# Good use for Harbor Freight 45 watt Solar Panel kit?



## cabinetman

Hi all

Harbor Freight has a 45 Watt Solar Panel Kit (lot # 68751/90599) for $190that looks intriguing. I've been considering having it to be able to recharge batteries for radios and electronics as well as having it for minor lighting. I've read the review at their site and they seem to like the kit. For the money, it's attractive. I know I'd need storage batteries as well (marine, deep cycle type) and a regulator to keep from over charging them. 

Anyone have any experience with this setup??

Rome


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## JackDanielGarrett

~cabinetman, I purchased a kit, and will be trying it out this year. Now they are not "all that" BUT, they are what they are. The Harbor Freight Solar Panels even has a forum with a HUGE wealth of smart folk there...

YouTube has hours of videos too. You may want to check them out. 
Jack


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## cabinetman

HI Jack. I just found that forum myself. There's a video there that takes you through what it can do. However, there is added hardware required including a 2000watt inverter which runs just under $200. So, in essence, you need the solar kit for $190, a deep cycle battery for probably around $75, an inverter for say $190 on sale and you'll be able to do quite a bit without plugging into the grid for just about $500. I'm going to do more research on this whole get-up. If anyone else cares to chime in it would be great!

Rome


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## mosquitomountainman

Harbor Freight has their 2,000 watt inverter on sale for $159.99 with $6.99 flat rate shipping. I have one. They are not a great inverter but they're a good inverter for the price. They have three cooling fans and the first one begins running as soon as you turn the inverter on so it's not an inverter you want to leave on when it's not in use. It'll run the battery down. If you want one that you can leave on all the time for smaller loads such as a couple of lights then get a small inverter for that and the large one for power tools, etc.

If you check around you might beat that price.

Do remember that these are low output panels so don't expect a lot out of them. If you run your battery down it will take them awhile to charge it back up.


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## gypsysue

cabinetman, I think it'll work fine for what you're wanting to do with it. I've known a few different people who bought those for either camping (a few lights, low-watt portable DVD player for the kids, etc.), or for lights if the SHTF. They're a good light-duty set-up. Of course you can't run your house off them, but you seem to realize it's limitations! Hope it works out well for you!


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## cabinetman

Honestly I'm not a bit solar fan. However, with the advent of so many high-power li-ion battery powered pieces of equipment it dawned on me that they would be useful in the future as long as we could recharge their batteries. In addition, having the use of low-power LED solar lighting would also reduce the load against the propane lamps should they be needed. It's a source of energy that initially I had very little interest in but, now that I think of it, it can pick up some of the load for relatively low output of funds and effort. I would use it, then, as primarily a charging/maintenence setup and possibly some lighing if it's practicle. 

In addition, you can gang more than one deep cycle battery together and really build some amps. If you hook them up in Parallel (all the positives together, all the negatives together) you build amperage but stay at 12 volts. So, you can easily power almost twice as much equipment. The solar cells will be doing more work too, of course, but I suspect that they would be able to maintain at least two batteries during the solar day. I'm going to run the numbers this week and sit down to see if I can create a portable solar generator that would be easy to transport in a bugout situation (to another location). I'm thinking of one of those nice garden cars with good tires, batteries hidden below, etc. Sounds like a fun project. 

Thanks for the help. I'm only interested in this because it's relatively inexpensive and it would be a good tool to incorporate into a SHTF scenario, I think.

Rome


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## mosquitomountainman

Be sure to run the numbers carefully. The problem I see is in using a 2,000 watt inverter with only 45 watts of charging power. You can hook up a dozen batteries and get a bunch of power until the batteries run down but then it will take days to charge them back up. If you just want to run a couple of solar lights and recharge some low power tools you'll do okay ... maybe. Do the math to see how it works out. We live off-grid and we've helped people set up and install solar power at their homes. The major problem is that most of them underestimate their power usage and overestimate their charging capabilities. 

What makes me skeptical about what you're designing is coupling multiple batteries and a 2,000 watt inverter with only 45 watts of solar generating ability. 45 watts at 12 volts works out to 3.75 amps of charging ability. That's just a trickle charge and in reality due to losses in the system you won't even get that much. (For example: if you draw 100 watts of power from a battery it will take 125 watts to restore it to it's previous charge level.)

