Best Angle For Solar Panels By Zip Code (2024 Updated)

Weight was my concern and reason for purchase. Bought 4. They work well and produce the power as advertised. Issue I have is with mounting, I had to use 3” eternabond tape to tape down to the rubber roof of our 5th wheel rv.

The dislike is I would have preferred to actually mount it using the 6 eyelets on the panels. I could have rigged some roof mount system but the eyelets are too small for the standard “strut” systems.

The eyelets only allow #10 size bolts. It would be better it they would accept 1/4 -20 bolts. So Renogy should either “engineer” some mount system so the panels are removable and can be affixed to rv roofs, or increase the eyelet hole size to accept industry standard bolt hardware so we the end user can engineer a removable mount system.

These flex panels are fantastic! I bought two of them for the pilothouse of my boat as a “first try” at solar. Installation was as easy as drilling 6 holes in the roof of my boat and installing screws to hold the panels down, plus two additional holes per panel for the wires.

The panels rated at a total of 325 watts were quickly producing well over 200 watts total on a hazy day in Washington state, along the ocean. I’m buying another set of panels this month and could not be more happy.

07/31/2022: I installed the solar panel for one of my Arlo Pro 2 cameras on 7/27/222; the camera faces a high vehicle and pedestrian traffic area. The battery was at 64% on the date of installation. The battery currently charged to 96% and climbing.

The camera has recorded a total of 221 videos as of this writing. Very good performance from this solar panel. The only issue for me was the somewhat short cord. I don’t recall the exact length but estimate it to be about 10 ft.

I had previously purchased a solar panel from Wasserstein for my Arlo Pro 3 camera and that panel has a 13 ft cord. That other panel, by the way, is also performing quite well. That battery is at 100% charge.

Good value for a budget price!.

I installed these two panels next to two separate cameras in entirely different areas around the house. One of them gets a lot of great south/southeast sunshine. The camera status indicates that the battery is charging almost all the time and even with events throughout the day/night (triggered mostly by the dog) the camera manages to get back to a full charge each day and easily last through less-than-sunny days.

Previously, this camera would barely last a week and even died within 48 hrs once before the panel. The second camera is on the other side of the house, is north facing, and in a shaded areas that really never gets direct sunlight.

The camera’s status never indicates charging but I have seen in increase in how long the camera battery lasts. I do want to reconnect the panel as it originally indicates some sort of power fault but in the meantime, while it doesn’t appear to be charging, the battery has very slowly been draining losing only about a percent a day.

A wonderful improvement for both cameras and I am satisfied!.

Unfortunately the two refurbished units that I purchased are not performing as expected. I purchased these two units about 6 weeks ago. Even on sunny days with the length of daylight increasing the units do not generate sufficient power.

The Arlo Pro 2 cameras consume more energy than the Wasserstein solar panels generate. I have moved the solar units three times to maximize their position with the sun. However no significant difference in solar power generation.

My two Arlo Pro 2 cameras use about 2. 5 to 4% of their battery life on a daily basis with no solar charger. Since Installation the solar chargers have yet to increase the Arlo Pro 2 battery level by 1%.

With the the solar chargers battery life has improved but about every 10 weeks you still have to install a fully charged battery on the Arlo cameras versus 4-6 weeks previously.

This was used with my ring cameras and is an off brand but they work great! I saved a few bucks compared to the ring panels. They’ve been functioning outdoors in high desert weather for a year now with no issues or defects.

They’ve saved us time and headaches of having to recharge the batteries on our cameras every few months. You do have to purchase a solar panel stand in order to set these up on your roof or with the ring camera.

Besides that well worth the money. Highly recommend.

These panels are charging my cameras very well. However, one unit has a cable connection that seems to be very sensitive to any kind of movement. I’ve had the charging drop out twice with that unit, and have to connect/reconnect the cable to get the unit charging again.

I’m keeping my eye on this before contacting Wasserstein for further action. Without the issue with the cable, these would be 5-star units.

I expected a lower than rated as usually seen with panels. I hooked upped two panels should be 400 watts. But in direct sun, california summer day, i was getting 290ish watts out of 400 rated, which was even lower than i expected.

I could only get 130 watts out of 200W panels in full Nov sun – a little disappointed. And if sun is filtered AT ALL – ie, coming thru a few thin twigs at the top of adjacent trees at quite a distance (no hard shadows) – I get half that.

