ARE ALL SOLAR PANELS BUILT THE SAME? Permanent vs Portable vs Solar Blankets

This is the most helpful, erudite and informed presentation on solar panels for 4 wheel drive I have listened heard.

I am currently I the middle of a warranty claim on a 200w flexible panel from these guys (Lensun Solar) that I had mounted to the roof of my RTT since may2023 (its AUG 2023 @ time of writing). Maybe it will get better but currently I have not been impressed, my issue hasn't been resolved, and the panel just up and quit working. No visible damage. Just stopped working.

👍🙏

i have a 130 amp solar pan, max power 18v open circuit vol 22.5 max system vol 1000 witch fuse do i need for the solar panel

What is the most powerful blanket out???

More amps with heat does not mean the mppt will work better! more voltage would. So if it went from 18-21v then the mppt would be able to put out more. Plus you didnt say if the voltage dropped? So if amps up and volts down its likely the ONLY thing that would see a benefit would be PWM (though still lower than a mppt)

Im a bit confused, he said put the solar blanket in direct sunlight facing the sun, but then he said to keep the solar blanket cool, what put it the shade and poor iced water over the panels every 20 minutes? if the panels are in the shade then how can it use the sun to charge the battery?

This is really good information, thanks so much. Knowing all that, I'm looking for a rigid solar panel to charge my 1,000 watt portable power station at home. I have a south facing window which gets good sun most of the day. Can anyone recommend a decent 200 watt solar panel with monocrystalline and class A rating? Thanks.

I learned a lot. Thanks.

Don't tell me that Australia beats North Africa or the Andes mountains for solar radiation or Antarctica for that matter

Kk

Do you have a link to a shot out with other (quality?) solar panels please?

Lol

can you run a blanket along side a fixed panel?

I wonder if anyone has installed panels actually inside a 4x4 canopy, (flexiglass) side, long windows, have the battery in the tub, and when at home, I hook up the panels to Kings solar charger, a pain in the butt, would be nice to have panels secured inside, would also cut out the sun as well?

Rated vs real world. A lot of blankets advertise say 200w but only produce around half of that in full sun conditions. Kings included

Hello, when I connect solar panel to my battery the voltage rises and lowers rapidly on my battery, is this normal, if not what could be causing it? Thank you, Noel.

What's the difference between 100watt and 400watt solar panels ? Thanks

A really well thought out video! Thank you! It would be nicer without the loud music. As for me it was distracting.

MPPT for the win

Question..... Oh BTW, that was great info thanks very much.. I am looking for a panel with the highest Amp output I can get and was wondering if your Kings 200W Solar Blanket coupled with the 20A MPPT controller that is advertised as outputting "up to 16Amps" is a "Real Life" figure that I could expect to get in ideal conditions or is that the unachievable Lab test rating ? Cheers

Very helpful thank you

Hi Mate just a question - I've put in a solar system on my caravan, 3x300 watt Mono's. Got 2x300amp lithium batteries in caravan. It seems the installers couple the 3 panels in series and is surposed to kick out 60 amp , because each panel kicks out plus minus 20 amps. On the best sunny day we only manage to get 25amps of charging from the 3 panels. We thought we would get at least 50 amps . The most wattage we got out was 450 watts between al 3 of them and we getting a good 60 volts from the 3 panels in series. Do you got any recommedations ? Thanks, will await your response Pieter

I have a 90watt tv I want to run it off grid for 26 hours a day.
What equipments I need with a tight budget????
I appreciate if you can precisely give me exact amps,bolts or watts equipment power i need.
Thank you in advance.

seeing as down under is a good 2% closer to the sun than any country in the northern part of the earth in there summers.
due to the tilt and egg shaped orbit around the sun.
so yes solar is better there.

About to add permanent panel on top of my vehicle (with existing roof basket, deciding between semi-flex and standard solar panel. Is it safe to stack on top of either of these panels? Flat items like portable solar panel (for trailer) or soft rooftop bags with bedding only.

Tx Cobb.

Hey Guys, I have just installed a 160W fixed solar panel onto my 4wd. It charges the Aux battery through a kings 25A DCDC charger.
I am wondering about adding an additional 200W solar blanket in parallel with the 160W fixed panel while parked at camp. Is it possible to just use a 2 into 1 Anderson lead and plug them both into the DCDC charger? I noticed that they are rated to different voltages at PMAX,

Cheers.

Can you charge two batteries off one solar panel and DCDC CHARGER???

Excellent video

Dont understand much about the mathematical process but I am trying..

what dose it mean if your mono blanket has smoky looking sells in the panels

Very helpful advice on solar panels. Thanks Peter

Hello great video and lots of practical info. I am a complete novice but on a huge learning curve. My situation is that I have a 120w solar panel on the roof of my van and a 200w battery. I also want to add a portable panel as well. Do I need to get a completely new battery for the portable panel to be connected to? Thanks in advance

When installing a permanent aluminium framed panel on the roof, how much impact do corrugated roads have on the integrity of the panel? Will I need to install foam rubber under the panel? Also, is there a panel which will serve both rooftop during travel and ground during base camp?

Many thanks for this excellent presentation.

Most informative. You were able to keep us all up to speed on a relatively technical subject. Well done Sir.

it's a polycrystalline solar panel

I bought a cheaper solar panel from Aliexpress. I have a question perhaps you can help. I have 22 volts DC coming out from the solar panel. This is a 20 watt panel. The maximum current I get is 30 mA. It is quite low. It was fine before. I don't see any physical defects. I checked for the diodes and don't see. Just a little USB circuit. Any ideas what could be wrong? Thanks

Can you have two different types of panels going into one mppt charger?

Great video, very useful for a novice solar camper. Thanks for the info.

Very good information

These are great 👍🏻 thanks

great info for people to see before buying..... thank you for the video....

Really enjoyed your video mate !

Thanks for a very informative video. I like your presentation. You have a new subscriber.

very helpful, thanks for the info