Harbor Freight solar working great!!

[Twistedlarch]

Day two into my 5 day trip and the 100 watt Thunderbolt panels from HR are working awesome! Full sunlight hits the panels at 9 A.M. and stays on then until 4:30 P.M.

Batteries were down to 12.5 volts (85%) and had them back up to 100% in 2 hrs.

Peak voltage coming from the panels I saw was 14.2.


Brian

[TomG2]

Twistedlarch wrote:
...snip......

I'm out exploring all day with my 8-10 year old boys.

I wanted a simple plug and play that'll bring my batteries back up during the day and I got exactly what I wanted.

Brian

Did you return the kit? Wasn't it fun to extend your trip quietly and simply? Welcome to Solar.

[sgfrye]

thanks for the update.. sometimes best thing to do is keep it simple

[ZINGERLITE]

profdant139 wrote:
Well done!! Lucky boys. Sounds like you are careful with juice -- if the battery is down to 12.5 after one night, you are probably a minimalist (like me). I bet you are not running the television much -- too much fun to be had outside!!

I think rule number 1 is to not bring a TV camping with young kids! My wife and i laughed last time we took the nephews camping. They handed us tablets and said "can you hook us up to the WIFI?" lmao! thats not how it works kids!

[starlord]

I use one panel and a charge controller to keep my battery charged in storage. Seems to work pretty good to keep the battery full while I'm not using it (also keeps me from having to take the battery out and put it on a trickle charger for months).

[Jebby14]

my new Coleman 100W cheapie is all wired up and tested good. labor day is a dry weekend for us to prove it out. I enjoyed reading this.

[dodge_guy]

Those are junk and will fail within the week!











HaHa. I am thinking about the HF panels as well. I would like to not have to worry about the batteries if I ever dry camp. Keep us updated.

[time2roll]

100 watts total right? Thunderbolt controller? Solar is great if it can work for you.

[profdant139]

Well done!! Lucky boys. Sounds like you are careful with juice -- if the battery is down to 12.5 after one night, you are probably a minimalist (like me). I bet you are not running the television much -- too much fun to be had outside!!

[Twistedlarch]

TomG2 wrote:

Twistedlarch wrote:
Day two into my 5 day trip and the 100 watt Thunderbolt panels from HR are working awesome! Full sunlight hits the panels atmo9 A.M. and stays on then until 4:30 P.M.

Batteries were down to 12.5 volts (85%) and had them back up to 100% in 2 hrs.

Peak voltage coming from the panels I saw was 14.2.

Brian

Good job. Like most of the reviews, you are having fun. Get ready for the 'They ain't no good crowd". Don't let them spoil your camping fun.

The "ain't no good" crowd can kiss my you know what!

I'm not sitting on my arse in my trailer all day complaining about how crappy others people's stuff is, I'm out exploring all day with my 8-10 year old boys.

I wanted a simple plug and play that'll bring my batteries back up during the day and I got exactly what I wanted.


Brian

[TomG2]

Twistedlarch wrote:
Day two into my 5 day trip and the 100 watt Thunderbolt panels from HR are working awesome! Full sunlight hits the panels atmo9 A.M. and stays on then until 4:30 P.M.

Batteries were down to 12.5 volts (85%) and had them back up to 100% in 2 hrs.

Peak voltage coming from the panels I saw was 14.2.

Brian

Good job. Like most of the reviews, you are having fun. Get ready for the 'They ain't no good crowd". Don't let them spoil your camping fun.

[ksbowman]

Do you have an interrupter to keep the panels from over charging or are you monitoring the batteries and disconnecting when they are full?