Go Power Duralite Hard Solar Panels ????

[deserthawk]

Has anyone had experience with the Go Power Duralite Hard Solar Panels?

http://tinyurl.com/2s87wy

I am thinking of installing 4 of the 20W units on the roof of my new TD build. They are fairly lightweight and ultra thin but how well do they work?

Would 80W be enough power for a full time dry camp system?

I saw a post a while back on minimum solar setups for TDs but I can't find it now.

Thanks,

Deserthawk

[madjack]

DH, it would depend greatly on how much power you actuallu use inna days time...looking at the stats on those units, you should be able to get 20AH to maybe 30AH...that is best case scenario(for figuring purposes)...now figure how much power you will need...the actual power you get from them will depend greatly on positioning, strength/amount of sunlight and other factors.........
madjack
p.s. keep in mind that you will also need a charge controller...look in sdtrippers index in this section for links to solar info....MJ

[daveleb55]

Deserthawk,
How big are your batteries? what are you going to be running off them? the solar panels are to charge the batteries, if the batteries are properly sized for your electrical usage, the solar panels just have to generate enough to charge them. Most of your electrical usage will be at night for lights and whatnot. One of those 20Watt panels might be enough, depending on the above electrical usage.

Dave

[madjack]

...another thought for your consideration...for the price of 4 of those, you could buy a Honda 2000watt gennie...run it about 2-3 hours and you would get as much power as those solar cells and not be dependent on the sun(as such)...I believe that "Q" lives full time of the grid using batteries and solar, you might wanna get in touch with him, if you are considering a full time deal.....
madjack

[Alphacarina]

I'm using this one from Northern

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200263174_200263174

It's perfect for the roof of a tear because it's only 1/2 inch thick and it's about as long as a tear is wide. They're on sale now for $80 each, so 5 of these would get you 75 watts for only $400 - As opposed to the 80 watts 4 of the ones you're considering which would cost you $800

I have lots of experience with solar panels on sailboats - I had two 100 Watt panels on my last boat connected to about 750 AH of batteries and my boat was totally self-sufficient for about a week to ten days, which is pretty good considering I had electric refrigeration, microwave, TV and lots of other 'accessories'

How well 80 watts of panels will work for you is dependant on not only how much you're trying to run, but also on how much battery you have, so it's not really possible to specualte how long you'll be self sufficient without some additional information - If you're running a DC refrigerator with a single group 24 battery, it won't be all that long, even with 80 watts of solar panels

80 watts of panels will give you 20 to 25 amp hours per day and if you had a fridge which uses 2.5 amps per hour, it would consume about 60 AH per day, so you would be 'losing' 35 to 40 AH per day and if your battery only had 40 AH to begin with, you would be out of power after about 24 hours . . . . but if you don't have a DC fridge, you would be in pretty good shape using power just for lights, radio and maybe a small TV

Don

[deserthawk]

I'm using this one from Northern

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200263174_200263174

It's perfect for the roof of a tear because it's only 1/2 inch thick and it's about as long as a tear is wide. They're on sale now for $80 each, so 5 of these would get you 75 watts for only $400 - As opposed to the 80 watts 4 of the ones you're considering which would cost you $800

I have lots of experience with solar panels on sailboats - I had two 100 Watt panels on my last boat connected to about 750 AH of batteries and my boat was totally self-sufficient for about a week to ten days, which is pretty good considering I had electric refrigeration, microwave, TV and lots of other 'accessories'

How well 80 watts of panels will work for you is dependant on not only how much you're trying to run, but also on how much battery you have, so it's not really possible to specualte how long you'll be self sufficient without some additional information - If you're running a DC refrigerator with a single group 24 battery, it won't be all that long, even with 80 watts of solar panels

80 watts of panels will give you 20 to 25 amp hours per day and if you had a fridge which uses 2.5 amps per hour, it would consume about 60 AH per day, so you would be 'losing' 35 to 40 AH per day and if your battery only had 40 AH to begin with, you would be out of power after about 24 hours . . . . but if you don't have a DC fridge, you would be in pretty good shape using power just for lights, radio and maybe a small TV

Don

Thanks for the info on the solar panel from Northern. About how much do these weigh and how fragile are they? Could they take a hail storm without damage? Just wonderin'

[Guy]

Dear Deserthawk,


Check out RvSolarElectric. com right in Scottsdale. They are very popular with the RV Experts and quite reliable and reasonable. They even have worksheets and the such to help you figure out the load.

http://www.rvsolarelectric.com

You are on the good path and live where the sun shines, Don't be foolish and get a stupid generator.

[brian_bp]

Don's panels from Northern Tool look like ICP Solar units, which are commonly sold in packages branded by Coleman and others. They are commonly used on RVs. I would expect them to withstand most weather conditions (including moderate hail), since they are intended to be permanently mounted.

I like going to the original source for product information, such as the Go Power! DURAlite site (from Carmanah Technologies Corporation). I'm guessing from this remark...

Unlike permanent solar options installed on RVs and boats, DURAlite Solar Chargers can be put out in the sun to charge a battery and then stored for later use

... that they might not withstand continuous outdoor mounting. The flexibility would be nice to follow the curve of a classic teardrop roof mounting. I don't know where the term "hard" in the original post's description comes from - I do not believe that these are rigid panels.

The Go Power description says...

They offer almost double the power of conventional thin-film solar panels,

... but I don't know what they are comparing to. The rated output per unit area is only 23% higher than ICP Solar's very common SE-1200 (which ICP rates at the same 1.2A and 15V working condition as the DURAlite GPDL20).

The DURAlites should also be light... but since the maker doesn't light the weight, that's only a guess.

The Alternative Energy Store "sale" price is quite high for an amorphous panel of this output.

[Alphacarina]

Thanks for the info on the solar panel from Northern. About how much do these weigh and how fragile are they? Could they take a hail storm without damage? Just wonderin'

Mine weighs 10.5 pounds

It appears the panel is sandwiched between 2 panes of tempered glass which is probably where 90% of the weight is, as the outer frame is plastic

I would say these are very hardy panels, when it comes to weather . . . . hail included. They ARE designed for permanent mounting, so they should take whatever mother nature can dish out . . . . within reason. They have a 5 year warranty, whatever that means, but it sounds pretty good for something meant to be permanently mounted

Falling trees or baseball sized hail may break them . . . . but the panels on the roof MAY prevent the hail from coming all the way though the tear roof and bonking you on the head

Either way, I'll bet they are hardier than say the cover on your Fantastic Fan

Don