Description
- 【Industry Standard】12V off-grid solar panel.
- 【High Performance】 Excellent low-light performance even on early mornings, evenings, and cloudy days.
- 【Rugged Durability】Built with strong high transmission “Anti-reflective” coated tempered glass, and an anodized aluminum frame. Certified to withstand the most challenging environmental conditions.
- 【Simple Installation】 Fast and easy installation thanks to 14 pre-drilled holes that are compatible with standard Z-brackets, ground mounts, side pole mounts, and tilt mounts.
- 【Warranty】 25-year limited warranty for power output; and 5-year limited warranty for material and craftsmanship.
John B –
Got eight on top of a 40ft Motorhome in two strings of 4. They each run to a 60 amp controller and are producing 35 to 40 amps at peak Sun.
I am using the arrays to charge 4 each 300 amp/hr. Lithium batteries. This system Rocks.
MACz –
These panels I have on my van. I’ve driven thousands of miles with them on my roof and not one problem.
We just went through a HUGE storm in April. I received a weather alert in South Texas of high winds, it was windy out 15 to 20 MPH. Within 5 min. 95+ mph we took cover in our bathroom and we thought this was it. When it stopped 45 min later it was devastating. roofs torn off trees and even bushes were torn off. Huge hail. these panels! Not a scratch, nothing. My windshield busted out and the panels were fine. That metal in the photos is from a neighbor 2 doors down the street. I’ll buy these again soon, as soon as I get my trailer back from the shop.
John –
I purchased 4, at 239.00 a piece.
The next day 199.00 each
They wont assist at all.
Im 59, never complain never beg have worked my whole life. Im pissed.
160.00 difference in one day.
And doing nothing.
I may just return them.
MACz –
Currently using it on my van. Looks good and decent quality. Only issue is the performance is subpar. I bought the 150 watt panel but currently getting 100 watt input on two different power stations. Compared to my 100 watt flexible panel from a different company, I was getting 75-80 watt. I did a line-of-sight direct sunlight test and highest I got was 105. During a road trip, I saw it reach 120 watt briefly when the Sun was directly over the van. But it seems 100 watt is what I consistently get. 100 watt seems to be enough to keep my battery topped off so I’ll keep the panel for now.
Edward –
Good quality built solar panel! Will be adding more of these in the future
MN –
This review is for the 200W panels. I am using multiple panels in an off-grid system.
They were delivered in super sturdy boxes with nice heavy foam protection. Panel build quality is very good, no visual cell defects, excellent mechanical construction, edges line up, etc. Sealant is used where required; quality and application of sealant is good. The aluminum frame has multiple mounting holes, and there’s ample room to drill more if required without affecting frame integrity. The glass appears to be good grade; it has a slight random pattern texture on the exterior surface.
Junction box and connectors are good quality. Box is sealed with an o-ring. Although they are plastic, and obviously of ‘foreign origin,’ they seemed to be solid and well made. Soldering and component attachments were good. Lead wires are 3 feet, 12 AWG aluminum. Yes, aluminum, not tinned copper. I did a chemical test to confirm. Does it make a difference? Well, compared to 10 AWG copper, these will see a loss of about 1.2 watts per panel. Not significant in my opinion.
Now for the numbers. I’m at about 33 N latitude, ~700 ft elevation, date is around April 20; we’re on DST so the max solar elevation is right around 12:45 pm. Load is a discharged AGM bank in good condition, charge controller is an Outback FlexMax 60.
In cloudless skies, output stayed about 180W per panel from about 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a peak of 188W. Power at 1.5 hrs post-sunrise and pre-sunset was 140W. These are all on an azimuth tracking mount.
For some other numbers….. On a partly cloudy day, low white clouds with breaks, output was 220W at 4pm. This is typical of the conditions, because the low clouds reflect back some of the light. And because the light is so scattered, I still got 200W even when the panel was only aligned for elevation.
On a fully cloudy day, with zero sun, output was a solid 50 watts, which is about what to expect.
About 20 minutes before sunset, on a cloudy day, output was 10 watts, still enough to keep a float charge going. Not terribly useful, but just an interesting data point.
There was a fair difference in output when alignment was less than optimal. In an Elevation-Only alignment, total output was about 800 watts from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and 1080 watts fully aligned. If you add the “after hours” power, it makes an even bigger difference. This is a higher than expected difference, and I suspect that it’s due to the lack of anti-reflective coating on the glass.
Bottom line: great panels at a good price, nice for smaller projects that don’t need the large full size panels. I would definitely buy these again.
Update 8/26/20: So I actually did buy 2 more. However, my experience was a bit less than 5 stars. The 2 panels I received were packaged in old looking boxes, without the protection of the original 8 that I bought. They were not damaged though, except for some dings on the frame. They had a different cell style, and different junction box, but had the same product label and were marked as ‘200 watts.’ In operation, they only would produce about 190 watts under test conditions (I used simulated lighting and loads for a fair comparison). In real world operation, I was able to get about 185 watts. I contacted Rich Solar, and they were quick to respond with a partial refund, and to keep the panels. In this case, I was actually ok with keeping the panels, so I accepted their offer. So what I ended up with is 190 W panels at a slight discount. I may buy again, but I will contact Rich Solar before purchasing to verify what I’m getting.
welder314 –
Looks like a solid long term panel. Works great, meets and exceeds the specs. I plan to buy more.
Floberg –
Of the (6) panels I ordered, one was smashed and frame was bent. There was also a nail going thru the cardboard box into the frame. This is not likely a shipping damage as the box was not damaged or indicate any problems inside. I made seller aware they they promptly replaced it. Kudos !
I chose Rich Solar as I wanted higher voltage panels. I put all 6 panels side by side, as close to same angle to sun as possible then measure each. For Voc I got: 25.4v, 25.4v, 24.9v,24.67v,25.4v and 24.9v. For Isc I got: 8.88a, 9.1a,9.12a,9.46a and 8.75a