It’s not a good value as solar panels; especially the higher watt ratings are less than $0. 50/watt. For a product made in Vietnam, it’s not. The only reason why I bought this was I already have 4 earlier.

Moving forward, I would jump to higher wattage panels.

This unit arrives well-packaged. The panels themselves are well finished. It’s HEAVY and a bit awkward for one person to use. The clips that hold it closed are very lightweight, as is a lot of the screws and hinges holding the halves together.

The folding stand is sturdy enough but the feet are “bare”. no molding, and the metal edges scrape across hard surfaces. The corners on the panel should be rubber, not metal, which scratches easily. The protective case is very flimsy, a hole has already worn into the bottom.

It is impossible for one person to put the unit back into the case because of the zipper design. My LiFePo batteries have an integrated BMS, and the panels would only charge them at 13. 4 volts despite being set for a LiFePo profile.

The Goal Zero tech support suggested removing the BMS. no way! It charges a 100 Amp hour battery 50% in 4-5 hours in bright sunlight.

When the Boulder 200 arrived by UPS last night, there was still sun in the sky. So I unpacked it and plugged it into my Yeti 1400. I was getting over 150 watts until the sun sunk closer to the horizon.

This morning I had drained my Yeti down to 3% charge and so I plugged it in with the Boulder panels in full miday sun with lots of small scattered clouds. When the panels were in full sun I was getting over 170 watts and it would occasionally go to 190 watts.

More than once I saw it climb to 201 watts (yes, from panels only rated 200 watts!). I’m using the MPP charge accessory with the Yeti so I’m sure that helps. The panels look beautiful and are well-made with the corner protectors being nice details.

The panels are big and heavy (42 lbs) and most of the weight is in the panels themselves, not the aluminum frames. The weight and large size make it difficult to use the protective storage case (which doesn’t really add impact protection, mostly just protection from dust and scratches).

I think they are kind of heavy for adventure use, they are at their best as a back-up power source for critical items during unplanned/extended home power outages or at a base camp for extended camping in one location off-grid.

Energy generation performance is great. BUT. Needs to be much lighter The panels need to be inverted with respect to the hinge – put fragile crystal inside when folded to provide much better protection when folded up (the legs, wires should be outside when folded).

The canvas cover doesn’t afford crack protection, thus my suggestion here – get those crystal panels tucked inside!.

Great product but it has recesses in the mounts that suggest that screws should be placed in these recesses. However, the manufacturer states that screwing into their solar panel side invalidates the guarantee.

mounting instructions should be provided.

I used these corner brackets to mount a solar panel on the travel trailer. They worked perfectly. Great fit to the solar panel and a great fit to my trailer.

An extremely well made easy to use product, which was well packaged and delivered undamaged.

One of them had a slightly bent aluminum frame, but the panel itself was not cracked. They both tested correctly on voltage and amperes in full sun. I used one charging batteries for a day with no issues.

They have been in storage/standby mode since. I am happy with the quality and would buy them again. Thanks, RH.

These panels seem to be equal to any similar product. The description indicated the mounting holes might need to be drilled. I did have to drill the existing slots larger to use a standard Z mount. No big deal and the cost savings was great.

Only in use for a week but the output is in line with what I expected in the North West in November.

The panel was shipped quickly and hook up was easy. I used it to recharge my rv battery. Didn’t take long in full sun light. This panel does the job of six old panels that I replaced. I believe I will enjoy using it to power my ham radio equipment.

Good buy.

I have the smaller 100-Watt solar panels, for my RV, which require cutting the rails. This is not a difficult job if you have the tools. If you don’t, then too bad, I guess. The support rails should also be shortened, and drilled, for these smaller solar panels.

I also believe that the knobbed bolts are a bit too long, maybe by about 1/2″, making it a bit tedious to set up, adjust the angle and then take down before moving on to another location. Unless you need the extra power from the tilt, it’s not worth setting up for periods shorter than a month or so.

For $500, each panel, you can buy an electric tilt system. Really cool but not very practical, therefore I bought an additional 100-Watt panel, 500 Watts total, and maxed out the 40 amp controller.

