Cheap solar panels
Submitted: Saturday, Jan 17, 2009 at 20:25
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Austravel
Hi,
Anyone that gets the Electus catalogue and wants a solar panel you'll get a good price. That is if you don't mind a mono crystalline panel they are almost 1/2 the price of a BP panel of same size. From memory that is for the 120 watt panel, the 80 watt is a bit not 1/2 but still way cheaper.
Not sure if there is really much difference. If it's 80 watts it must be 80 watts and if there is a warranty then you'd have to wonder why you'd pay more.
Just for th record I have a bp panel but will be looking at one of these for a second one.
Reply By: Sigmund - Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 06:27
Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 06:27
Hmm,
well if you believe Collyn Rivers stuff on solar then 80 watts won't produce anywhere near that. Just a heads-up.
AnswerID:
344870
Follow Up By: RV Powerstream P/L - Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 08:28
Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 08:28
If Collyn was talking about the loss factor from manufacturers
ratings then he is correct as the panel is rated as the production Volts which is a lot higher than battery acceptance volts and the difference goes out in heat from the panel.
This could be as high as 30%.
You can offset some of this loss by using an MPPT solar controller than converts the excess voltage back to useable battery voltage.
The MPPT (Mutli Point Power tracking) works better in colder climates than hotter climates so the percenatge gain is greater in winter than in summer .
If you have two panels or more and want more power it could be cheaper to add an MPPT controller to the existing panels than buy another panel.
Ian
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Reply By: Member - Tony B (Malanda FNQ) - Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 07:24
Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 07:24
Not Much use to the layman as their site states this - 'The catalogue is for professional, commerce, industry and education users'. So can anyone access this and what are the price of these units? Cheers Tony
AnswerID:
344874
Follow Up By: Austravel - Monday, Jan 19, 2009 at 15:59
Monday, Jan 19, 2009 at 15:59
Panels are monocrystalline and prices are plus GST. They went up over Christmas, 80w panel used to be $505.22 wish I'd seen it earlier. Brand is powertech but they would be rebranded. If someone knows who actually makes them please let us know.
65w $487.66
80w $630.00
120w $720.58
175w $1,225
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Follow Up By: Maîneÿ (wa) - Monday, Jan 19, 2009 at 16:09
Monday, Jan 19, 2009 at 16:09
Where are you situated ?
What specifically do you want to know?
Mainey . . .
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613070
Follow Up By: Austravel - Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009 at 16:38
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009 at 16:38
Mainey,
Just wanting to know the manufacturer of the Electus powertech panels.
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613207
Reply By: wazzaaaa - Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 07:56
Sunday, Jan 18, 2009 at 07:56
I took a punt on some chinese branded (rich solar) solar panels off ebay. The first two were great and worked so
well I now have six of them on my caravan. I paid around $700 for 2x 60w mono crystalline panels. Although flat on the van roof, this christmas I was getting av. 23 amps out of them.
Wazzaaaa
AnswerID:
344878