# What do you think?



## DebbieLynn (Dec 1, 2010)

Considering purchase of small solar panels to keep batteries charged for camper. Harbor Freight has 45 watt solar kit for 150.00. Is this a good price and would you recommend them for that purpose?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

For that purpose, yes.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

One of the things about those *panels* is that they are thin film so they can take some physical abuse with out worrying about breaking the glass of good crystalline silicon panels.

And I often read about the *charge controller* that they send with those *kits* really sucks......very poor *quality*.


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## DebbieLynn (Dec 1, 2010)

Don't know much about solar and thought this might work for the camper batteries. The reviews said the same thing about the charge controller. I'm wanting this for camper that is currently in TN and thought this might be something I could "learn" on.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Depending on the size of the batteries, very likely it would only maintain the batteries and not charge them. 

WWW


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## Raven12 (Mar 5, 2011)

There are many different setups. It was the first thing I stumbled across when I began my research into solar.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

DebbieLynn said:


> Don't know much about solar and thought this might work for the camper batteries. The reviews said the same thing about the charge controller. I'm wanting this for camper that is currently in TN and thought this might be something I could "learn" on.


As already said-- Its according to what size your battery bank is and how much power/wattage you will be drawing out of that bank. I have several of these 45 watt kits and I like them "to play with". Never had a Charge controller on any of them to last long. So I replaced them with a different one. I been using one of these kits to run a light 2 hours per day and operate two automatic doors on my chicken coop for close 2 years and it works good using 2 T105 6 volt golfcart batteries. I also use just one of the 3 panels (15 watts)on a camper to keep the battery charged. It has been hooked up for 10 years. I used a set of them to run a hydroponic set-up for 1 growing season. I like them.


Had one person that I knowed that was going to buy one of these kits to run their whole house--go off grid---It took me about a hour to explain this will not work---I laughed Hard the first 59 minutes---LOL.


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## DebbieLynn (Dec 1, 2010)

Just want to use them to charge 2 12 volt batteries when I'm at the camper. I do have generator but wanted to see if these might work. I am unfortunately one of those people that needs to "see" how things work to fully understand. Thank you all for the replies.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

DebbieLynn said:


> I am unfortunately one of those people that needs to "see" how things work to fully understand.


Its not hard to understand--- everything that runs on electric/12 volts etc draws wattage when you turn them on. Solar panels produce wattage-----to have a Ideal setup you do not want to draw more wattage out the batteries than the solar panels can replace. How many watts what ever you turn on uses---would depend on what it was and you would have to do your homework on that item to find out. I can tell you that on a pretty sunny day with a fixed mount that you will get around 200+/- watts out of these panels, could get more if you repositioned the panels towards the sun several times during the day. Example--If you turned on your TV and it draws say 100 watts, you could watch it for 2 hours and use up the wattage that the panels produced that day. When using DC voltage you do not want to draw the Battery way down a lot because it will shorten the life of the batteries and could take days for these panels to get the batteries back to full charge. One simple way to keep a check on your batteries is to wire in a volt meter inside the camper where you can check the voltage of the batteries at a glance. If you are running a tv or lights and the voltage gets down to around 11 volts or less--you need to not draw any more off the battery until it is recharged. Keep in mind when you cut everything off the voltage will probably jump back to 12 volts---but, you need to check the voltage while something is running drawing off the battery. Have Fun and if you got questions feel free to ask. ALOT of These Guys on here are very Smart----I am just a Rookie.


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## kirkk (Feb 7, 2013)

The problem with the harbor freight set up is that they are amorphous panels. They tend to lose their power production capabilities after a couple of years. If you spend some time online, you'll find that it's cheaper to go out and buy a multicrystaline set up of the same wattage and a controller. The great thing about the multicrystalines is that they produce the same rated power after 50 years, are easier to expand if you want more power production.


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

Them things might do pretty good in Fla. Figure ~6 hrs. charge time @ 3.5amps. 

Replace the charge controller with a Xantrex C-12. It has a visual voltage gauge (flashing LED) and a cut-off setting to avoid draining your battery too low if it's set-up right...

http://www.ecodirect.com/Xantrex-C1...race-c12.htm?gclid=CLzCj_bfl7ACFeEDQAod837x0g


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## Raven12 (Mar 5, 2011)

If I remember correctly, Coleman and Sunforce have panels to charge 12v for camping.


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

We kept our camper in storage for a while and they would move your camper to a site before you came. However we quickly found that the CO monitor would drain the battery in a few weeks, and they couldn't hook up to our trailer since the electric jack would not work. So we purchased a 30 watt panel and a charge controller, mounted the panel on the front window hard awning, and left the awning up when in storage. Note that this was in Alabama so there is a good bit of sun. It would keep our battery charged so that the electric jack would work and the monitor did not drain the battery. We did shut off all the breakers so that nothing inside could turn on. Sold that trailer with the panel a few years ago, but it worked fine for about 3-4 years.
Dawn


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## GregYohn (Jan 24, 2013)

Ha! 100 watt TV. My new 40 inch energy star Samsung TV uses 24 watts.

Use energy efficient appliances to lower your electrical needs. My TV needs just 1/4 the number of panels.


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