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Small Portable Panels for RV charging - Renogy v Rockpals 100W

johnpitts01

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Oct 16, 2019
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Due to storage and transport space constraints we are looking for portable panels that pack up small.
Currently considering Renogy100W and Rockpals.

Can anyone provide a performance comparison of the units from these manufacturers?

Are there any other panels we should consider?

Ultimately will be looking to string portable panels together for 200W total portable charging for 300AH of LiPo batteries

Will connect the portable panels to our RV system with a Victron SmartSolar controller.
Based on our experience we need 30' of cable from the portable array to the camper that will enable us to position the portable array out of any tree cover we may have at our typical campsites.

We have 300W of solar on the roof of the camper already running through a Victron SmartSolar controller. So we will have (2) Solar controllers; (1) managing the roof mounted array and (1) for the ground mounted array.
 
I don’t think you can really do much about the space constraints of a panel, nor do I think portable panels are a good solution for space constraints.

All panels have nearly the same output as square inch per cell, perhaps the more efficient ones will be an inch or two skinnier, but that’s it. I have a 100 watt efficient panel that is a half inch skinnier and just as long compared to the other Renogy 100 watt panel.

Portable panels either fold in half or they don’t. I have Lion Energy 100 watt panels and they weigh 20 LBS each. All the portable panels will have the solar cells on the outside so they need to be packed in something when moving them. As a reference, in my pick up put I in the boxes, Four of them take up half my backseat of the pickup lengthwise and about half the space from the seat to the roof, so about four panels take up 1/4 the packing space of my back seat.

You can get your dimensions of the panel off the website you’re buying, but for padding add a 1/2” to 1” for each side (Top, bottom, left, right, front back) to get an idea of how much space they take up. My boxes are 4” X 22” X 28” with the panel folded in half inside.

The only real advantages to different brands are angles, hinges and clasps, whether the power cbales are MC4 or Anderson Pole, whether they are for a 12 volt battery outputting around 18 volts, or whether they are for a 24 volt battery outputting close to 33 volts, otherwise to me they are all the same. Panels need to be sized for 100 watts, and then sized to keep the cables inside when folded, so there is not a lot to be done about that. 4” X 22” X 28” is about the smallest box of what any panel will fold to. If it folds to smaller, be suspicious of the wattage not being what is claimed.

I don’t like the smaller panels that have a fabric backing and five or six sections that fold out to a bigger panel. THat just can’t be positioned for max output and is not sturdy enough for winds Or just for normal use.

I don’t think portable panels are good if space constrained, I think putting fixed panels whether normal aluminum glass or plastic panels is a better option.

What they make up in taking up space for me is extra power production compared to roof mounted panels. I get 1/3 more power production off properly angled and oriented 400 watts of portable panels as compared to 600 watts of flat roof mounted panels.
 
I don't know how unbiased these folks are, but there are a lot of flexible panels in this "review". Until recently, flexible panels weren't considered serious solutions. They weren't reliable and didn't have much output. It's hard to argue with a 25 year warranty on the Renogy panel.

These panels are so light that a very simple tilt frame could be made that comes apart and stores in a very small space.

 
I don't know how unbiased these folks are, but there are a lot of flexible panels in this "review". Until recently, flexible panels weren't considered serious solutions. They weren't reliable and didn't have much output. It's hard to argue with a 25 year warranty on the Renogy panel.

These panels are so light that a very simple tilt frame could be made that comes apart and stores in a very small space.

I'm happy to see that the panels I'm considering are in the top of the review. The review mentions the, "25-year power output warranty," but doesn't mention the "5-year material and workmanship warranty." I think past 5 years there'll be trouble getting a warranty claim.

I don't like how a bunch of the top 13 have problems, which would indicate the worst of, not the best of:

#9 "My friend who bought this told me that ut (SP) of three panels he originally bought, one shows signs of warping."
#10 from a 100 watt panel "and the next year, one seemed to have lost its efficiency and delivered only 10 watts."
#11 "Unfortunately, although advertised as 30 degree-flexible, most users said that the protective layer on this solar module doesn’t stand flexing and has chipped in more than one place."
#12 " but I can't recommend it as the go-to panel due to quality issues and low power."
#13 " this panel, has flaked after mild flexing."

