solar panels revisted

RALPHRALPH · Senior Member

solar panels revisted

Yuglamron · Guru

I found that Jaycar were very competetive and used the monocrystaline panels,not the amorphous ones some use.

The panels are the same make, I was told, as the ones sold by BP solar,but much cheaper.

I do believe you can buy online from Jaycar and delivery is competetive. You could contact Casey's Rv's at Bundaberg.Not too far from Mackay if you need them fitted too.

Hope you find something that suits.

gst · Senior Member

I found that battery world in Townsville very good looking after customers and Jaycar Townsville very good too.

Hope you find someone in your area that will look after you.

RALPHRALPH · Senior Member

thanks people i will come pare prices with jaycar in mackay? and other towns in qld. smile may the force charge your batteries on the journy of life. biggrin

jimricho · Guru

Yuglamron wrote:
You could contact Casey's Rv's at Bundaberg.Not too far from Mackay if you need them fitted too.

Bundaberg is 620 kms from Mackay, hardly "not too far"

jimricho · Guru

Has anyone had any dealings with this supplier ("Bitoo", Epping Vic.) or any knowledge of the specific product. They do a range of panels apart from the one shown...

click on http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-80W-Folding-Kit-Solar-Panels-Monocrystalline-Module-12V-Camping-Caravan-/220870103854?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item336ce2532e

Nichol · Member

Hi,
Solar panels usally come with two warranties.

The first, a power output warranty (usually 20 or 25 years) guarantees that after a set length of time the solar panels will still produce a certain amount of power.

The second (which is not highlighted as much as it does not matter as much on houses) is the physical warranty, or how long they will warrant the panels if they fall apart. I have seen this vary from 3 months to 10 years.

Amorphous panels (the thin flexible ones) tend to be a bit more robust, however you get alot less power for the size of the panel.

If you are installing solar panels on the roof of your vehicle they will obviously experience much greater physical conditions than those carried inside or on a house roof. It is therefore a good idea to find out the physical warranty on the panels.

Personally I recommend BP solar or Kyocera in vehicle installations. I have been running two BP solar panels on my bonnet for 7 years and have not had a problem with them.

Cheers,
Nichol

codgerswa · Newbie

Make Sure that the wiring is 6mm twin sheathed from the panel to the solar regulator & also from the regulator to the plug & that it is no more than 10 metres long. If it is too much longer you will have to go to 9mm wiring so that you don't get too much voltage drop. I've got two 64 watt panels on the van with a 120 Ah AGM battery & two 64 watt panels + one 32 watt panel with 2 X 100 Ah AGM Batteries on the BT50. The panels are all Canon Unisolar Shade Tolerent panels & have been on my cars since 1995 & have given me no trouble at all over the 16 years that I've had them. I have Plasmatronics Regulators for that length of time also. I have the car alternater also feeding in to the 2 X 100 Ah AGM's in the car & I can manually switch them off when the sun comes out. Had almost no problems over that time at all. Cheers from codgerwa.