When received one end of the box was open (see pic) and some parts were missing. An extra piece or two of packing tape on the ends with a bit of news paper or some such stuffed over the aluminum bracket ends would have prevented it.

Aluminum angle is SHARP! DUH!!! Cardboard is no match for it 🙂 As it is what parts did arrive are very magnetic, and if it truly is “stainless” it’s not a not a very high grade, I went to Ace hardware to replace them.

Overall it’s easier than fabricating one myself and its shortcomings are easily remedied for anyone reasonably handy. Lastly, the pic in the listing shows the “base” bracket with the holes pointing inward.

I made mine outward to facilitate mounting it easier without having to reach under the PV to fasten if it could even be done as the ad pic shows it mounted. “Maybe” putting panels side by side you’d be wanting to do it their way, but I think not.

Additional thoughts (4/4/20): I added a second panel to my system putting the next one beside the first. The new panel is higher wattage, and mounting towards the center of the PV frame instead of the extreme ends gave the wall mount very good access.

Its ok. Way too big for my Renogy 100W panel. Not sure where they got the idea its for 100w? mine is not 27 inches long its 17. if you use this model the aluminum sticks out an extra 9-10 inches. You’ll have to cut it down and then smooth the cuts out.

Lot of work for something that’s advertised as being for a particular product. hardware and materials are of good quality tho.

Good things first: The company ships fast and the packaging is good. It works. I get about 70% of the 300W generation at peak time/conditions at 37° 20′ N. It is light and compacts nicely. They provide a nice velcro strap for the cord.

Bad things: The plastic corners keep popping off and two have broken. It is big and is trick to deploy without a second person. The bag came with a tear in it. Not a big deal, but disappointing. Other things: It is shorter than the Boulder 200 and taller than the Boulder 100.

It is quite wide, which could be an issue with shadows. Goal Zero doesn’t provide a way to penetrate a wall with their Anderson Powerpole cables/connectors. I worked something up with some stuff I bought online that works well, but GZ should make something.

Also, I ended up having to slice a bit of the fingerproof guard off to make them mate up with the third party stuff but that wasn’t too hard. But don’t get me wrong, I actually really like the fingerproof design and would have loved to find a solution that didn’t involve a saw.

The frame is intact so far, but due to the lightness, I feel the need to be gentle with it. The legs basically unfold themselves, which is different from the other panels in the Boulder series. I hope they last.

I’ve had really good luck with the other boulder panels, the two Yeti powerstations, the home integration kit, the expansion tanks, the external charger, and every cable, combiner, and case.

This is my second review of the same product but I couldn’t see a way to edit the original review. My weather ap says winds of 16 MPH max and my handheld wind meter measured 10. 7 MPH and my panel is on its face.

Gusts over 16 MPH were certainly possible, but be advised. GZ has no rating for wind speeds in the user guide. The Boulder panels, due to the higher weight ratio are still standing. The panel should be pretty easy to stake down, but you’ll be supplying your own stakes.

Looks like it has been about 3 months since my original review and the power keeps flowing from the panel, so thumbs up for that (I did have a competitor’s panel fail after a few weeks once). Also, I did try to click on the terms & conditions link to see if I am violating them by posting a second review, but the link takes me to the product page.

So, GZ if you have any issues with this, I’d be glad to consolidate my reviews or work with you in good faith.

We began using this Ranger 300 solar array three weeks ago, and it has produced 245 watts in slightly hazy sunshine. Its solar efficiency (actual output / rated output) has exceeded that of our Nomad 200 and Nomad 100 solar arrays, and has been roughly comparable to our Boulder 200 array.

Compared to the Boulder 200, the Ranger 300 provides 50% more power while weighing 3 pounds less and folding more compactly for storage. Haven’t had to clear bird droppings from this non-glass cover, yet, so we can’t comment about ease of cleaning.

We chose to reinforce the carrying case with corrugated panels to protect the Ranger 300 solar panels when stored. The Ranger 300 has excellent power/weight ratio, and storage size.

If you are looking for a reasonable wattage/amp panel, this is as good as it gets. Priced right, multiples can easily be added but additional connectors are needed to increase wattage or voltage. Rated at 12v but three in series will give you about 89 volts no load.

This was my second purchase of this particular solar panel and I plan on purchasing more as soon as funds come available for my solar system expansion. I’ve chose to go with 100W Panels just in case I decide to split up the system for use of other set ups in different locations on the property.

