Any comments about the HF 45w Solar Panel Kit ....

[WindChopper]

Anyone have a comment about the HarborFreight 45w Solar Panel Kit ....

I assume that there is a similar package available through ?? in Oz / NZ / UK.

Ordered the kit as an experiment to replace a set of raw ( amorphous type - 1' x 3' glass plates only - no contact assembly or housing ) panels that I purchased at a ham radio flea market some 15 years ago.   Spent a good deal of time building a housing for them and they worked fine for a year or so, but I've had constant problems trying to maintain the contact assemblies.   Guess I'll give them one more try before I give up on them as I saw a comment recently ( here? ) about using some old S100 Buss connectors to make the contact .... found an old card cage with wire wrap S100 Bus connectors, so may give that a try.

The foam packing tray for the HF panels had "TOPRAY SOLAR" embossed in it ....

Google'd TOPRAY = GlobalSpec = "Shenzhen Topray Solar Co Ltd manufactures thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells and consumer products based on photovoltaic (PV) energy technologies." .... Try that in 10 time quickly ....

http://www.topraysolar.com/Products_txt.asp?title=2004107142827.htm  

Produces a page that shows what sure looks like the 45w 3 panel kit that I just got from HF.

Look through the site .... you may find that Garden Light that you just bought at ( >insert your favorite discount outlet here< ) ....

http://www.topraysolar.com/Products_txt.asp?title=20041027114432.htm

Looks like the info on the panels that make up the kit .... first one on the chart looks like the panels ....

Did not find much additional information .... but then I did not really expect to find any ....

Did not really expect much from kit at the price, but its a starting point ....

My impression so far is that the panels themselves are not bad for the money .... seem to be decently made .... not sure how they will hold up over time.

Not the best sun yesterday .... some clouds .... ( NW IL ) .... but managed to get 2.5A into a 75ahr SLA that was sitting unused for a while.

Checked the voltage on the battery after an hour or so ( 10am sun - panel pointed toward the sun ) and it was pushing up there at something like 16.5v.

Time to shut that puppy down!   The controller was showing the 10.5v LED only .... Charge LED was out .... hum this does not sound good .... think that the smoke got out .... and I just used my last bag of replacement smoke ....

Opened up the controller ( what - you expected me to leave it alone ? ) .... total fecal matter .... hardware loose on the regulators and the P75N06s .... think that it cooked itself .... but then I'm not really surprised or upset .... just means that I have to build up or order something sooner that originally planned.

Sounds like a PicAxe project to me ! .... may as well include that sun tracker .... and that zone controlled LV shutdown only takes .... may as well start with a 40x .... I can use those 7 ADCs for .... wait a minute, this is for lights on a Garden Shed .... oh hell, how much was that Morningstar ....

The screw in 12v/5w CFLs that came with it look interesting, no brand name or ID on those ( nor are they on the Topray site, though they supply them with the kit .... is there a message in that ? ) .... HF does not seem to offer them by themselves.

Not sure that I like the fact that they use a standard 110vac lamp base on them, as that could lead to some very interesting situations.

.... But they are clearly marked 12dc .....

Are these the usual 30 day wonders, or do they actually last ? .... assuming that you are not using the provided HF/Topray (Un)Controller .... I would guess that these REALLY want to see 12v .... period .... end of conversation .... rather than wind or solar battery swings on a cheap controller.

Just looking for some comments on the expected life on the panels and the supplied CFLs.

Russ

[AbyssUnderground]

Its been said before the controllers that come with these kits are rubbish and often do burn themselves out. You're better off spending some more money on a decent controller.

Those panels are very similar to the 18w panels I have. I only seem to manage about 10w out of mine, but then its not quite summer yet and I did get them in winter! You can see mine on my website if you want to compare them and let me know. The pictures ive seen of those panels are of too low a quality to tell if they are the same.

[AbyssUnderground]

Forgot to mention that I havent see the HF kits in the UK, although Id love to be able to get a HF kit since they're so cheap.

[WindChopper]

Looks like the same panel - take a look at the second link above and see what you think.

Russ

[Slingshot]

TopRay's web site indicates that they are the solar-product supplier for Harbor Freight, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and K-Mart.

I wonder how much would be involved for an individual to import a container of stuff?

