Description
- [For Various Batteries] The 10W monocrystalline solar panel kit tops up car start batteries with 20%~30% efficirncy and maintains them from draining out. It has no limit for battery types so you can use it on LiFePO₄, Lithium Ion, AGM, SLA, GEL, EFB, MF, etc.
- [Built-in Smart Controller] The controller is intergrated and covers a small zone on the back of the panel. It protects battery from overcharge, short circuit and reverse connection. And the anti-backflow design prevents the battery from draining out. All the above are indicated by the inner led light.
- [360° Adjustable Mount] The flexible stand helps increase power output by 10%~15%. The cross on the stand ensures more stability. The stand is allowed to be installed on various flats like ground or walls.
- 【[Durable Panel] The solar panel is IP65 certificated. It’s framed by sturdy aluminum material. Also, it can withstand wind pressure up to 2400Pa and 5400Pa snow pressure. Made from premium material, it would work well in -40℉~185℉.
- [What’s On The Box] 10W monocrystalline solar panel with 200cm extension cable with SAE connector, adjustable metal bracket, metal chip*2, 50cm SAE to crocodile clip cable, 50cm SAE to O ring terminal cable, wing bolt*2, pan-head screw*4, self-drilling screw
Ellen Gibson –
First of all, I decided to buy this product because I used an electric lunch box in my car for several days and my battery started to need a charge. I didn’t want to be disconnecting the car battery to charge it, so I saw some very good reviews about this product. It even comes with a USB charger and I thought it would be very useful.
To start with, the product doesn’t turn on if the battery isn’t connected, which is strange because it had almost 18V input that the solar panel sent to it and so my idea that if one day I didn’t have a charger for my cell phone I would just put it on the solar panel without needing a battery died. It does charge through the USB port, but in reality it is powered by the battery and not the panel, which causes a discharge in the battery.
I did several tests and they didn’t last long because instead of charging my battery, it discharged it. I attached photos of the voltage that went down instead of up.
My idea was to keep using my electric lunch box to heat my lunch and leave the panel charging all day so that when I finished work I would find the battery maybe not fully charged but with some charge, but it didn’t work, I don’t know if the product has some defect but it didn’t work for me.
It should turn on only with the solar panel on sunny days to be able to charge with the USB port without needing a battery and above all charge the battery because it didn’t do that it only consumed voltage from the battery to turn on the module.
Mike-K –
This is a fine solar panel with a 3-stage 12v charge controller. So, everything is as advertised. I learned, however, that the built-in controller will not accept (drive) a second inline charge controller. Two controllers won’t work. I had attempted to upgrade to a 5-stage battery charger, but discovered the panel’s controller gets confused and won’t put-out. This is not actually the fault of the panel’s controller, I suppose any setup with two controllers in series would do the same thing. This is not the panel to use if you may want a ‘smarter’ battery charger someday. Otherwise, the panel and its built-in charger works fine.
Kindle Customer –
Very happy with this purchase. I use the solar cell and controller to charge a 10 amp hour battery that powers exterior 12-V lights. Does a great job. I liked also that it has all the connectors and wires needed to implement. No extra orders for connectors and such. I will come back to this product as solar needs arise.
Kindle Customer –
The solar panel and the charge controller itself work great. The wires are junk, wasting 10-20% of the total solar power and causing charging issues. The charge controller is not waterproof or even water resistant, and it takes patience to attach wires to the green connector. Otherwise, the charger works well. Rather than return it, I fixed these problems for about 15 dollars.
Actual specs:
I measured this unit putting 1.4 amps into my low car battery on a sunny day in December in Maine. That’s about 18 watts in the middle of winter, pretty good for a 20 watt panel. That was before I fixed the wiring.
The label on the back of the solar panel has slightly different specs than the Amazon title. It says 25 watts max power. See attached photo.
Charge controller:
The included charge controller works well. It’s an intelligent 3A PWM charger that automatically switches through 3 charging phases: bulk, absorption, float (trickle). It has an LED to indicate when it has solar power and what charging phase it’s in. It will prevent over discharging below 10.8 volts and over charging above 14.4 volts.
At one point I thought my charger was broken and started looking for a replacement. A decent PWM charger like this runs 15-20, so it’s a decent value. I later discovered the charger was fine, the problem was the cheap included wires (see below).
I was a little worried about the charger consuming battery power when there isn’t any sun. Cheaper chargers use a little battery power overnight and on very cloudy days while waiting for the sun to come back. I wanted to leave my system unattended for months during our short and cloudy winter days without discharging my battery, so I can’t tolerate much current drain when the sun is gone. Amazon didn’t list the current drain when I bought it. I measured the charger’s current drain with no sun at about 1mA. That seems pretty reasonable compared to 10-50mA with other chargers. The charger ships with a spec sheet, which lists the current drain as 1.5mA (see attached).
The spec sheet says the charger is made for Gel batteries. It seems to work fine on my SUV car battery though.
