Solar blankets - a rip off?

Mike Harding · Guru

Solar blankets - a rip off?

orid · Senior Member

I and my friend have one from BCF , they are excellent XTM 200 watt very reasonable price ,especially if you are a member,think it was $299.oo looks feels top Quality .

Regards Orid

XTM 200w Folding Solar Blanket | BCF

-- Edited by orid on Wednesday 26th of May 2021 02:20:29 PM

Plain Truth · Guru

I gave the solar blanket a miss,to fiddley. If you lay it over the car bonnet,when the sun goes ,you have to move the car or swing the blanket around.

I started with a panel in an aluminum case,quite heavy went to a blanket, too cumbersome.

Now I use a kickass ETFE panel,light weight easy to move,and waterproof,very happy.

Whenarewethere · Guru

That's why I made my own. Standard folding panels were too large & blanket specs were a bag of lies!

Kiwoz · Veteran Member

Mike, a few years ago we bought a pair of "Reputable" brand 120w 3panel folding thingys. 12 months later they were being marketed as 100w units but we've never seen more than 60w out of them, weren't cheap either.

Biggest hassle is when they get hot they become quite supple. If they manage to bend over their support and the sun goes away, the bend or kink can become very difficult to correct.

Have now got 120w Atem units from Sunyee. These have alloy frames and so far seem much more durable, although they do get very warm on a bright day. We opted for 2 120w units purely for convenience as they are under 5kg each and stow in the front boot nicely. I did take the liberty of beefing up the wiring and binned the reg. that was fitted.

Happy camper now, B.

dorian · Guru

orid wrote:
I and my friend have one from BCF , they are excellent XTM 200 watt very reasonable price ,especially if you are a member,think it was $299.oo looks feels top Quality .

Regards Orid

XTM 200w Folding Solar Blanket | BCF

I don't see any real specs (eg dimensions) on the BCF web site. On that basis I would stay away from this product.

The Kings web site, OTOH, does have full specs, and these would indicate that the claimed output is consistent with an efficiency of 17%. Therefore the negative reviews are puzzling to me.

I just noticed that the photo in the Kings review is of a 6-panel blanket laid out flat on the grass whereas the actual product has 5 panels with support legs.

-- Edited by dorian on Thursday 27th of May 2021 06:54:00 AM

Rob Driver · Guru

dorian wrote:
orid wrote:
I and my friend have one from BCF , they are excellent XTM 200 watt very reasonable price ,especially if you are a member,think it was $299.oo looks feels top Quality .

Regards Orid

XTM 200w Folding Solar Blanket | BCF
I don't see any real specs (eg dimensions) on the BCF web site. On that basis I would stay away from this product.
The Kings web site, OTOH, does have full specs, and these would indicate that the claimed output is consistent with an efficiency of 17%. Therefore the negative reviews are puzzling to me.
I just noticed that the photo in the Kings review is of a 6-panel blanket laid out flat on the grass whereas the actual product has 5 panels with support legs.

-- Edited by dorian on Thursday 27th of May 2021 06:54:00 AM

A good mate of mine bought one of these solar blankets and while it looked good (his words) he was never able to get much in the way of charge out of it.

He decided that it was the way it was being presented to the sun so he got some aluminium tubing and built a frame that he could easily clip the blanket to.

His new frame meant that the panel was presented at a suitable angle to the sun and could be moved as the day progressed to collect the maximum solar energy.

From memory he also mucked around with the wiring and the regulator but I am not sure what he did.

Regards

Rob

Mike Harding · Guru

More bad news on Kings - read the review by "jclark" and Kings' replies:

Kings solar blanket

It seems Kings solar blankets don't like water, it causes corrosion of the internal panel link wires which makes them about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.

markf · Senior Member

I wouldn't go near a solar blanket again.

I have a 250W blanket which can produce 250W when it's clean, dry and cold. If it's not spotlessly clean or if it has a bit of morning dew the output will drop to under 200W. Even in winter under noon sun it gets quite hot and the output drops to under 100W.

Now after a couple of years the plastic (or whatever it is) is becoming a bit cloudy in spots and the max attainable output is sub 200W

As far as I'm concerned it's a crock. Yes, it was cheap and it's convenient and it's pretty light but it's not worth a bad haircut.

I reckon the old adage of "buy cheap, buy twice" holds true.

Tony Bev · Guru

There may be good and bad solar blankets, from different manufactures/sellers

A few years ago, I came across a man with a solar blanket, he purchased from BCF

Forgot the make and capacity, but he was very happy with it, he said that he could run his small chest fridge, direct from the solar blanket

He was not trying to sell me anything, so he had no reason to lie to me

I had met him in the north of WA, where there is usually plenty of sunshine, perhaps it may be different in the south of the country

gdayjr · Senior Member

Mike Harding wrote:
More bad news on Kings - read the review by "jclark" and Kings' replies:
Kings solar blanket
It seems Kings solar blankets don't like water, it causes corrosion of the internal panel link wires which makes them about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.

Even a bad haircut comes good after a few weeks !

