Which solar panels to purchase?

Submitted: Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 13:38

ThreadID: 81612 Views:11422 Replies:5 FollowUps:11

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Solar Power

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Rachie

Hi Everyone,
My partner and I are driving around Aus next year. We've recently purchased a Waeco fridge and want to keep it powered (plus a few basics - laptop, mobiles etc) on our travels. We've installed an extra battery in the car and are also looking at solar panels. I've found that there's a really big range between prices for the 80watt solar panels. Can anyone shed some light on some brands and what to look for?
Cheers!
Rachie

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Reply By: Member - michael (BOXHD) r (VI - Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 14:37

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 14:37

high i bought a 120 watt folding solar panel from a place in sydney and was uder 500 dollars and it is working very good i was running a 45 lt and a 29 lt engelv fridges as well as lights for 4 days at birdsville and along the way on our trip and it was keeping up no probs even charging in low light the store was www.solarenergystore.com.au .

hopes this helps cheers mick

AnswerID: 431720

Follow Up By: Sir Kev & Darkie - Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 19:39

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 19:39

Michael,

They have a very bad history of not supplying the correct sized panels, i.e a 120 watt panel is actually about 80 watts. Have you checked that yours are correct?

I am sure it was Ed C (QLD) who was one EO member that I know of who was stung by them. He may be along shortly to explain the issue further.

But for now have a read of this thread on My Swag in regards to solarenergystore.

Cheers Kev

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FollowupID: 702583

Follow Up By: Member - Ed C (QLD) - Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 20:49

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 20:49

Yes, as Kev says, I am one, and I'm aware of at least 3 others on this forum who have been sent undersized panels incorrectly (fraudulently) labelled by this seller..

In my case, I purchased an 80Watt folding kit, & actually received a 40W kit labelled as 80W....

Caveat Emptor!!!!

Regards,
Ed C

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....Not necessarily mechanic!!"

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FollowupID: 702595

Follow Up By: trainslux - Thursday, Sep 30, 2010 at 10:13

Thursday, Sep 30, 2010 at 10:13

yep, I too was sent 80w panels when I ordered a 120w set. from luxury homes sydney/ lhp whoever they call themselves now.
Name keeps changing, but id stays the same.

Took almost 3 months to sort out the issue.

If I ever buy again, it will be from Mandrake and Derrek from ABR.
Excellent service, help, and product/ price.

Cant recomend them both enough.

Trains

FollowupID: 702624

Reply By: Mandrake's Solar Power- Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 16:02

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 16:02

A search in the Directory on this website is a good start ...

solar panels

Cheers

Steve

AnswerID: 431725

Reply By: WATTS2C - Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 16:23

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 16:23

a good way to compare brands is by going to http://www.dkasolarcentre.com.au/

this is an independent site that gives you live information on a number of popular brands and hoiw they are performing. to compare apples with apples, you need to click the normalisation button - this way you get the true comparison betwwen brands.

Several good performers including Kyocera

AnswerID: 431727

Reply By: Rachie - Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 16:47

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 16:47

Thanks for all your help and prompt replies!
www.dkasolarcentre.com.au website looks awesome!

Cheers!
Rachie

AnswerID: 431729

Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 19:27

Wednesday, Sep 29, 2010 at 19:27

Rachie,

I really think if you're after value for money and a solid reputation contact Steve (Mandrake's Solar listed above). Steve's a good honest small business operator and he keeps his prices low by keeping his overheads low.

Jim.

FollowupID: 702581

Follow Up By: The Landy - Thursday, Sep 30, 2010 at 10:35

Thursday, Sep 30, 2010 at 10:35

And I'll second Jim's comments.

I recently purchased a 140W panel from Steve for 'The Landy'. Steve was very helpful with all my questions, and delivery was very efficient and I have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone.

Cheers, The Landy

FollowupID: 702625

Reply By: DaveRo - Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 at 23:16

Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 at 23:16

I also am looking for solar panels. I didn't like to start another post when we are after similar things.

I run a caravan in which I have a tv, halogen lights and a small 12v water pump. Also 40l engel.

I was recently told a 80w system should keep me going off site. I have seen a 100w system on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/100W-FOLDING-SOLAR-PANEL-MONOCRYSTALLINE-COMPLETE-SET-/270649297628?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item3f03f48adc

The panels are by Rich solar of china. Their specs match those on their site

http://www.richsolartech.com/products/Portable-Solar-Panel-Kit-100W-558019.html

I dont know if these are good or bad panels or if anyone has had problems with the supplier. I see there have been problems with some.

I looked on Steve - Mandrake's site but they did not have 100 w system to compare. I could not see what brand they were. I see they are in Qld and I am in South Australia. I see that they are held in high regard. I couldn't really see how to email them re a quote.

I would be interested in opinions as to the adequacy of 100w for my set up and any other useful information.

Perhaps in the end we will both find out what we need.

AnswerID: 433829

Follow Up By: DaveRo - Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 at 23:25

Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 at 23:25

I apologise it seems I looked at a site called ABR - rather than Steve's site. And I now have worked out how to contact him I think.

FollowupID: 704816

Follow Up By: DaveRo - Friday, Oct 22, 2010 at 00:04

Friday, Oct 22, 2010 at 00:04

Just looked on Mandrake's site and downloaded the solar calculator. When taking into account the cloudy day calculator one has to wornder if it is worth it. It appears my trusty generator would still be needed.

FollowupID: 704820

Follow Up By: trainslux - Friday, Oct 22, 2010 at 09:24

Friday, Oct 22, 2010 at 09:24

Hey DaveRo,
Where in sa are you, your welcome to drop by and have a look at my setup if your interested.
If you have a clamp meter, bring it along to test output, loads etc of your system.

Were not far from Adelaide.
cheers
Trains

FollowupID: 704845

Follow Up By: DaveRo - Friday, Oct 22, 2010 at 10:04

Friday, Oct 22, 2010 at 10:04

trainslux.

I live at Woodcroft. I would be pleased to have a look at your system. Thank you for the offer.

We are just trying to organise things so that we can extend our time off site. Heading away with friends where we will be stopping in national parks and don't want to have to crank up the generator all the time.

I am not familiar with clamp meters. I assume with that I could test the load on my battery and the output from any solar system I connected.

FollowupID: 704854

Follow Up By: The Landy - Saturday, Oct 23, 2010 at 15:56

Saturday, Oct 23, 2010 at 15:56

I have a 140 Watt solar panel, purchased from Steve (Mandrake) and it has charged my battery to full even on a cloudy day. I run a 60 litre Engel.

Cheers, The Landy

FollowupID: 704994

Follow Up By: DaveRo - Sunday, Oct 24, 2010 at 00:30

Sunday, Oct 24, 2010 at 00:30

The Landy.

Thanks for that information. That gives me something to work with. I am purchasing a clamp meter. One that indicates dc current flow.

Hopefully with the knowledge I am gaining I will be able to sort out something that will be of value to us.

FollowupID: 705051