Cheap wires:
I measured my battery voltage while charging on a sunny day. 13-14 volts is normal, but I was only getting 12.4 volts. I thought the controller had gone bad so I tried another one. Same problem. I tried lots of things, went over all the connections many many times but nothing worked. It definitely had power coming from the solar panel, it just wasn’t getting to the battery. Over a few days I did notice the battery charge increasing very slowly, but the charger kept thinking the battery was fully charged too soon and kept turning off (trickle mode) too early. I finally had the idea to check the battery voltage at the other end of the battery wires (where they connect to the charger). The charger was putting out 13.6 volts at about 1.5 amps, but only 12.4 volts was getting to the battery. That’s 10% of the solar power being wasted by wire resistance! It was also enough to fool the charger into thinking the battery was charged and switching to a low power mode, which throws away even more of the generated power. It will still charge your battery eventually assuming you aren’t using the battery for something else, but it will be slow.
I replaced all the wire with normal 16 gauge wire, and it fixed everything. I measured 13.6 volts at the charger and 13.5 volts at the battery while charging at 1.5 amps. It charges much faster now, and I can use the battery to power other things. I attached a picture of the cheap wires they include and some normal 16AWG wires I replaced them with. On the outside it’s deceiving because the cheap wires look reasonably thick. But if you cut into it you’ll see the cheap wires are almost all rubber insulation and have very little actual metal inside.
Replacement wire: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NSGCVWI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_feSyyb487STEM
Waterproofing:
The actual solar panel appears waterproof and has white silicone around the edges on the back. However the charger is definitely NOT waterproof. It came with clear silicone applied along the bottom of the green connector, but that’s pointless since the top and sides of the connector have bigger openings and were left unsealed. I needed the charger to work outside in the winter in rain, snow, ice, etc., so any water intrusion could easily freeze and damage things. You could always buy silicone and seal all the openings including the holes in the green connector where the wires attach, but then it will be a pain if you ever want to remove and reattach the wires later. I ended up opening the charger box and spraying conformal coat to waterproof all the electronics. Then I drilled a 1/8″ hole in the white box to allow any water that gets in to drain back out. Takes about 10 minutes. So far it’s holding up well to our Maine winter environment!
Conformal coat: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BXSMNWG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_AbSyybQ2NH5G4
I didn’t see any of this information posted anywhere else, so hopefully some people will find this info helpful!
JoeP03462 –
We are using the panel + controller to keep a charge on a 12 volt car battery that powers our hydraulic boat lift. It installed easily, included everything that was needed, and seems to be working fine…though only installed it a few days ago. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Tom W –
Bought this on sale for a spare set of 2x20ah Lifepo batteries. Mounted the panel to the roof of my gazebo and made a small battery box with a multi usb/PD and voltmeter to monitor voltage. Powers a 15w 12v outdoor ceiling fan for 10+ hours a day, and can charge a few larger battery banks before dropping below 12v. One day in the sun will bring it back up to 13+. Totally worth the price for entry level solar setups.
Roy G Milner –
The charge controller in mine didn’t work, but since they are only like $20 I just bought another one. The odd thing about this set up, it doesn’t function by itself. Meaning, you can’t just run the panel, charge controller, then a USB device for example. Instead it seems to draw power from the battery, function everything from the battery, and charge the battery as a secondary. In short, it needs the battery to function at all.
You can’t just leave it on the grass in the sun, connect a phone charger to the USB port, and let it trickle charge/etc. You have to connect it to a battery, which is different from all the other ones I’ve bought. Just something to consider if you’re planning to boondock or something with this.
Selvin Castillo –
I bought this system for my enclosed motorcycle trailer. It charges the trailer battery and runs some interior lights. The system was easy to install and works great. The controller clearly shows when the solar is charging the battery. I would recommend this system to anyone wanting to upgrade to a solar charging/operating system. The price was excellent and the quality is good.
John A. –
The person who received this was excited to try it. They said it worked great and shipping was fast
Selvin Castillo –
Get a new battery and this setup is good to go. I use mine for the light in the shed. If you just want to explore solar energy for patio lanterns- this kit is a good starting point. I am using a Mighty Max battery I got from amazon. A small one. Everything so far is working great for what I needed. The solar panel seems to work at dusk too – low voltage but it works.
Robert Degavino –
bought this in 2019, £40, now its shot up in price.
im running a 12v pond pump with this, it works very well.
J. Bucher –
I had been using a mains battery charger to come on for an hour each day to charge the battery of my Jaguar XK8 in the garage, but didn’t like the idea of it, so looked for a solar alternative. Have now used the panel for three weeks and it is superb, although we have had little sun, the battery shows a constant 12.8 volts all the time. The charge panel shows a solid green led, showing its charged. I put it onto a flat battery and the led blinks as it charges until it reaches 12 volts, then holds it at that. On the down side, the instructions are very basic, and the led unit, I had to put Velcro on the adhere to the wall as it does not have a fixing itself, and the panel itself has no holes so had to make my own brackets, but in operation its superb.
Jim S. Wilkins –
Easy to set up and charges my battery used for bear deterrent around bee hives