[VisualMonster]

Yes, the charge controller that it comes with is junk.   I sometimes use it to connect the 5w 12v lights that it came with, but thats about it.  I replaced it with a cheap ICP 10amp controller for about $30 that works MUCH better.  I actually have three sets of HF panels connected to this controller, charging six 6v batteries.  The panels work great after about a year of use.

[nothing to lose]

So far I like my HF kits. Way to soon to say if they will last or not or anything else.

The HF Controller is great for several things OTHER than a charge controller. I have 3 kits, 6 5watt lights etc.. Had 4 kits, promised one to a friend in a trade though now.

So next to the bed is a 17amphr SLA connected to the HF controller, 5watt CFL plug into controller. Makes a great get out of bed or going to bed light right next to the bed!

Just flip the rocker switch and dark room lights up so I can get out of bed and dressed without falling over junk. Going to bed, well once in bed  flip off the controller and lights out

 The 3, 6, 9, and 3 12V jacks have been handy for a couple things so far also.

 I just moved into the old storage trailer house and it's primarily off grid other than one extension cord for shop vac or drill press. Still needs lots of cleaning up though and moving out the junk.

For me the controller is usefull for connecting to any 12v battery to get power in various volts for several items. I am not messing with it as a charge controller though! First thing I did was get Morning Star SG-4 controllers from Ghurd. I am using those for a panel controller for 3 panels each. I will be doing a BruceS type mod on an HF soon for a dump relay. I would have already but didn't need it yet and been busy with other stuff.

Nice thing about the HF controller, with the clamp ends on the cables just clamp onto any 12V battery, little SLA for portable, car battery, 2 wires on a motorhome, etc.. and you got the 12V CFL lights and the other volts for music players or whatever right there right then, no fuss no hassles.

I also got a couple 11Watt Solsum 12V CFLs from Ghurd, nice lights. I use one allot in the living room at the trailer (my main light) and sometimes in the motor home. Other is still in the box waiting a fixture. I cut the end off a floor lamp and put this one I use in there. So far the switch works fine at 12V still, running mostly on a 17amphr SLA.

[Bruce S]

WindChopper;

   I've had mine since just before last winter and they're doing just fine.

I do agree with Nothing to Lose though, most important thing to do would to obtain a real solar charge controller. Ghurd will be able to give you the best advice on these, at least he was for me:-)

Next and probably while waiting to the new controller to arrive, would be to do just what you're probably already doing, get in there and tighten everything up.

Also, if you can or own a calibrated power supply, you could use one connected to an old computer too, inject different level of voltages into the solar side, just stay low on the current levels this thing is only good for those 45watt panels.

Watch the LEDs and see if they're coming on like they should and the listed levels.

If you got this from HF and the controller is bad, ask them for a replacement... I've had real good service from them, they don't have a problem taking stuff back if it's bad and you can tell them how you know. Wouldn't tell'em you opened it though:-)

One of the wiredness I  noticed was that with a battery having problems was that the panel would be held down by the battery. I have looked long and hard at the internals and as of yet haven't nailed down the circuit that does this , but my solution was a solar charge control.

SInce it seems you have no problems getting into this, look at older car replacement parts ( I'm using stuff from my 1981 F100) get the relay, you can use those to trigger off the LED circuit to switch them in/out for dump controlling too.

Also, that screaming speaker? don't just yank it out, it has what looks to be a feed back and bad things could happen if you just yank it out. I measured the input voltage and mimmicked it with a RED LED setup, that at the same time flips the relay into action.

Ghurd also has an interesting dump circuit I've used that makes for extra interesting uses of this circuit.

One problem I have currently with mine is relay chatter, so I will either de-bounce this or go to opto-elecs to slow some of it down.

As NTL has pointed out the controller that came with it, I know call it a PDU , fancy for "power distribution unit" has all those cool outlets. A little imaganation and you can light up a computer room:--)

As for the panels, at the Midwest USA angle mine seem to gather a lot of dust this summer so I just colth dust them off, winter time even with low sun showed them to be able to stay better than I had expected.

 I looked real closely at mine this past weekend, and they seem to be doing just fine, no pitting of the coverings , no cracks on the top glazing( even with a 2"diameter Pin Oak tree limb dropping onto them.

The grey covering on the power wires also seem to be doing just fine they aren't covered currently and show no signs of cracking or drying .

