Sternwake renogy review

[Blacktank]

we were able to raise $503.33 for sternwake to do a review of renogy products,he has the gift certificate and is currently analyzing the products he would like to review,his choice of panel/s and ???

this will be initial impressions and long term review

just so you know i didnt spend your money on truckstop hookers,did think about it though

[Gunny]

If there is anyone whose opinion i trust it would be Sternwake or Gotsmart. This should be an interesting read since all my system is Renogy.

Rob

[Ballenxj]

Yes indeedy, it'll certainly be an interesting evaluation worth reading.  

[TWIH]

I hope he comments on the flex panels. So much promise and so far seemingly disappointing results.

[Putts]

[GotSmart]

I hope he comments on the flex panels. So much promise and so far seemingly disappointing results.

There is a Canadian guy in this LTVA that was trying to sell 100 w no name flex panels for $210 each. People were laughing at him. 

One guy here has almost 5KW on his trailer. Big house panels.

[Putts]

5KW!? How big is that trailer? I could fit about four 300W house panels on my step van and that's it. What's he got, a big class A?

[TWIH]

Must have something really big, and the cabling nightmare, even with residential panels at 48 volts.

When I was set on a full sized high-top van and wanted 4 hundred watt Renogy’s in parallel I didn’t like the thought of the cabling issues. That alone could have pushed me to series wiring, even if the controller was more expensive and the potential for shading losses more severe. But it’s not an issue for the moment, even if I switch to the minivan I’m limited to a single panel.

[sternwake]

Hello all.

I have not yet decided on what to get with this but have been leaning towards the flex panel and the group 27 AGM battery, as I would love more wattage and my existing battery is well aged/used and getting a bit crotchety.

While it is true the renogy flex panels of the past proved to be troublesome, I believe they were Solbian seconds/rejects. With the Solbian flex panels being well more than 2x the price, and from what i read on the Sailor's forums I believe the Solbian panels do not have the same issues as the renogy flex panels, but I have not really been searching out performance/longevity reports, and have really been trying to limit my time spent online.
If someone here cares to search out Solbian longevity reports, and perhaps also find out who the new renogy flex panels are made, by who else sells them under what label and price, it would be beneficial.

I Could just barely fit, with some modification, the 100 watt flex panel right on my TV top fiberglass roof, the along with the 198 watts already up there.

My current Northstar AGM battery has 700+ deep cycles on it over 49 months of use, and still performs well, but it now takes forever to recharge fully, and would likely jump off a steep cliff if I could not achieve the 5+ hours of absorption voltage required daily, and my existing solar cannot do that, this time of year.

I've not really been cycling it much at all, because I can plug in where i park, and also as it is my only battery and one which I could not afford to replace with the same should it jump off that cliff. I've also been keeping my showerbag at 100F+ nearly 24/7. It requires about 35AH to get it to 100+ from about 65f, and to keep it there for 24 hours requires 12 to 18 AH. I do not have enough battery capacity nor solar for this, so I have just been plugged in and keeping my battery at 13.6v after it has reached full charge at 14.7v, by my adjustable voltage power supply.

Ideally, I would get another Northstar AGM, as I love its ability to accept huge amperages without issue, but it is a 340$ battery, and honestly does not need replacement just yet. I was considering returning it to engine starting battery only duty where it will likely easily last another 4 years, and then deep cycling the Renogy group 27 100AH AGM battery, which I believe is the same as a UB12100 battery which can be had for cheaper.

So I am leaning towards the 100 watt flex panel. I should be able to see how much it will produce when adhered to the white fiberglass roof, with no ventilation under it. Do a few tests before adhesion, vs after.
My Bluesky SB2512i can easily handle another 100 watts and I would hook it in parallel as this MPPt controller can only handle 12v nominal panels anyway.

Being adhered to the roof means it will not be subject to flexing stresses though, so perhaps this is not the best product ro review for the forum as I imagine many would use them as portable panels and break them out as needed. It would be located on the inclined slope of roof over the front passenger.

The renogy AGM 200$ battery, well this could be the ~170$ UB121000 in a different casing, or it could have different internals Who knows.. The cap on the casing and casing color is diffferent, they say it can handle a 40 amps maximum charge rate, whereas the UB121000 says 30 amps iirc.

Another Framed panel is not going to happen on my Van's roof. The renogy flex panel would need to either overhang the roof edge by 1.5 inches, or I need to run it up the raised portion of the center of the fiberglass roof, for the TV. I do wonder if I could cut off some of the white sides outside the solar cells.

While I am usually eager to get and test stuff, I've got to earn some money, and do some things for the owner of the land on which I park. Getting the new flex panel on the roof to my satisfaction could be a bit of a effort, and while dropping in a new battery to my house battery box under the van is pretty easy, returning a battery to my engine compartment will also require me to finish rebuilding the original battery tray which had corroded and I cut out 2.5 years ago. I never bothered to finish that as I realized the Northstar could easily start my engine and be deep cycled too. I had been modifying it to fit a GC-15 size battery, like the trojan t-1275 or the Lifeline GPL-30HT. The trojan t-1275 is just about the only true flooded deep cycle 12v battery. I would need to relocate my windowwasher reservior and perhaps my coolant reservoir too to get a GC-15 battery to fit. BUt the group 27 Northstar could be slapped back in there pretty easily without modifications to the reservoirs.

So there will be some inevitable delay until I can really start doing things. The gift certificate has not expiration date. The flex panel and battery are right at 500$, and I could do a long term test of these, but I do have interest in the Renogy charge controllers, but I can't and wont easily rewire my system to see how they do in actual deep cycle service, and there is not much point in putting a charge controller on a battery that is not being cycled, and honestly, for testing, it would be better to use a charge controller on a flooded/wet battery so that true full charge verification can be observed with a hydrometer.

So I think I can best make use of the gift certificate by getting the flex panel, and the renogy AGM battery, and do the long term review of performance of these, but if we remove the long term portion of the review, I could do initial reviews on quality and perhaps function of charge controllers, and then hand/ mail them off to other forum members in need of them.

Anyway thats my thoughs on the matter and the limiting factors involved.

Mostly I need to insure my immediate finances, and also I need to have my driveshaft rebalanced and U joints replaced, so acquiring and testing of the Renogy products has to come secondary to the completion of these, and I do not tend to get things done as quickly as they should be done.

I do have some work lined up, but need to finalize details

[Blacktank]

heck,it sounds like you could use a panel and house battery anyways
to bad you have a tv top or you could get two 100w and really boost your system up

i'm doing my best to justify google adsense as Robin Hood taking from the rich... but i am one of those that will drive 10 miles past walmart and go to ma and pa and spend $5 more on an item,i realize i cant avoid doing business with mega corps but do my best to limit it,imagine this site pulling in $300 a month,panels for everyone

which is why i would like to know what renogy is or is not,gotsmart installs them so he can help with build quality for rigid frame but he drives off afterwards and i'm pretty sure the people he installs for are no sternwake and not taking the performance measurements

so it will benefit everyone,stern gets to upgrade his system a little and everyone else gets to find out if the cheaper renogy stuff is good enough or not so and save up for the pricer stuff