Exactly How much power will this kit produce? for example. Will it only be able to power the 2 light throughout an entire day or would it be able to power a couple TV's with a couple lights. Or a Refrigerator? washer dryer? I'm just wondering exactly what it will be able to do and if it's worth paying $200 for if it'll only power two lights. Don't get me wrong, That's great and will make a difference but i'm looking for something that will make a little bit of a bigger difference. Would the 80 watt monocrystalline solar panel be much better? if so, what would it be able to power? double?
Yes, 80 watts will be nearly twice as useful as 45 watts - but 80 is still a small number. Solar panel systems need an inverter and there's a slight energy loss at the inverter. And, if you want to use the day's energy at night, you'll need a battery or two. And every time you move energy into or out of a battery, you lose a little of the energy. All this is to say that you need to sum up the wattage of your appliances and add a fudge factor to accommodate for the losses. I looked at the kit and was moderately impressed. $200/45=$4.44/watt; that's a reasonable price but the links I left below talk of prices as low as $2.58/watt. Also the Harbor Freight kit doesn't contain an 'inverter' which you would have to buy. Also the wattage advertised for any solar panel assumes the thing is clean and pointed right at the sun on a clear day.
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This Site Might Help You. RE: 45 Watt Solar Panel Kit Harbor Freight? Exactly How much power will this kit produce? for example. Will it only be able to power the 2 light throughout an entire day or would it be able to power a couple TV's with a couple lights. Or a Refrigerator? washer dryer? I'm just wondering exactly what it will be able to do and if...
I don't have direct experience with the Harbor Freight panels, but have heard that they are agressively rated - i.e., the three 5-watt panels are really 5-watt panels. The 80-watt panel is likely to be a serious panel, rated according to standard test conditions. It will also be more durable, and probably have a warranty of 20 years or more. There's really no comparison. If your goal is to experiment with solar electricity, then get the kit from Harbor Freight (or Northern Tool, or any of a handful of other places). If your goal is to save money, generally you will need a larger scale than 80 watts - several thousand watts being the norm. And the payback time will be measured in years.
Harbor Freight Solar Panels
