List Price: $978.00
Sale Price: $543.99
Today's Bonus: 44% Off
We used this solar kit over the week end. It charge out dual 12 volt batteries in about an hour. We used it every day while camping out for three days and on the third day the batteries were down to one bar out of four and after an hour it was charged. I was suprised has fast they were charged. The carring case is heavy duty nylon with a sturdy zipper. It comes with allegator clips adapter to attach to the battery and an adapter to attach directly to the battery bolts. The adapters have a special connectors with rubber protectors to cover the ends when not in use. The adaptors are about 2 feet long. The unit folds out and has built in legs that supports itself at about a 45 degree angle. The charge controller has settings for gel, sealed and flooded batteries. It took a while to figure out how it set the controller, it has one button to cycle through the settings and the LED light is difficult to see because it is not very bright. It only has to be set once the first time it is used. The kit has a third adaptor with connectors on both ends. I cut this in half and put regular extension cord plugs on each end and used a 25 foot extension cord to extend the placement range. This unit is well made but pricey.
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First time we saw this portable kit we were sold us on the idea of an inexpensive upgrade to our outdated rooftop solar. The most painful part is: Our original Solar was 135 watts on the roof installed for $4,000.
This little portable kit from GoPower! is 120 watts with zero install and priced under $600.00!
I say "zero install" but we opted for the direct connect adaptor that came with the kit, now all we do is plug in when attaching the panel, it's nice not to worry about trying to clamp onto the batteries since the battery compartment in our RV is super tight. Installing this plug took less than a half hour, so we think it's a no brainer.
We find the main benefit for this panel is capturing the first light of the day. This way we can wake up and instantly be charging our batteries...and therefor we can start the morning coffee ritual first thing! Of course its also great for capturing the last drop of light before sunset, and for capturing additional sun during the winter when the sun sits lower on the horizon.
Things to know:
The first time I plugged in the kit the charge controller wasn't turned on, or set for my type of flodded battery. Read the instruction manual and you'll avoid this issue.
I wish the carrying case wasn't quite so fitted, sometimes I cannot zip up the case very easily.
A dream add on would be some sort of tiny attachment that would show when the panel is in full sun. My solar oven has this little plastic hole (almost like a sundial) that shows when max sun exposure is achieved.
Overall I'd recommend this portable kit to anyone who is looking to get started with solar, and for those who want to add flexibility to their current rooftop solar setup. We've been using ours for a few months now and wouldn't change a thing.
Of course once we started our solar wish list we ended up having the Go Power! (Solar Extreme) Solar and Inverter System installed as well...now we're set with way more solar than we can use...time to upgrade the battery bank!
While GoPower! gave us this portable panel for testing, our opinions and experiences are our own. It's a great panel and you can read more of our thoughts on the system on our website Gone With The Wynns.
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