Hope that helps;

Bruce S

 

[ghurd]

"Looks like the same panel"

Gosh.  Even looks like the same photo!

http://www.topraysolar.com/Products_txt.asp?title=2004107142827.htm

Their Specification Charts seem to have a large margin of error. UL listed? LOL

Also no mention of a warranty or ISO9001.

G-

[WindChopper]

G-

I had noticed that!

ISOnnnn - you have to be kidding!

Seems several people recommended the Morningstar SunGuard and indicated that they got them through you .... If you are a dealer .... pop me an e-mail at the above .... would rather "keep it in the family" than pick a supplier at random.

Was considering DIY with a PICAXE but will save that for later .... get it running right first .... then play.

Russ

[TOMASGOLFER]

Hi  I'm new to solar power ...I've just bought a HF 45W panel kit and have hooked the charge controller to a 12V battery then into a 1300W inverter (also from HF).  I've hooked a tv into it and after 30 min or so the alarm on the controller goes off.  Then the little tv.  I gather that the HF controller has alot to be desired and after reading posts on here i suppose I should buy an upgrade.  My question is about batteries.  Is it ok to run multi 12v batteries in paralell, or are multi 6v the way to go? Also, these should be wired paralell or in series?

Thanks,  Thomas

[jonas302]

Thomas what are you running for batterys? When I got my kit I hooked three good used car batts in paralell to get the same results as you When I put two 6v golf cart batterys in series it runs the 27 inch tv and a fan for about four hours every night with out beeping

[drchocobo]

I just bought one about three months ago.  I have good things to say about the panels.  They are cased in extruded aluminum.  THAT is a big plus for them.  Most of the stuff you see these days are framed in that cheap plastic that breaks, cracks, are degrades over time.  I have many of these.  The ones made by Sunforce seem to be holding up though, but the white plastic on the ones by ICP (three of which I have), has begun to yellow and get brittle.  Stay clear of that brand, at least their thin film product.  

The charge controller I got is the newer type with the multi voltage outputs and a built in digital meter (I was made aware that there was another variant of this that used 4 LED's to indicate charge level).  I like mine better. it lets me know what the batteries are doing at a glance, at least voltagewize.  The controller seemes to work well as far as keeping it on the panels it was made for.  It has never gotten hot and the LVD is a nice little perk for the money.  

I was pleasently surprised at the output right out of the box. I think they are doing a bit more than 15W  They charged faster than they should normally do for their rating.  Not amazingly more, but it put a smile on my face before I cut the leads and affixed proper plugs to put them on the main array.  I expect that the performance will degrade slightly as it says on the box, but the panels are pretty well made and you get your money's worth and then some when you consider what individual panels cost.  Plus you get the controller, lighting fixtures, and 12V CFL's.  All you need to add is a battery and an inverter.

I tested it over a couple of weeks extensively as a standalone setup, before integrating the panels into the main array, and I had it hooked to a 115AH Walley-World everstart "deep cycle" battery.  I was unable to run the battery down the whole time I ran it with the lights on and never unplugged.  The lights draw so little power that there was always more going into the battery than was being drawn out.  I believe that if you use it as it is packeged, this thing is very good.  Though as stated in other posts, if you need more amps to go to the battery, get a bigger charge controller and use the regulator as a monitor.  I liked being able to see that the voltage cut in and out exactly at the voltages specified in teh all-.  It also is a wet finger in the wind so to speak as far as telling how much run-time you have left if you calculate the voltage drop rate per minute or per hour.  

The other thing I liked was the use of 1/4 inch guitar patch cord plugs for the 12V out.  I can get these plugs cheap at any place that sells parts.  No funkey terminals or wierd quick connects that you cant replace or repair; that's a plus in my book.  As long as the loads are kept within reason, these types of plugs should work well as you add things to your 12V arsenal.  Probably would be good up to about 5 amps.  These plugs have a pretty good amount of metal in them to carry the heat and if you get them with metal jackets and gold plate, that might help too.

Overall a good starter system if you whant to get your feet wet.  Does what it was designed to do.  For a HF product, I was impressed.  The only con I can speak of is the limited capacity of the controler/regulater.  They should have built it to handle a higher load so people could add a few more cells later on.

Anyway, thats MY experiance with the unit.  Your mileage may vary as I notice the other posts.

Eddie