Harbor Freight Solar Panel Kit

[Hawkez]

I know there was some talk on here about the 45 watt Solar Panel kit that Harbor Freight sales.  In the flyer I got in the mail they have a sale on these, with a coupon, for $ 140.

 

Here is the kit http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-68751-8527.html

 

For those that have used it, do you still like it and thing it is worth the money?

[flagmanruss]

I bought this same HF kit to take camping.  Now our "camping" is re-enacting so most activity is in Primitive camp.  My ToyHauler is left in the parking lot.  Because of my disability, I sleep in the camper at night.  I use a big outdoor scooter to get into & out of camp (cover scooter as much as possible with saddle blankets & burlap). 

Because ours was a temporary location, it neded to be portable.  I didn't find the supplied brackets to be useful though you might.  A lot depended on the solar orientation of the rig & I had little choice, so not ideal.  For a more fixed location, it might have been better. 

The Toyhauler has 3 big Marine / RV deep cycle batteries...  a pretty potent battery bank.  

I since we mainly used lights & occasionally water...  the battery bank lasted fine.  BUT I didn't have the converter working to charge the 24V Scooter from the battery back.  And the Scooter was in Primitive camp during the day so I could not direct charge it.  I ended up running a small Honda generator to charge the scooter...  in the early morning and let it charge the battery bank at the same time. 

 

I sold the solar set up to a guy who wanted battery light in a gezebo with no AC access. 

 

IF your use was semi-permanent & could orient better...  getting by with fewer batteries...  It might be worth it.  Since I was running the Honda anyway...  it was one more thing to transport.  And they are bulky & fragile.          

[Mopar1973Man]

[sharedmedia=garage:vehicles:4]

 

It's one of my mods on my RV it works awesome. I've been known to watch TV and still maintain the battery voltage.

[Hawkez]

 

 

 

It's one of my mods on my RV it works awesome. I've been known to watch TV and still maintain the battery voltage.

 

Do you have your mounted on top?  Or is it on the ground, that would make it easier to manually track the sun.

[flagmanruss]

The only thing I could do was lean the panels up against something solid.  I routed out chanels in 2x3 & used threaded rod to hold together extended 36" threaded rods to hold together.   They are pretty big.  I would not permanantly mount but I could see a rotating base.  I'd want a plan to secure it if there's a storm... these are glass face panels.  Depending on how strong your roof is & how confident you are about climbing up... 

I'd set up on saw horses, with a plywood base, center bolt with castors around.  I'd have a framed plywood cover to fit over the glass.     

[Mopar1973Man]

Problem is I park the RV in the shade to promote cooler interior temperatures. Then I place the solar panels out in the sun to charge the batteries. That way I can have a cooler living space and power to enjoy nice things. But if the panels on the roof then, the RV is roasting hot and you've got power but too bad it's only 90-100*F inside the RV and no Air Conditioning. Yes I've seen that happen with my RV after travelling most of the day in the sun the living quarters is 90-100*F inside.

 

Not a good example but you get the idea. My panels are small enough to fit under the bed.

[flagmanruss]

Those look like the same panels.  I guess it's all about having the right storage & flexible mounts.  A 2 x 4 frame on the ground with a pivot would allow aiming & yet be easy to break down. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Heck that picture I would lay in my chair watching TV and every time I seen the battery volts dip below 13 I could tell the shadow was being cast on the panels so I would just pick them up and place them back in the sun. Nothing hard or crazy.

[Hawkez]

I bought my solar panel kit over the weekend and I am impressed with it so far.  My question is, do I need to disconnect the charge controller each time I plug the trailer into shore power or plug the trailer into the truck?  Do I need a some type of a isolator so that power is not back feed into the controller?  Would that even damage the controller?  I guess it would be easy to install a toggle switch...

[Mopar1973Man]

I left my controller hard wired up. I just turn the solar controller off when the panels are not used. Actually if you wanted to you can leave the controller on all the time to monitor the actual battery voltage even hooked up to AC power. It will not damage the solar controller. No different than my big solar system is hooked up 24/7 to the batteries and selling power back to the city power system.

 

The little black box on the right.

[Hawkez]

I left my controller hard wired up. I just turn the solar controller off when the panels are not used. Actually if you wanted to you can leave the controller on all the time to monitor the actual battery voltage even hooked up to AC power. It will not damage the solar controller. No different than my big solar system is hooked up 24/7 to the batteries and selling power back to the city power system.

 

The little black box on the right.

 

Thanks Michael.  I am going to ditch the aligator clamps that came with the kit and install eyelets for a more secure mount to the batteries.  Do you have any suggestions for a decent digital ampmeter?  I would like to install one in my trailer.

[Mopar1973Man]

There is a good one but its pricey ask AH64ID about his amp meter. Even my big house inverter does NOT have a DC amp meter but only AC amp meters. Like Today my max load was about 20 Amps and producing 3-4 AC amps worth of solar power.