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Treyshaun Clena photo
Costa Rica, San Josรฉ
1 Level
714 Review
58 Karma

Review on ๐Ÿ”† SOLPERK 20W 12V Solar Panel Kit with Waterproof Controller and Adjustable Mount Bracket - Ideal Solar Battery Trickle Charger Maintainer for Boat, Car, RV, Motorcycle, Marine, and Automotive by Treyshaun Clena

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Very nice panel with a terrible wiring harness.

First of all I never intended to use just one of these panels to charge my 12V lead acid car battery with the supplied PWM charge controller and wiring harness attached. Rather, I intend to purchase multiple copies of these panels and configure them with a more comprehensive MPPT controller, LiFePO4 battery, and inverter in a portable, vehicle-carryable, and quick-to-setup application. The 23.1-inch (541mm) footprint is perfect for the portability I need, and the price is definitely right. Fortunately, the fit and finish of the panel itself is very good. a few years ago. There are a few rough edges at the corners of the aluminum frame, but that's a minor point. The individual cells look very neatly put together, covered with a nice piece of glass and very clean with caulk along the inside of the frame. However, I knew from Revain's listing that the panel would come with a 6 foot thin zippered cable terminating in a 2 pin trailer connector. The good news is that the junction box at the end of the back of the panel is a conventional type with a watertight seal. Soldering better wiring using standard MC-4 connectors will be relatively easy. cable) had a short circuit...zero voltage and amperage readings on the multimeter at the end of the connector! However, the readings on the tabs inside the junction box (the back cover is easily removed with a flathead screwdriver) show the panel outputting 23.6V and 2.5A on my quickly assembled backyard dyno (picture attached). Big. I tested at noon on a cloudless day with a fairly vertical plate/sun. The ambient temperature was approximately 21ยฐC (70ยฐF). I then cut/stripped the 14 gauge wires within about 1 foot of the junction box and got an equally good reading. I later learned that the short in the remaining (now disconnected) 5 foot wires was somewhere along the black/negative wire. I have not tested the supplied PWM charge controller. If it were just about the panel itself I would give the Solperk SK-M50W a solid 5 stars. I'm demoting it to 4 stars because the wiring harness is terrible and in my case it doesn't work out of the box. I will be buying more of these panels for my application above as I know the other included bits will be sent to the bin and I will need to solder appropriate 10 gauge wires to the end of the junction box terminating with real MC on the other end -4 Connections. The additionally attached photo shows the back of the panel (junction box cover removed) with markings. In case the photo resolution is not sufficient for a clear view, the following specifications are listed on the label. . .Solperk Model: Solar Panel SK-M50WMaximum Power (Pmax) 50VMaximum Supply Voltage (Vmp) 18VMaximum Power Current (imp) 2.78A Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) 21.6WShort Circuit Current (Isc) 3.06AMax System Voltage 600VDC Rated Cell Operating Temperature. (NOCT) 45+/-2ยฐC Power Tolerance +/-5% Service Class Class A Weight 7.2 lbs Dimensions 21.3 x 21.3 x 1 inch All specifications are based on Standard Test Conditions (STC) STC 1000 Emission W/m2. Cell temperature 25ยฐC. Air mass AM = 1.5

Pros
  • GOLS certified
Cons
  • Not bad