As for the Panels they seem to be a quality produced product with a strong frame around the Panel. I haven’t tested their output or checked my readings on the Solar Controller but they’ve kept my batteries charged paired with a Epever MTTP 40A Triron Controller.

I really like this panel, it has good output, the price was reasonable, but you need to be careful. In no way anybody’s fault but my own but the SECOND one OI bought is a different unit Different size, shape and amperage.

12 volt stand alone systems are VERY twitchy about this so I am not sure I will be able to use the two together in line. since it’s only two I can probably jury-rig them together at a junction so that the controller see them as one, but haven’t done yet.

Just be sure to get as many as you need at a clip or if like most of us fiance is a question, be SURE they are the same size (dimensions) etc.

Have not installed yet (not sure I will, depending on fit). But it is clear that the hardware (screws, bolts) included in this kit is junk and inappropriate. The sheet metal screws are chromate plated and so will rust over time.

The plastic washers on the sheet metal screws will not effectively keep out water. And nothing is provided to block water from getting under the lower bracket. The machine bolts have only a split-ring lockwasher to prevent unscrewing.

These will likely become loose from vibration. Once loosened, the bolts can easily become completely undone, sending the solar panel flying. Very poor choice for mounting hardware, Renogy.

These brackets are ideal to enable large solar panels to be installed on a curved narrowboat roof. The brackets are adjustable and provide for a decent cooling gap between the panel and roof. The brackets are well made and precisely engineered from anodised aluminium and are easy to fit and adjust.

The brackets allow the panel to be removed for roof maintenance. Finally they look good and are reasonably priced. We bought 2 sets of brackets for the price of one set of badly fitting alternatives.

Well done to Ronogy for a well designed product.

I have been using this panel on my roof for a few weeks now. I bring it in at night, or before it rains, and put it out when its daylight or sunny. My positioning is far from optimal, but I still have observed a peak of 67w with direct sunlight laying flat on my roof, and even 9-18w during overcast moments.

I use this with a solar generator battery, and been going green using only solar power to charge all of my USB gizmos phone, lithium charger, vacuum, air blower, etc. It is possible that the 67w is a limit of my solar battery pack, as it is only a 300w battery pack.

AFAIK a device will only draw as much current as it desires/needs. Even so, I am quite satisfied with this panel, it works well, and is easy to deploy and put away. I love the magnets that help keep the panel folded when not in use.

Overall this is a nice solar panel, and while it is my first, I did some cost comparison, and this is a really good deal for a portable panel, even if 67w was its max again it may be my battery or positioning.

I definitely recommend this if you are just starting going green, or for camping and extended trips.

The product is made of Monocrystalline with high quality and as each single source of silicon work independently provides higher reliability comparing with Polycrystalline. The frame including the handle are robust and product is reliable.

The kickstands are very easy to open and support the panel steadily. I believe this is one of the differentiations from other products. I like the consideration from the customer’s perspective. The dimension is 2224 inches after unfolding.

A big surface to absorb solar energy. Beside the standard Anderson Connector, there are totally four options to connect to the power station or power bank you may have, from the free cable kit. DC 7.

90. 9, DC 5. 52. 1, DC 5. 52. 5, and LP-20. This is useful to power other devices. Overall, I like the product and rated five star.

Theres nothing particularly wrong with Fanttiks 100W/18V solar panel except that its double the price of competitors and is marketed towards buying one of their power stations. 3 stars. As a solar panel, this is fine.

Its got an Anderson port output that leads into a separate 4x output cable M16/7909/5525/5521 fairly basic, but if you need a different DC adapter you can certainly just find one that plugs in to the Andersons.

Besides that theres very little included besides a pitch that you should buy two of these for a 1000W power station which is probably correct if you want to charge it at any reasonable speed. Its reasonably light weight and does have a couple useful straps.

This does seem to provide the reported 18 volts out I measured 19 on the multimeter. But all that comes at about 3/watt, which is double the price of comparable portable solar panels, so 3 stars here.

I am absolutely delighted with my Jackery set-up with 100w solar panel. On a sunny day I can’t use all of power it generates up quick enough! I like being able to plug small usb items directly into the panel.

it’s well made & portable. my only criticism would be that it needs some durable material on the legs & base where they touch the ground, as these will likely wear over time.

