Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

motochris
motochris Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Doing a small "off-grid" system at home in a horse shelter. Planning on using a Morningstar SS-10L and a single panel to keep a pair of batteries charged.

Looking at a Solar Cynergy 80watt (mono) , CNBM 90watt (mono) and a UL Solar 85watt (poly). All are roughly the same price shipped, the CNBM is the only one UL listed as far as I can see.
Just wondering if one brand seems to be more reliable than another. Can't find much info on the CNBM, the Solar Cynergy got some badmouthing a few years ago but not much recently. The UL Solar..again, not a ton of info but not alot bad that I saw.
Any input appreciated...
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

    UL listing isn't much of an issue with an off-grid application.
    So I have to ask: what is this same price? Around $300?
    NAWS has an 85 Watt Solartech for that money (plus shipping): http://www.solar-electric.com/so85wa12voso.html
    For $25 more you get a 135 Watt Kyocera: http://www.solar-electric.com/kyso130wa12v.html
    Small panels aren't much of a value per Watt.

    An 85 Watt panel would be good for up to about 60 Amp hours @ 12 VDC, whereas the 135 would support about 90 Amp hours @ 12 VDC. Something to think about.
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  • motochris
    motochris Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #3
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

    About $180 shipped each. I don't need more power than these...I could actually get away with a 50 watt, so I'm already going over...just to be sure.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel
    motochris wrote: »
    About $180 shipped each. I don't need more power than these...I could actually get away with a 50 watt, so I'm already going over...just to be sure.

    That is a good price. The only one of those brands I've heard of is UL Solar. I've not heard anything bad about them either. Most panels are built of the materials and in the same way. Polycrystaline vs. monocrystaline is a minor difference really.

    Perhaps someone else has some experience with the other brands?
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  • silvertop
    silvertop Solar Expert Posts: 155 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

    I have panels from UL Solar, and the junction box on the back states SolarTech. They seem to be good panels, no problems. I called Solar Tech to check on the availability of a panel. UL-solar is just a sub company or a drop shipper for SolarTech; a good value.
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  • motochris
    motochris Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #6
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

    Well, here's what I ended up with--

    1) 80 watt Solar Cynergy panel-- $169 shippped
    1) Morningstar SS-10L charge controller--$47.90 shipped
    1) Blue LCD voltage monitor-- $4.69 shipped
    1) Xantrex Prowatt SW600 true sinewave invertor-- $155.68 shipped
    total of $377.27

    Basically..what I'm doing is powering 320 watts of lights for about 10-15 minutes per day. It's mainly some 8ft. T8 bulbs, along with a couple screw-in CFL's and a set of LED flood lights.

    I could have went with a cheaper invertor, but I've had my fill of the cheap ones in my toyhauler. They never seem to last. I also wanted to be sure my power supply was clean so I don't have ballast issues with my T8 lights.
    The Solar Cynergy panel seemed to have good reviews on the newest versions and it was also the least expensive, so I went that route. The SS-10L, just because it seemed to do what I needed for a decent price. The LCD monitor is so I can check battery voltage easily anytime I want. I'll be running it off a switch so it will have little effect unless I need it.
    I'll be using 2) walmart 12v deep cycle batteries from my toyhauler, so no extra charge for those. I only use the toyhauler maybe twice a year, so it won't be inconvenient to swap the batteries back and forth as needed. I think it'll actually keep the batteries in better shape than now.
    Just gotta make the mount for the panel and wire everything up and see how it does!!
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

    A bit of basic math:

    320 Watts for 15 minutes = 80 Watt hours. Divide by 12 you get 6 Amp hours.
    You should have no trouble supplying that! Probably one of those 12 Volt batteries would suffice. Certainly a well-oriented 80 Watt panel should be able to supply the need.
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  • motochris
    motochris Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #8
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    A bit of basic math:

    320 Watts for 15 minutes = 80 Watt hours. Divide by 12 you get 6 Amp hours.
    You should have no trouble supplying that! Probably one of those 12 Volt batteries would suffice. Certainly a well-oriented 80 Watt panel should be able to supply the need.

    Exactly. I figured a 50 watt would be enough, but I'de rather go a bit bigger...just in case I change something. I had originally planned on a single battery and was going to buy one...but then I thought about my toyhauler. I figure I might as well use the batteries that are there. They don't get enough "care" as they are. They sit in the trailer with the trailer plugged in all the time. The charger in the trailer tends to overcharge a bit and I don't pay enough attention to the trailer as it sits out of the way.
    I'm more likely to pay attention to the batteries if they are used everyday and where I see them.
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  • motochris
    motochris Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #9
    Re: Help with choosing an inexpensive 80-90 watt panel

    Discovered this invertor has an optional remote on/off switch...so I've added that too. That way I can shut the invertor down when not used so it doesn't have the idle draw on the batteries.
    Add another $28.99 shipped to the price. :)
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