average of 177 w/m2 - Victron are a quality supplier with a good track record and reputation so their panels are likely to be at the top end.
Next I calculated the w/m2 figure for a random selection of Googled and Ebay panels: as one may expect they all, except one, produced a figure of up to double that of Victron with one Ebay supplier claiming 311 w/m2 and a Logan panel claiming 308 w/m2, remarkable!
When I designed my solar set up I spent a ridiculous number of hours researching solar figures & I have been accustomed to working up to 132 hours a week in a previous life.
Solar panel figures are bag of lies at best made even worse with poor wiring & cheap skate setup.
Do your homework & at the very least buy the best best quality you can.
I simply can't see the point of saving a few dollars on crap products & then your fridge fails in the outback.
My personal opinion is you simply deserve the life long chaos you created for yourself.
Alternatively buying quality amortised over a longer period is barely any more money & a lot of peace of mind.
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Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
