# Anybody tried Solar Panel Kits?



## remmettn (Dec 26, 2005)

Anybody tried the Harbor Freight Solar Panel Kits?
I have heard they are cheap are they good for beginners?
Or what kits have you used?
or what should I use?
:shrug:


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Depends on what (watt)(  ) you want to do. If you just need a little power, they would work. If you need more than a little power (and I mean little), you have to buy bigger and better stuff.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

I bought a 100 watt kit from amazon (renogy) for about the same price as the HF kits to experiment with. It is a panel, mounting hardware, cables and charge controller. I set it up with 2 deep cell batteries and it currently runs thru a 110 inverter to power a fan and a single lamp in our greenhouse.
Same money, but 100 watts instead of 45.

Matt


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

The harbor freight panels were at one time a nice deal but they are just to expensive for what you get. 45 watts advertised 25-35 measured output and a cheap charge controller for around $200 or $160 on sale with all the right coupons.

You can get 100 watt panels for around $120 now and charge controller can be had for $30. Add a little wire and you have twice the power of the HF panels.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Roadking said:


> I bought a 100 watt kit from amazon (renogy) for about the same price as the HF kits to experiment with. It is a panel, mounting hardware, cables and charge controller. I set it up with 2 deep cell batteries and it currently runs thru a 110 inverter to power a fan and a single lamp in our greenhouse.
> Same money, but 100 watts instead of 45.
> 
> Matt


 I have a couple of the 100watt renogy panels that power for "computer/ham radio shack" entire room powered of the two panels a couple of deep cycle batteries. Dont even bother with the inverter, everything will run off 12v.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Gary in ohio said:


> The harbor freight panels were at one time a nice deal but they are just to expensive for what you get. 45 watts advertised 25-35 measured output and a cheap charge controller for around $200 or $160 on sale with all the right coupons.
> 
> You can get 100 watt panels for around $120 now and charge controller can be had for $30. Add a little wire and you have twice the power of the HF panels.


Very much have to agree because I did a side by side comparison. I bought two HF kits while on sale and was ready to install my system when these German panels went on sale.


The German panels are the ones in the front, with the HF's in the back. I mounted the HFs on two different heights of rack, so they don't look the same. The German panels are of better quality at less than half the price per watt. I also threw away the HF charge controllers and bought a SunForce.

BTW, the frames are made out of sheetrock edge stripping that is welded together with a little 110V MIG welder. Linked into trusses, the wimpy little steel strips become rigid enough to withstand the winter storms here.


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## DWBayless (Jul 22, 2015)

The HF kits were a pretty good deal in 2009. I've got two sets powering my shed, with a couple of marine batteries. I use an inverter to power my modem, run a few LED lights, and charge tablets/phones during outages. I did replace the charge controller, because the one that comes with the HF kit is junk. 

I agree with the opinion above - at the current state of technology and price for panels and solar equipment, there are better options. 

I'm looking at building a small 24 volt system, with plans to finalize the equipment list and purchase in the next few weeks. The Renogy parts look pretty good. There are better prices elsewhere, but the free shipping on 150 watt and smaller panels would seem to even the score for a small to medium sized system.


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