Priscilla II 392 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Just reconstructing my companion way sliding hatch garage. Looking to install a 50w Goflex solar panel direct stick to said hatch garage. Solbian do a 47w panel with inbuilt charge controller that pretty well runs out at the same accumulated cost of the required bits and pieces as the Goflex. Any opinions? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,228 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Take the one with the best warranty... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chloe 7 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Panels with inbuilt controller are ok. If you are not ever going to add any more panels. If you do, any new panels will not add extra as there controller see's that power is coming in to batt and will stop. You can only have 1 controller per system That's why your panels don't ADD while engine is running, unless said batt's are isolated from the engine charge system. IE.. House batt.......start batt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,581 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 If I was trying to maximise the available surface area can I mix panel sizes? Seems I should as they are connected in parallel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,228 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Yes, you can use differently sized panels provided your controller can cope with the total array size. As chloe says above, controllers can be “confused “ by other charging sources (wind, alternator, genset, shore power) and may not provide the charging they are capable of while the other source is working. Some controllers are cleaverer than others though, and you can buy charge controllers with the ability to control multiple sources, but as usual, the good ones can be pricey. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan 4 Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 i went voltronic mppt and a 130w flexible last year , I am 100% happy right now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zozza 293 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I just bought three GoFlex, and while still expensive, they were still less than half the price of the equivalent in Solbian. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,581 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Where are buying them? We have aa solar up here but their reputation sucks and I don't think they do flexible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,228 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Aa solar has recently been sold. New owners now... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ex TL systems 63 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I have bought 4 130w flexible panels off trademe for 180 each, not sure about warranty but they seem fine at the moment and less than a kg each. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,228 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Extl, the issue with the low cost panels I’ve used and seen so far is a year or two down the track the pet coating becomes cloudy, and brittle.... I’d not by a pet panel again myself, but they are cheap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ex TL systems 63 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Maybe worth covering them from the sun when not needed, both to stop fading and the danger of overcharging if the regulator was to fail? Not too keen on leaving the boat with 600w coming in and nothing being used for months on end. Maybe An old blanket with some solar showers to hold it in place? And one of the glass panels exposed to keep the batteries up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan 4 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 thats a good idea imho I have a single 130w from burnsco and its perfect for topup Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 We just got 2 x 90w flexible Juice panels from Enertec Marine in Albany. They had a boat show special running, which we jumped on. Got an MPPT controller from some random place, possibly trademe, same brand as the good ones. The Juice panels are half the price of the Solbain ones, but have a much higher spec than the cheapo's such as from Burnsco. We are aware of issues with the PET coating stuffing themselves in sub-optimal timeframes with those. There is a question around using them for 2 years then replacing, but we went for the longer term solution at higher initial cost. A positive for the Juice panels, the surface is as good a non-skid as our deck, and they are suitable for walking on. This greatly improves where we can put them. Obviously not in high traffic areas on the side decks, but we have put them on the cabin top, where I need to walk when dropping and flaking the main sail. A comment on mixing the panel sizes, the guy at Enertec said while you can do this, it restricts the efficiency of the larger panel, due to the smaller panel constraining total current (or something like that). They recommend having panels of the same size if you can make it work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,228 Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Fish, random panel sizes make no difference in parallel installs, but can be bad in a series install... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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