45 Watt Solar Panel Kit

I live in a very rural part of Arizona, and I depend on solar and wind for power. This unit was as described out of the box - and should have been more than enough to power my rabbitry (the small barn that houses my rabbits).

However, I have had to purchase a seccond unit to achieve the the advertised "Full Power Output", as well as increase my storage capacity. Also, urring heavy use times - I have to hook up my Jeeps battery via jumper cables, and let it run to provide extra power.

So, overall - this porduct is over priced for the value. A good deal at $129 (since you will have to buy 2 if you plan to really use them), but a rip-off at $200 or more.

(Posted on 8/23/10)

when i purchased this solar kit it was on sale for $110, if they would do that again i would buy anouther and get a couple extra panels. seems as though greed got the best of them, when i looked back into this and seen the $250 price and sale price $169 all i could think was someone got greedy. want to sell your product in this economy lower the cost!!

(Posted on 8/22/10)

This year we held our company summer picnic off grid. No generator! So picked up the solar kit, a little 400 watt Chicago Electric inverter from Harbor Freight and hooked it all up to a gel cell battery I have. This little kit kept the battery humming while the stereo kept the party humming.

This is a great little hobby kit from HF!

(Posted on 8/22/10)

I tried using a single set of 3 of these panels. I found my batteries would loose .1 volt a day. I use a 300 watt pure sign wave inverter at night to run equipment. I have two 24 series batteries. When I go to sleep I just let the inverter run. If you are out for a full week that's close to a full volt. I added a second set of 3 panels and a 10 amp charge controller to my travel trailer and that should be good. The 6 panels put out around 5 amps in the Nevada sun. None of my panels produce the 23.75 OCV advertised. I get between 21.1 to 22.3 (each panel is differant). But I now have a reliable 5 amps. I designed my own mounting brackets as no one make them (roof mount).

(Posted on 8/19/10)

I used the mounting frame to mount them all three together. I used very small self tapping screws...drilled holes in the steel frame and used the self tapping on the aluminum on the panel frames. You must be careful not to drill into the glass. As far as power I seem to be getting about 1.3 to 1.4 amps out of these not the 3.75 they should be getting. I purchased a 5000 watt inverter (overkill for these panels but I have since added a couple of Kyocera 135's) These would not keep the two 6 volt deep cycle batteries charged enough to overcome the draw down of the inverter. Like I said inverter overkill for these. But if I could buy this kit in the 150 range I would probably get a couple of more. These work better in low light conditions than my Kyoceras. I set the charger and other stuff aside. Would be nice to just buy the panel kit though. Currently looking at the Kaneka 55 panels.

(Posted on 8/19/10)

I have 4 sets of these systems, for a total of 12 panels. Two years in an rv, & now living in a compact desert cabin & these panels have gone right along w/me. I basically use them for small items such as desert night time lighting for in/outdoors. I run a 400 watt inverter for my 120 V items. My last system purchase was $139.00 w/o any coupon(s) I know this isn't buying American, but who the hell else here makes an affordable setup like this for the money????

(Posted on 8/18/10)

I bought a set of these for my camper, I do alot of fishing here in late fall, winter. I have a 110 frig that I like to keep running and using 10 gallons of gas a day takes lots of fun out of it. I have taken them out once to use and like them. It was summer though and I had my battery charger all things ran good. The TV stereo, laptop,Frig. I even turned on the Air conditor on. Cool, Quite. I dont under stand the batteries I got a big one fro Walmart and a small for the elect trolling moter for the boat. How many battires can you hook-up to these panels? How many do you got? I'm thinking about buying 2 or 3 more big $80.00 Marine batteries at Walmart before Fall gets here...? I got mine for around $110.00 sure beates the $400.00 Genarator.

(Posted on 8/15/10)

Good system for trailer - charges really fast with 2 batteries. DO NOT power your hose off this - there are industrial systems better suited for this that are less expensive. Unless you are running low power things that you would stick in a trailer.

Also dont compare this solar system to rates your electric company has - it wont win. The system is really for someone using DC power eg. Trailer/Boat/RV ect. If you are going to drop your power company, you need to really invest in plasma 4th genneration panels that can put out over 100 watts PER PANEL. They run about $400 each but are cheaper in the end.

For my use in a travel trailer i bought this system and bought an additional panel for $50 Harbor Freight has. they sell the panels seperetly at my store. I wired all 4 in and they have lots of juice. PLENTY to power a water pump, all DC lights, and charge the battery. If the battery was completely dead it take less than 10 hours to charge and completely top it off. I wanted this system to top off my batteries when Im not using them so I dont have to run the gennerator and they do an awesome job. All the on/off of the pump is supplamented by the solar during the day and the battery is not even used from what I can measure.

if you plan on adding more panels I highly reccomend getting a different charge controller that matches and exceeds the amount of amps your feeding it. This system does not say how many it can handle but I am assuming it cant handle more than 7-10 amps.

(Posted on 8/14/10)

Worst economy ever so lets inflate the price. No comments in 3wks. sales must of fallen flat. Bet they don't post this comment either.

(Posted on 8/12/10)

Some were commenting on the $250 price. If you want a lower price use this link:
HTTP://www.harborfreight.com/clippermag

There is a coupon to get the kit for $150

(Posted on 8/9/10)