Before last summer I decided to fit a few flexi light weight 80W
solar panels from EcoWorthy to the roof of my van
They're supplying Australia from Rhodes and I thought after a few comms to them I'd get a couple and try them.
I sikaflexed them to the roof and set them up so if I wanted to increase the real estate up there I'd have plenty of room to do it.
All seemed OK so I got another 2 and sika'd them up there with the others.
We were away just before
Easter and the van was out in the full sun nearly all day and I thought all's good , plenty of charge from up there , that was until I looked at the battery charge.................. Nearly DED and Genni not allowed !
Luckily I have 200Ah in the ute tub for the Engel and Chinee fridge that we use as a freezer, so it was a quick link up to the ute , some time on fast idle and the battery slowly got to a reasonable charge.
When I got back
home it was up on the roof and checking on the panels.
Bloody great the last 2 were not giving a wiggle or pulse on the meter
Totally ded !!!!
And they were only 10months old !
So after a while of slicing and cutting off they came for a proper assessment .
Then the other 2 were so cloudy I had to use an auto creme cutter to get them to look like they were panels again.
I did full individual tests on each one ,
One Maxed out at 18V o/c, 3 A short circuit , and 1.5 at full output thru the regulator to a half charged 12V battery.
The other
panel was just a little better.
This was with the panels facing full sun at an ambient of 23Deg
They should have been giving a min of 3A Each !
So a short Email to EcoWorthy
They asked me to
test the panels
Done that I replied.
Check the diode.
Done that I replied.( with note I have quite a bit of electrical and IT experience )
Aaaaaaand to date all I get is another request to contact their "Service Dept"
I gave them the options of me returning the ded panels to their Aus Warehouse, give me a refund, or, I'll buy 3 x 100W glass Mono panels and to credit me with a refund and I'll pay the difference.
Well it's the usual waiting game ( Chinese style I think )
Respond every 2 weeks or so till the warranty period is up , then claim no warranty, so Bu*g**r off .
So if anybody else is considering using their products ( they trade under several names here in Aus but the pics always have Ecoworthy across them )
Be warned ................... they do Not honor their warranty in a timely manner and if you go to their Facebook site you'll find there are a few that are a bit P* eed off as
well.
Maybe one day I'll get warranty , but so far I feel I have to force it onto them.
( I'll keep it updated if and when I get a warranty honored , but don't hold yer breath waiting )
Nogs