Flexible solar panels
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 20, 2017 at 21:06
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Has anyone had any experience with 180W 12V FLEXIBLE BLACK SILICON SOLAR PANEL supplier is VicOffroad. Currently have two old panels on the roof total weight 15.5kg, have a poptop van and looking to lessen the weight on the roof. This panel weighs 3kg. Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Reply By: AJC - Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 17:59
Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 17:59
Hi, please be aware that the 180W flexible panels these guys sell are NOT 12Volt panels. You can verify this by looking at the rated and open-circuit voltages - for 12V these should be about 17-18V and 21-23V.
What this means is that you'll need a more expensive MPPT regulator to down-convert this higher voltage, otherwise you'll get much less than 180W out of the panel. (if you need more detail see
http://12voltblog.com.au/a-guide-to-using-solar-panels-and-regulators/)
I've also found many cheap eBay regulators that have MPPT written on them do not have MPPT circuitry inside.
Otherwise maybe look at getting 2 of their 100W flexible panels - they are in fact 12Volt and can be used on a PWM regulator.
Cheers
AJC
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