Solar Panel Recommendations

[felizcortez]

I am trying to decide on solar panels for on top of my bimini on my boat. I currently have 260W of solar installed via flexible panels that I am looking to upgrade and use more of the space. I currently have 2x50W sunpower flexible panels that are starting to delaminate and discolor, and a single Renogy 160W panel. My measurements on my bimini are 59.5 inches x about 38 inches. I don't want to overhang because it represents a potential hazard on the boat.

I am looking at the Rich Solar 250W panels on amazon, but couldn't find them on the Rich Solar Website. My goal is to maximize the output in the area provided. I'm wondering whether the 250W panels are older and no longer available and whether they are clearing out stock on Amazon. Most everything else I have seen is 200W. The dimensions on the 250 seem to fit inside of my area without overhang so that is attractive.

Any other recommendations or types/sizes or brands of panels I should be looking at?
What is the impression of the Rich Solar panels?

What size charge controller would I need to cover the output of these panels a 100/50 from victron? Or should I split it to two 100/30's? I want to go Victron on the MPPT controllers since I have a Cerbo GX and all my existing charge controllers are linked.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

What is the impression of the Rich Solar panels?

Meh, but if they fit the area, they're probably fine.

If you can't find them on the website, make sure they're legit in their power claims, i.e.,

L * W * 200 = rated power

L & W are length and width in METERS.

Example:

2m * 1m * 200 = 400W

What size charge controller would I need to cover the output of these panels a 100/50 from victron? Or should I split it to two 100/30's? I want to go Victron on the MPPT controllers since I have a Cerbo GX and all my existing charge controllers are linked.

Array power / battery voltage = charger current.

 

[felizcortez]

Based on the formula provided I got 245.2833804W so pretty close. This is the link to the panel on amazon

Dimensions are 55.1 x 34.5 inches
1.39954x .8763 Meters

250W Rich Solar

Are there other panels with similar output level I should be looking at with similar size?

 

[Rocketman]

First, on putting different panels in series or parallel…
(use the Vmp and Isc)

In series you add volts (Vmp) and use the lowest amps (Isc).
In parallel you add current (Isc) and use the lowest volts (Vmp)
Then multiply those two numbers together and that will tell you what that array will produce in watts.

If multiple different panels don’t have close enough specs to put together without too much of a penalty… then you need multiple mppt’s.

For panels… you need to look everywhere for the best fit for you. I found a Renogy 320w panel that is slightly too long - 65.6” x 39.5” (on Amazon)

Also two 150w panels on Amazon 42.04 x 26.32 x 1.4 inches (but those are really too wide).

Every different manufacturer can make them different sizes. Maybe someone makes a 300w panel that will fit (also look at two or three to fit in the space.

Good Luck

 

[felizcortez]

It looks like Newpowa makes a 250w panel as well. Which is better between the two newpowa or rich solar?

I haven't been able to find a 300w panel that fits in the dimensions I need.

 

[madmike]

Ahoy, Feliz. It's nice to see a familiar Tartan 37 owner here.
One of our new solar panels is from Rich Solar. About 1 year in, it's working AOK.

One thing I found looking at all this solar stuff was that it seemed to make sense to use 24V panels for our 12V battery system. We're using two Victon MPPT 75/15 chargers. Those seem well-matched to 200 W of 24V solar on each MPPT.

 

[Rocketman]

The nice thing with mppt’s is you can have much higher volts and a low current- that helps with voltage drop (as long as you remain below the max for that mppt.

I have 3 panels in series giving me about 68v going into a Victron 100/30

 

[solarburner]

I'm also looking at those 250w rich solar panels. I'm pretty sure they are newer because they are 9BB. That, and they are higher price per watt than most small panels (which range from 1.30/watt down to maybe 0.25/watt for the older, larger panels sized more for home than for rv/marine). I did a spreadsheet with about 50 panels comparing dimensions, price, and best configuration (how many panels will fit in a space, including sideways) etc, and for my use case (rv), the rich 250w looks like the best, although also not cheap. For your size, 59.5x38, the best you can do is the 250w, the cheapest looks to be 2x 100w HQST for 0.80/watt but that's a total of 200w.

Best price I've found right now is on ebay: 272 on sale, compared to 299 (after 20 coupon) on amazon. I've found recently that ebay actually has slightly better prices on a range of items, I am guessing amazon takes a bigger cut. I'm amazed that the manufacturer web sites have even higher prices.

The newpowa 250w is basically the same, in terms of size, output, etc. It's slightly thinner, 1.18in vs 1.4 in. The price right now is slightly higher, $1.20/watt vs 1.09 for the rich.

 

[felizcortez]

I installed the 2 of the Rich solar 250W solar panels on the bimini of my boat along with a 100/50 Victron MPPT controller. I am located in Baja Mexico so plenty of sun is available. I'm only seeing about 350W total from the two panels together (out of 500W) at solar noon. I have tried series vs parallel, and ran each panel individually to see whether the output would increase or if one was outputting more than the other and they were both pretty close to equal. That is about 70 percent efficiency. This output level seems low to me. Here is a picture of the installation. Note the backstay shade, but this is from later in the day, and it doesn't seem to hit them at solar noon.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

I installed the 2 of the Rich solar 250W solar panels on the bimini of my boat along with a 100/50 Victron MPPT controller. I am located in Baja Mexico so plenty of sun is available. I'm only seeing about 350W total from the two panels together (out of 500W) at solar noon. I have tried series vs parallel, and ran each panel individually to see whether the output would increase or if one was outputting more than the other and they were both pretty close to equal. That is about 70 percent efficiency. This output level seems low to me. Here is a picture of the installation. Note the backstay shade, but this is from later in the day, and it doesn't seem to hit them at solar noon.

You only get rated power in STC conditions, i.e., 1000W/m^2 hitting the panels and 25°C CELL temperature. Check out the NOCT rating for your panels, which is more representative of real-world performance where the cells are around 45°C and you have reduced insolation. 70-80% of rated is pretty typical for an OPTIMAL array (perpendicular to the sun at high noon), not one at various angles on a boat.

Looks good to me.

 

[Jason Liu]

嗯，但如果它们适合这个区域，可能就没事。

如果您在网站上找不到它们，请确保它们的权力声明是合法的，即

长*宽*200=额定功率

L 和 W 是以米为单位的长度和宽度。

例子：

2m*1m*200=400W



阵列功率/电池电压=充电器电流。

Yes, the power calculated by this formula is very close to the real power rating!

 

[Zenithund]

To size a solar charge controller, you need to know the current output and the voltage of your solar panels. The current output is the amount of electricity that your panels can produce in amps, while the voltage is the potential difference between the positive and negative terminals of your panels in volts. You also need to know the voltage of your battery bank, which is usually 12V, 24V or 48V. The charge controller size should be 120% of the current output of your panels. For example, if you have a 200W solar panel with a current output of 10A and a voltage of 20V, and you use a 12V battery bank, then you need a charge controller size of 10A x 1.2 = 12A. You can use a PWM or MPPT charge controller, but MPPT is more efficient and can handle higher voltages. A 100/50 Victron charge controller can handle up to 100V input voltage and up to 50A output current, so it can cover the output of multiple panels in series or parallel as long as they don't exceed these limits.