Any opinion on harbor freight solar panels ?
Unless things have changed in the past few years, their panels are amorphous silicon, and sharply decline in output after 6 to 2 months. The panels have no STC (standard test condition) rating, so the 5-watt panel is really more like 5 watts. And the warranty is very short - 90 days, compared to the 25-year performance warranty of any serious crystalline silicon panel. But if you have a fun little project that does not have to last, Harbor Freight is a convenient source.
I bought my first set 8 years age and the 45 watt set finally gave up the ghost last week. I have another 45 watt set 3 years old and has maintained 4 2 v deep cell batteries at 3.5 to 3.8 volts for the last 3 years. I have them on my cabin and use them mainly for lights and TV. but with my 2000-4000 watt inverter runs the microwave nicely.
Actually, if you are looking to start slow and inexpensive, they are an economical way to get your feet wet, so to speak. I also tried the make them yourself kits, where you get a stack of cells, a frame and solder and you have to get the glass and assemble it yourself. I combined the Harbor Freight kit with one of those panels. Problems you will run into start with the kit having no inverter and not much information on any kind of power storage, you get to work that out for yourself. I initially wired them to provide all the power for the ceiling mounted lights in a small house, on a totally independent circuit, using 3 car batteries for storage. It worked perfectly, however the code inspector I got from the City could NOT fathom that my system had no connection whatsoever to his grid and would not pass it, even though I showed him the separate breaker box that was not supplied by the line coming into the house for the rest of the power. I finally gave up on him and put the lights back into the main system and use the solar setup to charge cell phones and occasionally power a lamp, as the inverter has plugs right on it. It keeps those car batteries fully charged going on 4 years now, with no issues detected at all.
Put my panel on roof of my motor home, regulator in belly rack with house batterys. Have had no problems in a year or so and they keep the house batterys charged
Yes -- don't buy them. They are low quality solar panels, and the e-z kit they sell produces barely enough power for a lightbulb. The kit they commonly sell is a good child's science fair experiment/project, but do not expect to get your money's worth in solar power. If you are attempting to self-teach yourself on solar panels, this might be a good starting point, if not also a little expensive. But again, do not purchase Harbor Freight solar panels, or their e-z kit. If you are serious about getting into solar panels, there are distributors who will gladly talk to you about what kind of solar panels you will need for a regular house (hint: it is actually a pretty big set of solar panels for even a low power usage home).
