Discount Instapark® NEW All Black 10W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel with 12V

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $99.99
Sale Price: $47.95
Today's Bonus: 52% Off

The panel looks great and is very solid, but it stopped charging within 30 days. I started testing with the battery and backed up to the PV panel from there. After checking every connection, I found the solders that connect the solar panel to the metal tabs (under the little cover) had solders that had broken away. They looked like a kid dropped it on there with an eye dropper and once I had begun removing the old solder, there was clearly no flux and there was even plastic and glue between the bridging tab (with the screw in it) and the panel output tab (that comes out of the case.) The other side of the tab, the wire side, looked like someone smeared the solder on there with toilet paper. I took my time and removed and replaced each solder (4) on that board and re-soldered the 2 tabs and 2 wires. I hot glued over all to keep moisture out and the panel made 20VDC at the line output where it would go into the charge controller. Once I had hooked it back up to the controller and the battery, I tested the voltage...20.2 then 0 then 20.4 then 0...it blinked with the blinking 'charge' light on the controller. I was using it with a gate opener that had an integrated controller and I switched over to that one. It now works like a charm. So, keep the panel, ditch the controller and check the solders before installing. This took 3 hours of my time to unmount, repair, mount, diagnose, disconnect and re-hook the controller. I'm glad I know what I'm doing or I would have sent it all back.

Maybe consider a different panel, definitely GET a different charge controller. Hope this helped!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I purchased this to keep a car battery charged so I could run an electric chicken coop door off of it. It set up easily to the battery and worked perfectly right off the bat! I also have a Black & Decker power inverter attached to the battery to plug the motor of the door opener in to. The set up works great for an area with no outlets nearby. Side note.... I put all the parts in a 5 gallon bucket (vent holes drilled into the sides) with a lid. Well, I walked off without putting the lid on one day and the 20% chance of rain turned into over 4 inches that afternoon. Once I could get out there again, the bucket was completely full of water with all parts of this (except the solar panel) completely submerged. Everything had been submerged for HOURS. I took everything apart, let it all dry, reattached wires after brushing off all the rusty dust and it worked!!! The only thing I lost from the entire set up was the digital timer and the power inverter. So, not only does it work, it can survive after being under water for more than 12 hours.

Best Deals for Instapark® NEW All Black 10W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel with 12V

The Instaspark 10 watt solar panel was purchased to supply 12 volt charging to a battery in an apollo 7000 sliding gate opener. It was easy to install and started working immediately. The 16 foot gate is opened and closed around 8-10 times a day and is working flawlessly after one month.

Honest reviews on Instapark® NEW All Black 10W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel with 12V

Purchased the Instapark 10 watt solar panel with their controller charger as hobbyist/testing installation.

Unit came well packaged. Instapark box with foam planks packed into Amazon box. Nary a ding, dent, or mashed corner. Delivered same day as Amazon e-mail shipping notice. Fast.

Unit is compact and solidly made. The controller does the job but seems vary fragile. Needs to be secured to a solid panel or box.

IMPORTANT NOTE Do not connect the solar panel to the controller first.

For the controller to work properly the correct sequence as per instructions is:

Battery to controller

Solar panel to controller

Load to controller (device you want to power/charge)

The disconnect procedure is in the reverse order, load,solar panel,battery.

And here's my only issue. The terminal blocks are very small, requiring a very small flat blade screw driver. Swapping out the 3 small 12 v 7 Ah batteries means a lot of activity with this small component. So I need to install some quick disconnect plugs. For the time being I tinned (soldered) the small multi strand panel wires using a small battery powered soldering iron. Better elec connection and no whisker snags. Kind of like threading a needle.

Performance

Here's where the panel really shines. Placing the unit inside of a south facing window I was able to get 13.7 V despite passing clouds and some shadow from pine limbs. Very impressive.

Another panel without the Instapark controller is on my shopping list along with a sturdier controller, wiring, and quick disconnectors.

Warning Any solar even a small scale panel component system requires basic electric knowledge, being comfortable using tools and meters.

If not then buy a full connected plug and play unit. Will cost you more but no head banging. Knowledge and planning are key components of a successful project. Homework is req'd. And yes there will be testing. Grin

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Instapark® NEW All Black 10W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel with 12V

Nice sturdy panel. As described. Works to specs.

Controller cycles up to about 13.8 volts then rests back to around 13.3volts.