Solar panels and what size is suitable

[Chris220220 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chris220220]

I have a folding 120Watt set up and run two 80amp/hr batteries. this powers the fridge and other stuff when away.
Works fine when sunny, give it a cloudy day or two or 30 degree nights and the batteries start to struggle to keep up.
Bit Deals on ebay have the panels I got , come with leads and regulator. I'd fuse protect the reg and battery as I shorted leads and blow one regulator.

[gumboot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close gumboot]

Time for some thread mining, and dont accuse me of not searching!
I am looking for a solar panel for a trip to Fraser at Christmas. Looking at around a 120-160 Watt panel to keep my 80AH aux battery topped up while running my fridge / lights and not driving. Seems to be two options
Ebay Cheapies like this
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/140W-FOLD...item53ed7b3329

or good quality with a MPPT like this ( $700+ )
http://www.roc-solidsolar.com.au/por...lar-panels.php

or build it yourself with say 130watt bp/suntech panel from springers and a good regulator like
http://www.stecasolar.com/index.php?Steca_PR_10_30_en

Anyone bought a reasonable or good quality one recently via ebay or in store. Feedback welcome.
Cheers
Robert

[dreamon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dreamon]

Can I put a Anderson plug on my solar panel and then plug that straight into my Prado. My solar panel has a regulator on it, so am unsure if I can or not. I'm thinking about leaving a set of clips on it as well, so any ideas or advice would be great as I'm still undecided how to wire up my camper trailer

[Signature035 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Signature035]

Time for some thread mining, and dont accuse me of not searching!
I am looking for a solar panel for a trip to Fraser at Christmas. Looking at around a 120-160 Watt panel to keep my 80AH aux battery topped up while running my fridge / lights and not driving. Seems to be two options
Ebay Cheapies like this
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/140W-FOLD...item53ed7b3329

or good quality with a MPPT like this ( $700+ )
http://www.roc-solidsolar.com.au/por...lar-panels.php

or build it yourself with say 130watt bp/suntech panel from springers and a good regulator like
http://www.stecasolar.com/index.php?Steca_PR_10_30_en

Anyone bought a reasonable or good quality one recently via ebay or in store. Feedback welcome.
Cheers
Robert

I've been down the cheap Ebay track..... (See earlier posts).

(Edit) - Forgot to mention, the chaep Ebay panels from LHP Power, sold to me as 120W, turned out to be 80W, and not enough to deliver what I needed, so they were sold.
How does that saying go “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”

I can strongly recommend Steve from Mandrake Solar on the MySwag forum http://www.myswag.org/index.php There is some great reading there on Solar as well.

Steve has a Queensland outlet.

You may pay a little more, but you will get quality andf service....

[Signature035 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Signature035]

Can I put a Anderson plug on my solar panel and then plug that straight into my Prado. My solar panel has a regulator on it, so am unsure if I can or not. I'm thinking about leaving a set of clips on it as well, so any ideas or advice would be great as I'm still undecided how to wire up my camper trailer

In short, Yes.

I have a permanent connection to the second battery, which terminates at an Anderson Plug attached to the bull bar (in a weather proof housing). I just plug this straight into the Solar Regulator (Keep your regulator at the battery end of the set up, if you are running cables for any distance).

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

I bought a cheap ebay 120w panel and 200ah battery from AntEnergy, the link is below (edit: I had a look at the site and they don't sell the really cheap panels anymore). It's worked fine for the last the 3 years apart from a poor solder joint that I fixed. It's all I need to keep a fridge and assorted gear running when camped for 2 weeks. It even came with a German regulator.

Link to the Ant Energy ebay shop is below, they also have a website.
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/m.html?_s...&_skc=50&rt=nc
The combination battery, panel and controller looks like good value.

Connections and wiring a critical in setting up Solar. I run a big 10m cable from the solar panel to the controller which is in my camper. I do this so that I'm running the 17v supply over the longest distance and then it is reduced down at the battery. My controller has the choice of 4 battery voltages and I have mine set at 13.7v feeding the battery

I did have have trouble with controllers when I upgraded to MPPT. I've come to the conclusion that the controller is just as important as the panel. A crap controller will reduce the power that you get. I ended up with a beauty that gives me full rated power from Taiwan on ebay. It has a full display that is priceless for monitoring power use, battery voltage and charging current. Link below;

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/20A-12V-m...ht_3422wt_1257

[gumboot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close gumboot]

I bought a cheap ebay 120w panel from 'antenergy' I think. It's worked fine for last the 3 years apart from a poor solder joint that I fixed. It's all I need to keep a fridge and assorted gear running when camped for 2weeks.It even came with a German regulator.

I did have have trouble with controllers when I upgraded to MPPT. A crap controller will reduce the power that you get. I ended up with a beauty that gives me full rated power from Taiwan on ebay. It has a full display that is priceless for monitoring power use, battery voltage and charging current.

Thanks Krypto .
Do you have a link to the panel and the regulator (or name of regulator) please?
Cheers
Robert

[gumboot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close gumboot]

I've been down the cheap Ebay track..... (See earlier posts).