I bought this one because of having points at Bestbuy. The panel is well made but the charging cable only works for Jackery batteries. If you had batteries from other manufacturers then more likely you need different conversion cables to make it work.

There are better products with same or lower price point nowadays.

While it functioned it did a good job. It is not durable. We paid 200$. We took good care of it. It simply quit working after 3. 5 months. So it should have lasted longer than that. It waaworth the money and I would not buy another one.

We didn’t get any response from Jackery.

The solar panel worked straight out of the box and charged the battery quickly and easily. Very happy with this as it will provide solar power for laptop, lights etc in my shed.

Essential to have for your Reolink camera so that they can continue charging. I have 4 of these solar panels powering each of the 4 Reolink cameras and it’s definitely doing its job as expected. With the panels being exposed to rain and heavy wind it still works like a charm and continues to charge the cameras when there is sunlight.

Installation is user friendly so you shouldn’t expect any issues when installing it. Don’t really have any cons just pros.

Bought for outdoor cam. Been used two weeks, and even when it was overcast, and somewhat smothered by shadow of a kauri, battery hasn’t gone below 96%. Easy to install, decent rubber seal for around battery port inlet.

And I was stoked when I learned you can get a 4. 5m extender cable. The cable is already very generous, but we have to be selective with placement for best sun exposure. As we buy more cams, will make sure I get one of these for each.

I purchased this solar panel to compliment my Reolink Argus security camera. Easy to install and connect to the app and monitor our home while out and about. I brought a second unit and both myself and my wife can flick between cameras at a swipe on the app.

Both day and night vision is crystal clear and the addition of the solar panel is an absolute must have, all for just $536 which includes the 64gb SD cards to record those dodgy unwelcome intruders ; ) Well done PB Tech and thank you Reolink for the peace of mind that comes with our new camera.

These Renogy solar panels are more powerful than I expected. Shading and clouds don’t affect them as much as the experts had warned. With haze, I measured 23. 9 volts at noon. Most of the day output was over 20.

0 volts. Shipping was faster than another supplier of the identical solar panels at identical price. FedEx keeps boxes cleaner, with less damage to the box. Packing seems minimal, but is sufficient. After purchasing, I read a review on another site.

The reviewer said the hook up wires are aluminum. I looked on the Renogy site and didn’t see where they addressed that subject. If the wires had been copper, no doubt that would have been listed in the Specifications.

Good extension panel cables, even from Renogy, are copper. Be sure your extension panel cables are for solar panels. Regular cables won’t last the lifetime of the solar panels. Even the cables with some other panels won’t last the lifetime of their solar panel.

One reviewer stated the insulation on a competitor’s panel cable deteriorated within a year. Loom or conduit can be installed to keep the cables safe from UV and the elements. That’s more time and expense.

But may be required by your code even if you have good panel cables. Another hint: Check out your roof frame or decking before you order any panels. The panel mounting must match your roof and panel dimensions.

My shed’s metal roof has a pattern that prevents using adhesive mounting brackets as I had intended. So I’ll have to use a rail system. Best to figure this out first, because panels are available in many sizes.

The trick is in the amount of batteries you have not on the amount of panels. I run a ton of electronics including a 50/100 watt tube power amp and have 4 100mono panels, 40amp controller and 700watt inverter with 2 cheap Walmart deep cycle batteries and I’m very pressed after the second battery l.

I’m considering a third one and a much higher inverter and that should do all my needs. The RENOGY 40amp controller sucks though and had to put screws to wedge tight the cable tighteners on the holes, they don’t tighten well and constantly was screwing up the power till I literally screws the wires to the inserts, all of them! Besides that I’m happy.

I was finding that my cameras were running out of battery power faster than I’d hoped, probably from enabling HomeKit features. So instead of continuing to charge them now and then with a big battery and cable outdoors (I don’t like to take them down and re-aim them), I decided to try Eufy’s solar panels.

I did consider some third-party solar panels because of the lower cost but what really pushed me to the official Eufy solution was that they took care to include a rubber seal to keep water from getting into the connection.

In fact, they included multiple seals to provide for all of their camera models. This was a fact that I had a hard time figuring out online before buying so I’m uploading a picture to help clarify that.