If you use a power saw that draws 1200 watts for just 15 minutes a day you'll have used 300 watts of power. With 45 watts of charging power it will take approximately seven hours of direct sunlight to replace what you used in those 15 minutes.

If you just want to keep a cell phone, radio, etc. charged and run a couple of LED lights you'll probably be okay. Any more than that and you'll have to watch your power draw very closely.


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## cabinetman

Thanks for all that. I do plan on doing the math and understand precisely what you've mentioned. I don't plan on using chop saw, refrigerators, TVs or anything else like that with this rig. It has to have a specific purpose and that's only to keep the li-ion batteries charged and maybe, just maybe some LED lighting for a short time. I don't want to make a farm at all. So, the math will tell me just what I need to do to meet those demands and I'll work it from there. 

Rome


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## Mojave_Prepper

Cabinetman

I have already gone down this road and I think I can shed some light and save people a lot of frustration. In short, the Harbor Freight 45 Watt solar panel kit is garbage (I know because I bought it about 2 years ago). (1)The solar panels are thin film old technology which pre-date the polycrystalline and monocrystalline technology. Monocrystalline is the best.(2) The plastic parts of the rack broke down and cracked from the UV sunlight after only about 6 months. The rack is also flimsy and does not do well at all in high winds. I had to re-enforce it. (3) The included wiring harness also do not do well in the UV light ... some of the solar panel wires also cracked.
(4) The charge controller crapped out after 3 months and I had to replace it.

After a lot of internet research and magazine reading I finally decided to purchase a windy nation 200 Watt solar kit. Way better quality components, monocrystalline panels, and they actually understand alternative energy so they could answer my questions. (You think the guys at Harbor Freight are going to be able to answer your questions .... NOPE!) This is the system that I have up and running for about 14 months now and I would recommend it.

http://www.windynation.com/products/solar/solar-panels/200-watt-1224-volt-complete-grid-solar-kit-product

My advice is to stick with some quality built solar panels and quality components and stay away from harbor freight solar panels.


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## cowboyhermit

I have lots of cheap plastic framed panels like these on the farm and they work fine, the thing is you can find high quality aluminum framed panels for less per watt these if you shop around a bit.
$200 for a plain 2000watt inverter is too much. I got a 3000watt at the local Canadian tire for less than that.


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## Jimmy24

I have the 45 watt panel + an additional 15 watt panel. I’ve had this setup as a “learn” solar power project. I’ve had it for 3 years 3 months. So far no issues. The battery is the only problem. 

Deep cycle marine, that I paid big bucks for is trash for solar. It is just not up to the task. I now have two golf cart batteries, (6 volt) and they have been humming along quite nicely. 

Also a 2000 watt inverter for this size setup is way over kill. You have too much loss for what you have to work with. I have an inexpensive 440 watt Schumacher inverter. Has nice read outs to let you know what’s going on.

I power up LED lights in my cabin, a small 16 inch flat screen tv, my laptop and two Makita 18v battery chargers. 

Have never run out of power so far. I also am about to install a small 750 watt wind genset. I plan to add two more golf cart batteries.

Having said all that I will upgrade my cells at some point, with better quality cells. Northern Tools has much better equipment. Also Academy Sports carries a line up to 200 watts IIRC, that is fully self contained. But seems to be very high quality stuff.

Just 2 cents worth. Your mileage may vary…

Jimmy


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## Mojave_Prepper

I can tell you that the Harbor Freight plastic framed panels do NOT hold up well to the UV sunlight of the Mojave dessert. Maybe our dry weather conditions add to the problem. 

I guess it is possible that they would do better in a different environment/climate.


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## machinist

I bought 4 boxes of those losers on "sale" last year and was VERY disappointed. They didn't put out anywhere NEAR 45 watts. More like 20 watts, according to my Fluke DVM. I gave them away and bought some pretty righteous monocrystalline panels from Solarblvd for half the cost per watt.

The "controller" that comes with those cheap panels will wreck your batteries. It has almost no regulation. Spend 30 bucks on a REAL controller and do your homework.

Bottom line: BIG WASTE OF MONEY, in my opinion. But, you know what they say about opinions....

Here's some links to real solar suppliers: 
http://www.solarblvd.com/

http://www.windsun.com/

http://www.affordable-solar.com/store/solar-panels

http://www.sunelec.com/


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## AZSas

We just upgraded from a cheap kit last month. I put a few of our thoughts and experiences up here: http://www.sasez.com/solar-power-lessons/


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