Enthusiast III
A few months ago I purchased a couple of no-brand 100W flexible solar panels from Amazon, . These are rated for 20 Volts open circuit, 5.5 A max current. Unfortunately they're not on Amazon anymore, though there are similar ones available, though not for the $99/each that I got mine.
I finally had the opportunity to take them on a 5-day trip and to use them to charge a single 12 Volt AGM 100 Ah battery that was running my 54 Quart Costway refrigerator.
When I had full sun, I checked the open circuit voltage. 20 volts on the dot. Charging the battery in full sun gave me 5 Amps. Basic performance was just as advertised: Full Sun, open circuit: 100 Watts.
Leaving one panel in the (not-full) sun for a few hours each day would bring my battery back up to full charge after the refrigerator maintained 33-F temperature all day and night...well, actually, the panel would over-charge it because I hadn't decided on a charge controller before my trip. No biggie, a small amount of overcharging on this battery isn't a big deal.
I finally had the opportunity to take them on a 5-day trip and to use them to charge a single 12 Volt AGM 100 Ah battery that was running my 54 Quart Costway refrigerator.
When I had full sun, I checked the open circuit voltage. 20 volts on the dot. Charging the battery in full sun gave me 5 Amps. Basic performance was just as advertised: Full Sun, open circuit: 100 Watts.
Leaving one panel in the (not-full) sun for a few hours each day would bring my battery back up to full charge after the refrigerator maintained 33-F temperature all day and night...well, actually, the panel would over-charge it because I hadn't decided on a charge controller before my trip. No biggie, a small amount of overcharging on this battery isn't a big deal.