The other picture I’m uploading is a picture of the cord management. I could see that the solar panel came with a long cable but I could find no information about how to deal with extra that I didn’t need.

I thought I might have to use wire ties or something. But I was pleased to see that the back of the panel includes a place to wind up the extra cable. I really appreciate the value brought be those simple, but thoughtful, features.

After running with solar power for a while I can see that the camera batteries are gaining in charge. They do charge somewhat slowly, which is fine because it’s plenty to outpace the power the cameras are using.

The only thing I wish they had included is a longer, possibly curved mounting arm to get around the gutter and above the roof line to point toward the sun when mounted on the north side of my house.

The Ecoflow power stations can be charged one of three ways: 120V AC, 12V DC, or via solar panels. I purchased these solar panels, so I have an additional source of charging for the power stations I own.

I bought two 160W panels and used y-type connectors to hook the outputs of both to my Ecoflow station. It all worked well I’m glad to say. The Ecoflow station charged while also suppling power to an oscillating fan I hooked to the output for test purposes.

Keep in mind that 160W is the maximum output under perfect conditions. Many factors will affect the output you get, such as angle of the panels to the sun, the temperature of the panels, any dust on the panels, cloud cover, etc.

I quickly setup the panels on my deck not concerning myself with ideal conditions – I just wanted to check that they worked. I got about 85W from each panel under my setup conditions. This is why I bought two, since I knew I would not get the maximum output.

I want to make fixtures to set the panels on instead of using the cases the panels came with. This method is shown in the pictures on the Amazon page and is fine for camping. This will allow me to lay them flat on the fixtures.

The fixtures will have knobs to adjust the inclination. I’ll be ready for the next power outage.

I bought this because my renogy eclipse 100 suitcase panel charges my jackary 1000 too slowly. The ecoflow panel maxes out the 130w input the jackary accepts, which is great. The bad is that it only does that when I lay it against my renogy panel, so that it’s angled uniformly.

If I use the despicably awful “stand” ecoflow provides, the output is much lower. Also, the panel has a tectured surface that makes wiping off dust almost impossible. The panel is heavy, yet feels fragile, like I could easily bend and break a corner if I don’t hold it securely.

Still, the panel is cheaper (on sale) than better constructed folding panels, so I won’t return it. Don’t buy this at full price! There are lighter, sturdier, better constructed folding panels available.

Better yet, glass panels are even cheaper and more efficient, especially in the long run. My use for the ecoflow is canoe glamping.

Got this so I will be able to charge my flashlight batteries, cell phone, and any other chargeable Batteries I have. My idea is to be able to charge batteries in case of power outage. I did find out I needed a charge regulator to go with this.

Guess I’m a little new at solar thingies. So it seems this panel will charge a 12 volt car battery that has to be connected in order for me to charge my other batteries. So as it turns out the panel charges the car battery and the car battery charges my other smaller batteries, that have a car charger system, which they do.

I’m able to charge 18650 batteries due to the charger having a cig plug. The charge regulator has two USB ports that will charge my cell phones. While playing with this on a very heavy cloudy day, I saw the little green led shining, so I checked the out put voltage, it was at 18.

25 volts. The other panels I have will not charge on cloudy days. My plan is to have this set up as a portable unit so it can be stored when not needed, then put in operation quickly when needed.

My 4-panel Thunderbolt Solar system has been in operation for 2 years. About a month after it went online, a wind gust crashed one of the panels into the ground and it cracked the screen fairly severely so I recently bought a single panel to replace it.

The damaged panel worked fine until last week when it quit producing power. Not the panels fault! I run my Amateur/Ham Radio station 24/7/365 using the power generated to keep the RV/Marine batteries charged.

This system works great!.

My Cadillac sits and sits between times I drive to enjoy it, and this so far has been pretty awesome. The Caddy has a large battery and the car has quite a bit of power draw with car off, due to the keyless and alarm system.

Measured as high as 250mA, with spikes to 900mA when the system detects activity near it. In one short day of direct sunshine without moving the car, the battery jumped up from 11. 9 to 12. 3 volts. So far after a week of partial sunshine, it has been maintaining the battery near full.

The solar panel is sitting on the rear deck of the vehicle, so definitely not optimal. The point of this was to help the car, not get as much as possible out of the solar panel. Very happy!.