I am trying to find a couple cheap but still decent solar panels to play around with charging my river pro 2 battery. I see fixed panels that are decently large 200 watt panels for like $200 to $300 or more. Then there are 2 x 400 watt flexible panels (likely china stuff) for like $259. being flexible would be nice of course, but I am wondering do they really ALSO put out 200 watts each on par with fixed panels? If they do put out similar output to the more expensive fixed panels.. are they durable or are these likely to burn out and have issues or something in a year? The EcoFlow panels are like 3x the cost.. so just trying to understand what I can get.. what sort of bang for buck and durability they are.
These 200watt flexible panels on amazon any good?
- Thread starter beowulf
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Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
I'd be a bit nervous about a panel that's less than a square meter producing 200w and doesn't show VoC, Vmp, and Imp. For the price though it's really good!
I'll throw them on my tester when they show up and see what they're REALLY like. It sounds too good to be true but it's cheap enough I'm willing to take the risk.
I'll throw them on my tester when they show up and see what they're REALLY like. It sounds too good to be true but it's cheap enough I'm willing to take the risk.
Oh nice. I almost pulled the trigger. Honestly looking for some results to see if they are worth it. I read also they last about a year or so, vs the glass panels that last 20+ years. So.. I am a little hesitant if these things really have a very short life out of them.
Still trying to figure out the best way to set up some sort of sun tracking motion setup. Seems there is a 2 axis one for about $550 on amazon that looks decent. But then Ecoflow has one for $3800.. I dont get why it so outrageous in price. I love their batteries, but man that is a crazy price. I havent yet set up the 220watt portable panel for this river pro 2 I got. Sadly I thought this could handle multiple 200 watt panels, looks like it maxes out at 220 watt solar input. So I read that it would be better to buy a victron MPTT (not sure which one) to handle 1600+ watts of solar, and then feed that in to the AC input since that can handle 1000+watts or more I guess.
Not sure however if that would reduce the battery life. I think 220watts is the way to "trickle charge" (more or less) to maximize the 4000 cycles it claims 100% DoD before 80% capacity. So.. if you know, please tell me so I dont screw this up.
Still trying to figure out the best way to set up some sort of sun tracking motion setup. Seems there is a 2 axis one for about $550 on amazon that looks decent. But then Ecoflow has one for $3800.. I dont get why it so outrageous in price. I love their batteries, but man that is a crazy price. I havent yet set up the 220watt portable panel for this river pro 2 I got. Sadly I thought this could handle multiple 200 watt panels, looks like it maxes out at 220 watt solar input. So I read that it would be better to buy a victron MPTT (not sure which one) to handle 1600+ watts of solar, and then feed that in to the AC input since that can handle 1000+watts or more I guess.
Not sure however if that would reduce the battery life. I think 220watts is the way to "trickle charge" (more or less) to maximize the 4000 cycles it claims 100% DoD before 80% capacity. So.. if you know, please tell me so I dont screw this up.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
Considering they advertise as 800w total but only include a 40a SCC, I'm hoping for 150w at best. The fact that ALL 7 reviews are 5 stars yet NONE are "Verified Purchase" also says these are a scam.
Results in a couple weeks, hopefully they arrive before I head to camp but unlikely.
Results in a couple weeks, hopefully they arrive before I head to camp but unlikely.
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+1. Look at the dimensions - 46x21inches. Cant physically be more than ~100w each.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
OK, so those panels arrived today while the sun was still out soooo...
The good news is that all the parts showed up! The label also doesn't lie!
Because it doesn't have one.
Yup, it's a scam. 100w if you round up, more like 75w in near-perfect-real-world performance, the clear coat was bubbling in places, and the wires really REALLY want to twist and fall on the cell face.
For the money the 150w of panels, cables, splitter, etc aren't horrible, but it's an outright lie about the wattage.
The good news is that all the parts showed up! The label also doesn't lie!
Because it doesn't have one.
Yup, it's a scam. 100w if you round up, more like 75w in near-perfect-real-world performance, the clear coat was bubbling in places, and the wires really REALLY want to twist and fall on the cell face.
For the money the 150w of panels, cables, splitter, etc aren't horrible, but it's an outright lie about the wattage.
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Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
I just filed to return them, 75w panels are just too useless. I wish I had the option of just getting the advertised panels though. I love how many flavors of kit they're selling with the exact same dimensions. Did you know that according to the seller these exact same size panels are up to 800w each!
Well thank you for spending the money and time and letting us all know. So basically panels claiming 200/300/400+ watts, in thin/foldable style setups are lies and are likely 25% of that if that. Man you just can't find good stuff reasonable today, and China crap is almost always lies.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
25%? Not even close! More like 25% less than a 100w panel! Any posting that doesn't provide specs is a scam for sure, but I was bored.
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