30 Watt Monocrystalline Portable Briefcase Solar Panel 12V
May 25, 2010 by SolarInfo
Filed under solar panels, What is Solar Energy
| Brand: | Xtreme | ||
| Average Rating |
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30 Watt Mono-crystalline Portable Briefcase Solar Panel 12V Charger. If you need to use it to charge a car battery, you may need a charge controller to prevent the battery from overcharging. It comes with the optional 3v, 6V, 9V, 12V voltage adapter (thru. different plugs) so it can output to your selected voltage. Also, this new model has the temper proof glass which is 17 times stronger than regular glass from breaking.
Detachable connections included: alligator battery clamps, male cigarette lighter plug, and female cigarette lighter plug.
There are three types of Solar Cells on the market. All our Solar chargers are using the best - Mono-Crystalline Solar Cells.
Amorphous or Dual Junction Solar Glass are the cheapest but are only 7% energy efficient and have 5 years of service life. They are big and heavy.
Poly-Crystalline have 25 plus years of service life under direct sunlight and are 13% efficient.
Mono-Crystalline have 25 plus years of service life and are up to 20% efficient.
This is the same type used in solar car racing. This type of solar cells is now in a worldwide shortage because only a few companies can manufacture these solar cells.
Detachable connections included: alligator battery clamps, male and female cigarette lighter plugs, 3V-12V voltage adapter, and 7A battery charging controller. more info
A solid solar panel
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Not a bad panel. It has Siemens mono-crystalline cells(36)and tough glass. Case is plastic but fairly solid. Solar cells are mounted in EVA under glass. Accessory connectors are VERY well thought out with a charge controller, auto plugs, battery connectors, and a voltage step-down set-up for lower voltage appliances. Props are a not well-designed but I generally don’t use them anyway- this panel easily props up against just about anything and doesn’t slide. A little heavy at 9lb but solid construction. The 30 watt output will charge up just about any smaller appliance like a lap-top or AA charger- will also charge up a car battery with a good sunny day.
The review above is misguided in recommending the Coleman over this panel. The Coleman has cheaper amorphous cells with only a fraction of the power output- not able to charge a laptop and is also made in China. Reviewer doesn’t seem to have seen the 30 watt panel before commenting.
Solar Panel
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Unfortunately, for the price you pay this product is a horrific waste of money. Made In China is the theme here and it shows throughout. Save your $$ and look at the Coleman CL1300 12 volt 20 watt Battery Solar Panel Charger which far surpasses this is value and quality. Trust me don’t spend your money on this!
Bulky, but does the job
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I wanted to like this product as I love helping any endeavor that decides to sell solar products. I’ve been trying to see where it’s made, no where on the unit itself or the literature does it say. I’m curious because it seems like it’s put together by some guy in his garage from off the shelf parts. Except for a few design weaknesses (it doesn’t close well and can dangerously pinch the power cable if one isn’t extremely careful), it does generate decent power.
If this, however, is made in some big factory in China -there are much better products available for the money (the Brunton 26 watt is an excellent unit).
Great Solar Power
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was a bit skeptical about these panels when I originally tested it, but in the end it performed excellent. I use it to charge my Duracell power pack 600hd and it charged fully in 4 to 5 hours. I noticed that you don’t need full sunlight for this panel to work but the more sunlight the higher output of course. Don’t plan on using this panel to power AC electronics its not designed for that. My inverter only powered up to about 15 watts ac power or one 13Watt CFL bulb. It also is good for charging cell phones or anything under 15 watts. On the negitive side I have not tried this product in wet weather and I don’t think that I will as it’s not water sealed very well, and I’ve noticed so far the stands that prop up the panel aren’t very robust and would not hold up in much wind.
An excellent panel
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Following considerable research I purchased this panel about six months ago. I use it extensively in field research to power my laptop and radio data communications equipment (re-rad system) as well as run a 12V powered AA battery charger for LED lighting. With most of my field work in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, where we get intense sun insolation, this panel has performed very much to my needs and expectations. My panel delivers output to rated specifications.
In operation, I run all of my equipment off of a Optima yellow top deep cycle battery. My laptop and data radio draw more than what this panel can deliver but since I run my laptop and radio only about 25% of the time, the panel keeps up nicely with my overall power demands. Recently I used the panel for a week at the Grand Canyon. I was impressed that it maintained my battery charge levels adequate to run my equipment even during a few lightly overcast days.
Regarding durability, I recently dropped the panel (while it was opened up) glass side down. Much to my relief, the panel survived the drop with no visible or electrical damage. As the previous commenter stated, the stands appear a little light weight but in use, they seem to be holding up well.
I give this 30W panel an excellent rating – it meets my needs quite well.