Despite these reviews, I plan on getting up to 400 watts of flexible panels on my RV roof to a 3rd charge controller for a 24 volt upgrade.
 
I've pretty much decided on Renogy rigid portable panels.
But even Renogy has (2) offerings. Checking their website comparison I dont see much difference. The Eclipse model if $80 more than the other one. Both are monocrystalline.

Does anyone have any real world experience with these panels and why one would be better than the other?

Amazon is offering units at a discount that have been returned for damaged packaging. Any worries buying something like that?

1609084203427.png
 
Panels that are 2.8" and 3.1" thick would not work in my situation. Even with my tilt mechanism, the panels are no more than 1.68" thick.

Check out RV With Tito's Flexible Solar Panels. He does a nice job of documenting his system and the install process. He also has a video where he took up the flexible panels (huge PITA!).
 
Seems like the eclipse comes with a "rugged canvas case0". One of the projects I want is to get a storage case for my portable panels. If that rugged case is strong enough to stack four panels on top of each other, I'd think it's worth the extra price. If the panels come with MC4 connectors it's a bonus.

There are the portable panels I bought:

Lion Energy Lion 100 - Solar Panel - Walmart.com - Walmart.com

What I don't like about the Lion Energy panels is they have Anderson Pole Connectors and not MC-4, also, there's not a lot of specs published for these.
 
The thickness is not so critical for me. My planned storage and transport area is 36" x 19.5". Pretty much everything I've seen is at least 20'X20".

The RV with Titos has some great ideas for the flexible panels. But the flexibles dont help me regarding the size constraints I have and I dont see that the flexible panels are any better performing than the rigid panels.

The ability to readily remove the flexible panels from a mounting frame and have a very thin package to store might help me with the storage and transport issue.
 
The RV with Titos has some great ideas for the flexible panels. But the flexibles dont help me regarding the size constraints I have and I dont see that the flexible panels are any better performing than the rigid panels.

Agreed. The flexible panels are not as good as the rigid panels when it comes to performance. But in terms of weight, they're a lot less than the rigid panels.
 
What about panels like this from AcoPower? They are perfect for my size constraints and the performance specs are comparable to Renogy panels.
Anyone know of any issues with these or any reason NOT to use something like these?
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120 watts for $306 is expensive! I have 640 watts for around $360. But those ACOPOWER panels would be easy to setup and store.

I don't see 40w panels on the SUNPOWER website. I also don't see any panels on their site that have an efficiency of 25%, which is quite high.
 
I like the MC4 connectors. There's complaints about the charge controller dying, which brings up another point. Can these panels be put in series or parallel, or is the warranty to just hook the one panel into the charge controller. For my 100 watt lion energy panels, they are designed to be in parallel only, so limited to a 12 volt system, if I put them in series for a 24 volt system, the company has told me this violates the warranty.

I don't see a diode kit on it. If it does not have a diode, than amongst other things, the panels can take energy from the batteries at nighttime. Could be because the diode has been incorporated into the charge controller. The tech data, if available, will tell you.

I don't know what the glass attaches to, but my smaller suitcase foldable panel was fabric, and my glass has cracked because it did not protect the panel. I could not tell from what I read if its worth it or not. I don't know the total watts of my panel, but my guess is 10 watts, which is a small panel or a huge cell phone charger.

This kit is three 40 watt panels and a charge controller. I've seen a few people lie panels flat on the ground or lean them against a trailer, which I don't like, but they love it and have been using solar so much longer than me. Perhaps buying a few of these smaller panels would work.
 
My intent is to connect this foldable portable panel to a Victron Smart Solar Charge Controller mounted within 24" of the batteries in our camper. The Victron will manage the charging. The website for these panels states they can be ganged together in series or parallel configuration.

And a review from the website:
"This is a great bargain portable solar suitcase. I have a 140W zamp portable panel which is 4 times the size and weight and 3 times the cost. This solar panel is as efficient the zamp portable panel. If I have known this choice, I would not have bought the zamp panels."
 
How can there be complaints about the charge controller dying when the title of the page says "w/o Charge Controller"?
LOL -- I got a robocall of 2 tickets outstanding on my car so return call ... No car for 4 years maybe you got a troll also.
 
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