Mike Harding · Guru

gdayjr wrote:
Mike Harding wrote:
More bad news on Kings - read the review by "jclark" and Kings' replies:
Kings solar blanket
It seems Kings solar blankets don't like water, it causes corrosion of the internal panel link wires which makes them about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.
Even a bad haircut comes good after a few weeks !

You mean that if I buy one, it gets wet and the wiring corrodes, but I wait a few weeks it will repair itself!?

Whenarewethere · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
Can anyone recommend a solar blanket they *know*, because they have measured it, performs to its specification?

No one here can answer this question as only about 3 of us have a DC clamp meter & the 3 of us with a clamp meter wouldn't buy a blanket to start with.

Mike Harding · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
No one here can answer this question as only about 3 of us have a DC clamp meter & the 3 of us with a clamp meter wouldn't buy a blanket to start with.

There are well established, and more accurate, methods of measuring DC current than using a Hall Effect device.

orid · Senior Member

I recommend the bcc ones I get at least 10 amps to 22 amps on full sun and 2 to 5 on cloudy days

orid · Senior Member

Listen to people that use them , not the others

orid · Senior Member

Should said bcf

orid · Senior Member

God Im a mess today should have gone to spec savers, Suould be bcf and 10 to 12 Amps

Mike Harding · Guru

Thanks for the replies people.

I've gone off solar blankets now, I don't want something which if it gets wet falls apart. This aspect of some (all?) solar blankets should be much more widely known and I would expect reputable retailers to make it clear rather than hiding it away in the small print.

Cupie · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
Whenarewethere wrote:
No one here can answer this question as only about 3 of us have a DC clamp meter & the 3 of us with a clamp meter wouldn't buy a blanket to start with.
There are well established, and more accurate, methods of measuring DC current than using a Hall Effect device.

Probably so. but they are easy to use & accurate enough for this exercise. So if you have one, why not.

Whenarewethere · Guru

I have voltage & amp meter built into my solar setup. Also my Victron MPPT sends Bluetooth data to my phone.

But a quick glance of an analogue meter is simple.

IMG_20210201_123930870~4.jpg

Clamp meter is quick to check different things, like alternator charging.

stotty · Newbie

We bought one from Aldis it works perfectly I cant remember what we paid for it but it wasn't too dear

Whenarewethere · Guru

How close was its output compared to its rating?

My panels are 120 watts, but produced 122, usually 125 to 127, & with water cooling I could squeeze up to 137 watts.

-- Edited by Whenarewethere on Wednesday 2nd of June 2021 07:54:26 AM

Whenarewethere · Guru

stotty wrote:
We bought one from Aldis it works perfectly I cant remember what we paid for it but it wasn't too dear

& its output is how much?

Whenarewethere · Guru

It would be actually useful if people measure the output of the solar panels they bought.

Simply saying it works perfectly is a meaningless statement.

It is easy to measure solar panel performance.

Brodie Allen · Guru

I have an ATEM Power blanket and it is only used as a supplement and
as a back-up in case the main system fails.

It's a very handy folding / bendable unit that is about the size of a
large brief case with a convenient handle.

I'm not certain what amperage I have achieved but to the best of
my memory the last time I used it was down the Snowy in winter and was
laying flat on the ground (not the best attitude) and I'm pretty
certain it was around 15 amps - which is quite respectable.

Do your reading, there's a couple of types of material used in the
panels "monocrystalline and polycrystalline.

Monocrystalline is superior but not by country miles.

You need to be careful because
some smarty sellers will ask the higher price for the lesser type.

And "quoted" outputs can be taken with a kilo of salt in so many cases.

When you get one an Anderson plug on the chassis with HEAVY leads back to the

battery is all you'll need. The blankets come with a controller and can be hooked

simultaneously with whatever other charging units that you have.

Be very careful. Read up and use respectable purveyors!

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Friday 20th of August 2021 09:23:37 AM

-- Edited by Brodie Allen on Friday 20th of August 2021 09:26:51 AM

vince56 · Senior Member

Pardon my ignorance but using my multimeter, when the portable panel is clipped to a battery can I measure the amperage at any time or does the battery need to be quite flat and receiving high charge??

Dicko1 · Senior Member

vince56 wrote:
Pardon my ignorance but using my multimeter, when the portable panel is clipped to a battery can I measure the amperage at any time or does the battery need to be quite flat and receiving high charge??

No...you can measure the amperage at anytime. When the battery is absolutely full you should see the amperage limited. This is where a bluetooth enabled MPPT regulator is very handy for collecting data.

Whenarewethere · Guru

If you use a MPPT the controller will maintain a slightly higher voltage to charge to maintain maximum amps. Until the controller sees that the battery then needs to go to float.

So you really need to measure amps at a range of voltages to get an overall picture.

Voltage down a bit but 11.3amps total from 120 watts of solid solar panels, not rubbish blankets, using Victron 100/20 with panel cooling & 4awg wiring to squeeze blood out of a stone!

Dick0 · Guru

Product reviews and many opinions are a minefield.

In the end use manufacturers claimed specs and balance cost to decide.

I haven't come across anyone, who bought theirs from an Australian seller, to be disappointed.

If unsure, buy one panel and test it, and if pleased with results get more. If unhappy, return it and get your money back. Easy.

biggrin