Please give me Recommendations on cheap but genuine solar panel.
I recently purchased a power station and want to buy a 300 - 500 watt solar panel for it. I was about to buy this one but after reading his feedback someone said it's nowhere near the amps making it a fraction of the wattage. I'm finding similar comments on both eBay and Amazon.
Do legit budget panels exist or do I need rethink the budget?
Cheapest option if your inverter can handle the voltage is some second hand house panels from Gumtree/marketplace.
yep, you'll score them for free or pretty close to
The listing does not even seem to give dimensions. That would be one red flag. (of many)
I don't have any decent deals on panels through marketplace or gumtree around me and I don't have the knowledge to test them, it frustrates me. I need to buy new but don't want my arms and legs chopped off..
This feels like the shadiest industry, the deeper I go the dirtier I feel.. Endless pages of lies…
I'm sure the only way they get away with this is almost everyone is too ignorant to know better……
Look at this https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/275179779385
Claims 380w has 99.6% positive Feedback and the panel is only 1.1147000m2
In the sea of positive comments we find a small few like this
200W solar panel. Not even close, barely outputs 30-50W in direct sunlight. Seller is false advertising
At this point getting the power station branded (very expensive) fold out panels is the only of knowing true wattage output.
I recently purchased a power station and want to buy a 300 - 500 watt solar panel for it.
or lower your expectations of solar panel output.
You aren't going to get "300-500W" from any kind of portable single fold out panel option under normal operating/load connected conditions
Most folding panels you're able to actually move around and unfold will be in the 100-200W range if they arent lying.
I don't mind setting up some panels. Alloy frame or fold out is fine by me. I have 2000Wh to fill, a big task in itself but in addition the power station will be getting used during the day as it charges. Ideally being fully charged or 75% by nightfall is the plan. It can take 500w so 2 x 250w would work for me or as close to that for a reasonable cost.
At 2000Wh and a theoretical 375w input (500w - 25%) it should take 5.6 hours to fully charge if not being used.
Also check out the VOC. Have noticed a lot of cheeper panels have a very high voltage at zero current condition… Well above what many controllers are designed to handle.
It isn't that the panel is fake, just the wattage is over stated. As a rule of thumb, a 200w panel will have to be about 1m2. If sellers are claiming more watts for a smaller panel it is likely overstated.
Cheapest option if your inverter can handle the voltage is some second hand house panels from Gumtree/marketplace.