I purchased the solar panel to charge the batteries on my travel trailer. The plastic connector box on the back of the unit was debonded when I received the unit. The vender gave me a choice of returning it or gluing it back on myself for a partial refund (twice the shipping cost). I purchased some silicone adhesive and successfully glued it back on. The HQRP 10 amp controller was also purchased. Special MC4 connectors are required to connect to the panel. I purchased a 30 ft MC4 extension cable from another vender which I cut in half. This provided enough wire to connect from the trailer roof to the controller and then to the battery. The controller would not accept the Number 10 wire, so I had to break off three strands to make it fit into the connector. I also purchased 4 brackets to mount the panel to the trailer roof. The unit was sufficient to make my trailer batteries last for a week while camping at Lake Tahoe. The controller showed charging current as soon as it was light in the morning until dark.I'm impressed with the frame, tempered glass, and sealed electronics of this panel. Furthermore, I am pleasantly surprised with the performance of this panel in not-so-bright light conditions. Very solid design, and I found that the output was not terribly sensitive to being installed at sub-optimum angles relative to the sun. I'll be adding more of this exact product to an array, over the next year or two. Advice: Plan ahead and get a larger-than-you-need Charge Controller, so that you have the option of adding more panels later on. Note: The shipper requries In-Person signatures for delivery, and I ended up having to take a day off of work to be able to be home for the delivery. FedEx was (understandably so) *very* strict about enforcing the shipper's policy, in this regard.For the price of what solar panels are going for these days its really crazy. But these panels are the cheapest that i could find that work on cloudy days. They work great. I have had them up on the roof now for about 3 weeks and they keep my small battery bank charged and ready to go.I was hesitant to purchase this item at first given that some of the reviews look fake (a person with the same name published the same review on 30 websites selling this product). However, it arrived in good condition and worked right away. It's been working well for 4 months already.
One negative point though, the connector is not really common and costs quite a bit to purchase. I had to buy a $25 MC4 connector on a different web site.I purchased this solar panel in the spring. After 6 months of use on my sailboat it is still putting out good power and shows no signs of corrosion.
I have a link 2000 battery monitor and it shows over 3 amps of charge when the sun is high. It starts charging soon as any light is on it. 1 amp on a cloudy day.
The aluminum frame makes it easy to mount on a bracket or fabricate your own(thats what I did).
It keeps my boat batteries topped off and thats what I purchased it for.
HQRP 50W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel 50 Watt 12 Volt in Anodized Aluminum Frame 10 Years Limited Po
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on Friday, January 9, 2015
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