Off hook up stays and portable solar panels

[WelshGas]

5 yr old panel. Vehicle garaged outside all year round.

 

[Amarillo]

5 yr old panel. Vehicle garaged outside all year round.

A very significant difference. It almost looks like my solar panels aren’t designed to be left lying around in sunlight!

 

[TripleBee]

A very significant difference. It almost looks like my solar panels aren’t designed to be left lying around in sunlight!

Did you really expect solar panels to withstand UV from direct sunlight?

 

[Vagophile]

Did you really expect solar panels to withstand UV from direct sunlight?

The 15 year old solar panel on my old van when I sold it looked like the one Welsh Gas has, very much like the day it was put on. It spent at least 5 months each year in direct sunlight with day temperatures ranging from 20 to 35 degrees centigrade and never failed to provide enough power to keep the leisure and starter batteries fully charged.

 

[TripleBee]

This shows there really is some difference in quiality from one brand or type to another.
Of course solar panels should withstand UV.

@Amarillo, do your panels still give you enough current in this condition?

 

[Amarillo]

This shows there really is some difference in quiality from one brand or type to another.
Of course solar panels should withstand UV.

@Amarillo, do your panels still give you enough current in this condition?

I’ve never been completely satisfied with the current in direct sunlight. But now there’s something seriously wrong. Now showing 15 volts and zero amps and the battery at 2 out of 5 bars. I need to go back to Roger and probably buy two new panels.

 

[WelshGas]

I think we both got the panels from the same supplier. Mines a 100w panel, I'm not sure about Tom's. Could be different manufacturers.
Airborne pollution. Tom is in London I'm in a country town?

 

[Vagophile]

I think we both got the panels from the same supplier. Mines a 100w panel, I'm not sure about Tom's. Could be different manufacturers.
Airborne pollution. Tom is in London I'm in a country town?

My supplier used four different manufacturers, depending on the vehicle and purchaser's requirements.

 

[stephen watson]

Here’s a photo of my three year old panels.

Hi Tom
These are the same as my panels from Roger and exactly the same thing has happened to mine, after 3 years. May I ask what you did please? Roger has offered me 2 new ones at a discount but my confidence has been knocked in the product. I guess we both paid the same but I'm loathe to fork out substantial amounts every few years. I think WG bought his just before us and it seems he was lucky to get a better manufacturer.

 

[Amarillo]

Hi Tom
These are the same as my panels from Roger and exactly the same thing has happened to mine, after 3 years. May I ask what you did please? Roger has offered me 2 new ones at a discount but my confidence has been knocked in the product. I guess we both paid the same but I'm loathe to fork out substantial amounts every few years. I think WG bought his just before us and it seems he was lucky to get a better manufacturer.

I haven’t done anything yet. I’m waiting until I go to visit my brother who lives in Somerset, not too far from @Roger Donoghue

The cost of replacement panels is a fairly small % of the total cost of the setup, and I doubt Roger can get any cash back from the manufacturer so I’ll accept any discount offered. I think that he offers out of warranty replacement panels at cost price, and you can’t really expect anything more than that.

 

[stephen watson]

I haven’t done anything yet. I’m waiting until I go to visit my brother who lives in Somerset, not too far from @Roger Donoghue

The cost of replacement panels is a fairly small % of the total cost of the setup, and I doubt Roger can get any cash back from the manufacturer so I’ll accept any discount offered. I think that he offers out of warranty replacement panels at cost price, and you can’t really expect anything more than that.

Thanks Tom. I think you'll be surprised at the cost of replacement panels and you are correct Roger no longer deals with this manufacturer. I think we were unlucky in getting a poor quality panel which doesn't have a long lifespan. Hopefully any replacement will be better.

 

[Roger Donoghue]

The panels I use has been a learning process over the years - mostly down to improvements in manufacturing techniques.

With thin panels:

At the start, all that was available were fairly rigid aluminium backed panels with a silver-ish backcround and a PET (same as drink bottle plastic) covering. The plastic seems to cloud over after a handful of years but they still function, at a less efficient rate. The PET also peels off on most of them over time

I then moved on to pure plastic panels - often back-contact panels as this reduced weight, and was supposed to be the next big upgrade. These are the panels in Amarillos photos - his are 4 years old and have some apparent bubbles in the PET coating.

Next I moved to what was supposed to be the next big thing - ARFLX panels - a rigid aluminium core, then coated front and back in EFTE plastic (doesn't delaminate and blister like PET). The idea with those was that they rigidity would make them more robust. The reality is they have not been much of an upgrade. I think the mix of materials means they expand and contract at different speeds internally when the temperature changes.

Finally(!) I had been buying Dual-EFTE panels form a UK supplier - these are basically solar cells totally encapsulated in EFTE plastic. I know from experience EFTE does not (so far!) cloud, nor does it blister. There are no stuck on layers to delaminate like with PET. They are layered up then melted into one complete unit. All layers gone. They are also failry rigid in comparison to plastic solar panels - a feature I want because I don't want them flexing repeatedly, or vibrating. That causes internal mechanical failures on softer panels, I'm sure. I have had very few failures with these over the years, and then a year ago the manufacturer in China cold called me, and now.. they make them for me direct. They are the best I know of so far in terms of build quality. I had very very few failures when buying them UK sourced, and since buying them direct, around a year now, I've not has a single issue, so fingeres crossed!

I'm trying to but the best I can as the technology moves on. Thin panels have the advantage of being light and thin, and the disadvantage of not being as sturdy as traditional framed panels. I've been selling framed (heavy) panels for Mazda Bongod for 8 years now and only have one failure! and that was a manufacturing fault and water got in it.

The problem is , they are very heavy, and big. No one wants big and heavy on the roof of their Calis and MPs, so I'm constantly striving to get the best thin panels I can. (I've also learnt from experience they do NOT like being stuck on a flat surface. I stopped selling stick on kits around 2 years ago for that reason).

I can, and have, made a regular framed (heavy & bulkier) solar kit for a Cali customer but I don't think there is much demand for them normally.

As highlighted, if I have a customer with a dead out of warranty panel I always offer either a free replacement if it's not far out of warranty , or, a replacement at a greatly reduced (based on the time passed) price. I have to balance being reasonable with being able to continue trading, so I can't give them away, but I'll always do my best to keep all parties happy in the event of a problem, and my pricing for replacements covers the goods, my time, and a small margin to allow me to keep helping people outside of warranty.