Need portable solar panels for my power station

[maki2]

Buy from a reputable company and get one of the extended warranty policies when you buy. Make sure the company has a good reputation for customer service. Ask to see the instruction manual before you make a purchase and read it carefully. See if there are good videos from the company posted on their website and on YouTube before you buy. As a newbie to solar you need to be sure you have good product support when out on the road.

 

[Oldwolf]

Measured my laptop and telescope drive wattage with the power station and am pretty confident I can start with a 100W panel. I think I will try out the BlueSky 100W suitcase. But now I need to think about cables. Panels terminate with Anderson Connectors.

1) So now need to find longish (maybe 25 ft??) cable with Anderson on one side and Bluetti DC connector on the other, or,
2) Anderson on one side and MC4 Solar Connector on the other since a MC4 to Bluetti DC connector was included.

Where have you all found to be a good source of cables online (Amazon?)

 

[bullfrog]

Most buy a heavy duty extension cord then install ends to make it work. Just make sure polarity is correct and the adaptor or ends match and maintain polarity. Problem with making adaptors is with some it is possible to plug them in incorrectly(backwards) which would be a very bad thing.

 

[Oldwolf]

What is the deal with these adapters.
I am looking at an Anderson to MC4 adapter.
Then a MC4 extension cable which will attach to my factory supplied MC4 to Bluetti 8mm plug.
Seems like the colors won't necessarily correlate (red=+, black=-) at all times.
Now I see why you said make your own, bullfrog.

 

[wayne49]

Walmart carries a package with six rolls of variously colored electrical tape.
Wrap the cables near the ends with your choice of colors for positive and negative.

 

[LoupGarou]

There's the 120/130 watt portable panel sold by BougeRV. It seems to be a compromise between the alum/glass panels and the fabric ones.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Where have you all found to be a good source of cables online (Amazon?)

I have ordered most of my pre-made cables from Powerwerx and had good luck:

https://powerwerx.com/adapter-extension-cables#?specs=434
No matter where you order the cables from be sure to verify the polarity is correct at both ends, there are no real 'standards' when it comes to solar connectors. I have seen them in both configurations even from the same manufacturers. Never assume they are plug and play. "Trust but verify!"

 

[Oldwolf]

Thanks tx2sturgis. Sounds like good advice.

 

[onethoughtatatime]

Good to know. I missed that followup video.

Will Prouse doesn't like flexible panels. Have you read up at his site? From Will:

Flexible Solar Panels? Don't Buy them!​

You have been warned:​

Every single flex panel on the market is garbage. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong on this. I have destroyed stacks of these things. The cells crack easily and take out a whole string of cells when the bus bars break. Or they have extreme degradation after a few months of summer. Even the latest "CIGS" panels that I was so excited about, are having delamination problems.

Do yourself a favor, and avoid the flex panels. None of them are good.

https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-panels.html
https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/

Hi, I've used flexible solar panels and have tried all of the currently known technology over the years and respectfully disagree that all flexible solar panels are not worth buying.

Here's my take, thin film solar, CIGS, Unisolar can be OK if you are buying A-grade. They are less efficient and require a larger surface area. I tested CIGs off-axis efficiency and also found it to be less the glass mono and poly (normal) style solar panels. But not by a huge amount. I always fancied UNISOLAR panels just because of their unique history and cool looks. they are massively long and I thing they went out of production years ago.

PET based flexible solar panels can be identified by their generally glossy appearance. The ones I owned were actual rubbish. They are prone to bubbling and the solar cells degrade for some/whatever reason it seems.

ETFE A-grade flexible mono solar panels are the bee-knees as far as I'm concerned. I had one on a small van camper and it worked well and output close to it's rated output the few years I had it without any noticeable degradation. This is on a van roof that got hot in summer (albeit in a temparate climate). I currently have 2x 100w ETFE mounted in series with a true MPPT directly mounting on a roof. Time is too early to tell how well these will fair. Seems fine for the moment.

As an aside I owned a pair of folding ground mounted Sunpower solar panels fashioned with aluminium spreader for a bus I owned for a few years many years ago. I ended up owning a single double 80w solar panel system and a simpler single 50w solar panel system. My take is I will always prefer roof mounted panels. The efficiency gained from ground mounted solar panels being able to face the sun trades-off against the need to be around them all the time and only having them out when properly setup for camping.

Also, blanket style solar panels don't work for me either although they can work imo as supplementary panels well if you want more power and don't have the room on the roof.

 

[Happy Camper]

ALLPOWERS Portable Solar Panel 100W (Dual 5v USB with 18v DC Output) Monocrystalline Solar Charger Foldable Solar Panel for Laptop, Portable Generator, 12v Car, Boat, RV Battery https://a.co/d/aLTeMwk