Thread: Camper trailer solar set up

Originally Posted by DeanoH

I have series connected '12 volt' panels to overcome problems with some cheap ebay '12 volt' panels that have too low an output voltage to be much practical use on their own. A tip for the unwary, a '12 volt' panel should have a Voc of around 21 volts and a Vmp of around 18 volts.
A couple of my mates bought these for the same application as the OP and got caught out. The eBay add selling these panels had a big yellow sunflower or daisy in the add so beware as they were not much use used singly or paralleled as a 12 volt source, which IMO should have been pointed out in the add.

Deano

This is one of a number of reasons I never recommend ANY specific brand of CHEAP solar panels, there are too many substandard panels out there now.

I can recall a similar situation about 10 years ago, where a well known electronics brand, came out with cheaper panels that were slightly larger than the other panels on the market at the time, but worked far better in shaded situations than any other well known panels could.

But while these panels came with the standard 20 year warranty, many solar installation companies were forced to replace them ( usually with other brands ) after just 18 months.

So again, I try to stick to the well known brands, recommended to my by the different solar installation companies I supply to.