Had a quick look, other stores have it for $299, so $229 seem like a good deal.
Product Description:
About 34ah @ 12v, guessing it will probably run a portable fridge overnight ?
And unfortunately kings don't use Secop compressor in their fridges anymore…. all of them have cheapo compressors now.
Yeah frustratingly Aldi don't share the specs, so was curious on compressor for fridge if it was a better option than Kings.
I will use it 3-4 times a year and generally camp at powered sites, so great price for my needs. Esp now the Jaycar one's have discontinued.
Just check the input capacity as this will great impact on how you can replenish it.
I have one a 300wh and was surprised that it barely just manage to power a 40l (non branded) fridge in a car for 10hrs (during the day) at 5deg with ambient temp at 32++.
dayum!
That amazon? Sweet!
Yeah pricing error by the seller. Doubt it'll happen again.
Next time can you give me a heads up or invite me to the discord group?
There's no discord group - I found the deal myself. Coupon expired right after I ordered so seller as defs onto it, thus unable to post on insufficient page.
can i knit this into a swag to provide 200w of heating? / cooling?
Own one - You will never get the rated 200w but it will do about 100w reasonably well if placed in a very sunny elevated and ventilated area. It folds away and is quite big when unfolded, however, has no stand and is rather flimsy so you can never really target the sun. Comes with an MPPT not suitable for charging Lithium batteries. This is about the regular price after ebay discounts (or sometimes cheaper)
I am happy with mine even after having to get adapters to plug into a voltx lipo. If you are only drawing fridge current this will keep your battery topped up reasonably well.
There are plenty better in the market, however, bang for buck this does ok.
The controller is definitely suitable for charging lithium. Confirmed in the manual, and I have one myself that has no issue charging my 100ah lithium.
I manage to get around 150w in midday sun with some basic angling, from what I've read it's a bit of a gamble what wattage each blanket does. I've heard as low as 50w, and some that get around 180w mark. Guess I should count myself lucky at 150w…
Thanks for the info - I had all sorts of issues with the controller (maybe mine was defective) but swapped over to another cheapie fine. Im impressed with 150w!
Only getting 100W indicates an underlying issue IMO. Assuming in test conditions pointing directly at the sun. Having it across a car windscreen when the sun is at an appropriate angle is an easy option.
While I don't have this exact panel, VoltX gear is decent, and the panel has the required physical area to generate 200W at the rated efficiency. You could expect a reasonable loss if your controller is PWM, but even then I would expect 150W or so in ideal test conditions.
You definitely have the 6 cell, 200W model, not the 4 cell, 160W model? If the 200W model, then even with a PWM controller, then I would suspect another fault to be getting 100W. Perhaps a disconnected cell. Or if using an MPPT controller, perhaps multiple disconnected or damaged cells.
As a comparison (and albeit using a Victron MPPT controller), I have a cheap (but reasonable quality) eBay 90W fold out model that does about 92W in full sun. I got given a terrible "300W" fold up panel, that should have been rated at 200W based on size. It's the same 6 cell and similar dimensions to the VoltX 200W, and despite many of the cells looking pretty awful (and one needing wiring repair), it still outputs 180W when pointed directly at the sun.
You can do a rough test to check for disconnected or poor performing cells by shading them, and watching the output. Ideally hang or prop up the panel so each cell has the exact same angle to the sun. Then shade each cell (stick a bit of paper over it), note the power drop, unshade it, shade the next one and so on. Make sure only one cell at a time is shaded. Shading a overly damaged or disconnected cell will not cause the output to drop much, if at all.
I used this method to narrow down a disconnected cell in the panel I was given, and repair it.
Will this work with my Tesla? Just strap it to the roof?
My backyard gets good sunshine. Are there any DIY kits of 500/1000 watts that can eaily be hooked upto the existing rental homes circuit?
LOL no. Firstly you aren't allowed to interfere with the power system at a rental property (even if you were licenced) and secondly the cost & mucking around for less than 1kW of power is absolutely not worth it, especially given it's only generating for 6-9hr per day.
Ya thought so, thanks for confirming.
One alternative is buy one of those portable power stations or a USB adapter for your power tool batteries & charge it all up at work on the company's dime.
[/shakes fist at the nanny state]
I don't really like these panels that lay on the ground. I don't have experience with this one but I've found that other panels that lay on the ground get too hot and you get diminishing returns. My Kings 200w pannel only puts in like 4-6ah in full Qld sun.
I bit the bullet and got an ATG 225w panel that has the kickstands. the pannel has a big footprint when folded but it pumps in like 14 amps in full sun and like 6-8 with scattered clouds. I think I used the code all10 for a 10% discount :)
That's what I have now and I hate how huge and bulky it is.
Good point re being on the ground and no airflow around it, I am planning to make a lightweight foldable frame for it to keep it at the good angle.
yeah it's huge hey. I couldn't make up my mind between the kickass one, the hardcorr one and this one for ages 😭 a lot of people suggested this to me so I gave it a go and I'm pretty happy other then the big footprint
I also hate how it has to be handled v carefully otherwise the glass will break. Can't stack things on top of it, can't put it horizontally on stuff (if 4wding /going over bumps - extra risk). Has to be vertical in the back of the car, that's super annoying for arranging things around it.
I have a couple of ebay cheap flexible panels at about $80ish each after discount. Although rated 200W (haha) I can get about 70-80W each. Reckon this is cheaper alternative. No mppt though, but perfect for charging my bluetti eb3a.
Absolutely VoltX.
Note that the actual solar cell area in both is the same. It's about 1m^2, which is about what is needed to generate 200W at peak.
The BigW Marketplace Acemore panel claims 380W, which is a fake rating. It would need to be double the size to do this. Often the random brands use lower grade cells, so they likely will output less than 200W, and won't last as well.
VoltX on the other hand is a known Australian brand that has affordable, but reasonable quality products that meet the listed spec.
Cheers
I'm interested in their fridge as well https://www.aldi.com.au/saturday-detail-wk11/ps/p/dual-zone-…
Although feel like its similar to Kings which is regularly on special.
And this power station too
https://www.aldi.com.au/saturday-detail-wk11/ps/p/portable-p…