(Edit) - Forgot to mention, the chaep Ebay panels from LHP Power, sold to me as 120W, turned out to be 80W, and not enough to deliver what I needed, so they were sold.
How does that saying go “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”

I can strongly recommend Steve from Mandrake Solar on the MySwag forum http://www.myswag.org/index.php There is some great reading there on Solar as well.

Steve has a Queensland outlet.

You may pay a little more, but you will get quality andf service....

Thanks Rob,
Just the info I was after and will have a chat to them.
Cheers
Robert

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

I've added the links above.

The controller and wiring are critical in getting the voltage from the panel, I had lots of problems until I got this right. When I had a look inside a cheap Chinese controller that burnt out, it had solder all over the place and looked like it was thrown together. The Taiwanese one that I linked above looks like a piece of high quality electronic equipment when you look inside.

With the panel just have a look at the type of solar collector that they use, it should look the same as the top quality ones and then its easy to work out the capacity by the size. When mine wasn't working it was the wiring and controller.

If you need to run cables for any length its best to run the full solar voltage (around 17v I think) to the controller which should be as close as possible to the battery to minimise further voltage loss.

I have mine set-up so that I can use an Anderson plug to also charge the car if necessary.

[brogers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close brogers]

As an update unfortunately I would strongly warn people away from the solar energy store/ lhp company.

After testing my 80W panel on several occassions in full west australian sun the most current I saw coming from it was 2A even when my battery was in much need of charge. The response from the technical staff there over the phone was that the panel was working properly. When arriving in Seven Hills NSW with the panel they had sent to Fremantle WA they quickly admitted the panel was faulty/didn't output 80Watts.

Now after 2 months of phone calls and lies about larger panels being sent to me the company has still not been able to give me a refund and I have resorted to writing comments like this on forums and a complaint to the ombudsman about theier lifetime warranty on power output.

So possibly if you go into their shop they might have better quality panels that might actually produce power close to whats specified but if they are sending it out to you and think there is slim chance you will return it you might get something as unreasonable as I have. I notice that my panels have bugger all solar cells on the panel (lots of white space) on the panel which is the same size as others panels which are full of solar cells.

So I have come to the conclusion that you get what you pay for, don't be tempted by the price and given some confidence by the fixed address, showroom being available and lifetime warranty like I did.

Also decided to try warn off other potential purchasers on ebay, wonder how long till I get reported? I have actually warned the company on two seperate occassions that if this wasn't resolved I would slander their company on the internet so they have had significant opportunity to avoid this....
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120-160-2...item4cfc7d077c

SLANDER is to speak verbal untruths. LIBEL is to put that information into the written form. You did neither, although the object of your post may choose to differ. If you write an account of your experience, without bias or favour, you have simply stated your truthful version and without thi nformation, we can all fall into the same traps and pifalls. The value fo forums such as this is that we can share our experiences, positive and negative, and hopefully avoid those who would provide services or equipment that fall short of our expectations....keep posting the "truth" please...thats not Libel, don't fall ibnto the trap of thinking it is slanderous, its just the truth and the rest of us can draw our own conclusions...like NEVER dealing with the same company if we so choose....

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Roo try Anderson power poles. That's what I use. Good for 45A and more compact that the standard Anderson plugs.

[brogers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close brogers]

Roo try Anderson power poles. That's what I use. Good for 45A and more compact that the standard Anderson plugs.

A question please Mr Random. Do the "powerpole" plugs still connect to a standard anderson plug.....if not, then thats another plug that will be introduced to the system and there is some value in having conections taht are reasonably common, so you can plug your panels into someone elses battery or visa versa or whatever. I think the anderson plugs are quite ok, really, so I'm not sure you would want to change to yet another plug type unless it is compatable with the existing anderson plugs...anyway, thats my thoughts.

Hey, just found this bit of information on the Anderson website....fake anderson plugs...

http://andersonpower.com.au/fake-and...os-ezp-19.html

[berniebgf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close berniebgf]

I bought a cheap ebay 120w panel and 200ah battery from AntEnergy, the link is below (edit: I had a look at the site and they don't sell the really cheap panels anymore).

I have also purchased from Antenergy and found the experience positive and the service was good, I went to his factory and had a look at his setup (solar and batteries). He was happy to spend some time with me showing me through the products...

Bernie

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

The Powerpoles are genuine Anderson products but aren't compatible with the standard plugs as they are about 1/4 of the size or even smaller.

http://www.andersonpower.com.au/data...-FPPP15-45.pdf

The compact size is good if you just use these to and from a battery. I have a fused set off each of my aux (under the bonnet and in the box trailer) and a mating set on the solar panel. If you are going to plug the solar into your main Anderson plug connection between car and trailer then don't bother with these smaller ones.

[fridayman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fridayman]

For our big trip around Australia next year, I am installing 2x185W panels hooked up to a 40A mppt controller. Mine will be mounted on a rack attached to the roof bars, effectively creating a mobile car port to help keep the truck a bit cooler inside

Work in progress: