Accessories

Solar Charger
I've had the Solar Charger for awhile now. For its size, it does very well. I'm a little concerned about how fragile it is. The output even in indirect sunlight is approx. 18volts. I used it with Sunforce's 7 amp regulator. Their regulator died after 2 weeks. I sent it back to them and haven't heard back. They where good about the RMA, but again. I have not heard what happened yet. The bottom line is if you want a small unit for a boat, vehicle and you have a day or two to charge the battery. This unit will do. I wish I could say the same for their regulator.

15 Solor Charger
Installed on tractor barn to maintain tractor battery during winter months. It has performed well, since installing the battery is always charged. Produces current even on low sunlight days.

Solar Panel
These solar panels work well. Just be aware that with a fixed location you will only get a portion of the rated amps. If you have direct sunlight and no clouds you may get full current. They are durable and easy to set up.

Solar power is expensive, so not sure it was worth it
I got a set of 5 panels for $65 each when I saw them on sale. I've had no problems (with arriving broken or such) & I'm pretty sure they put out the energy I expect when the sun's on them. (Update 7-08, see my review under the northern tool panels for my performance test results of the panels I have).

But after I got these I ran some math on the cost for them and their output versus the utility power rate. With power billed in kiloWatt/hours (or 1,000 watts at a time) these panels can suposedly produce 15 watts (~1/60 of a kiloWatt). Assuming they give me the full 15 watts output for ~8 hours per day constantly, it'll take 15+ years for them to pay for themselves. Since cloudy days & such reduce the output & benefit, it will likely make it take a lot longer. Whether of not the plastic construction will hold up that long I wonder about too, so I'm not sure it was really worth it now. How to fully utilize the power I get & not just be keeping a battery fully charged is another thing I'm not sure of (I don't want to leave something running that drains the battery overnight, but not running anything means I get nothing out of it).

So if you want to power something in a remote location that can run off of minimal power or has a high draw but for only a minimal time, this may be the way to go. Just remember that the panels only give you power during sunshine and you need enough of them to be able to recharge the battery they feed during your daylight hours. The set of 4 panels & more for ~$300 sounds like a better deal than ~$100 each (unless you see these on sale). Also being able to use them with existing things (like in a RV that runs off of 12V power anyway) can make it easier to utilize them as well.

But if you are thinking buying these will help you save on your energy bill at home, you might want to think again. To produce 1 kilowatt of solar power will cost you ~$5,000 up front (and that's almost regardless of who's name brand you choose). To collect up the DC power they produce and convert that into household power requires a car size battery & a power inverter as additional costs. I saw a TV show where a guy in California made himself independent of utilities with a farm of panels & other equipment needed, but it cost him over $500,000 to put it all together. If you can afford such and like the comfort of being energy independent, go for it! Otherwise a utility bill as little as $0.10 for each kilowatt hour seems more cost effective to me.

Arrived Broken - Twice
I did not use the product due to it arriving with cracked glass - twice. I will try another product and would not recommend this one due to damaged goods. My guess is these are probably damaged before leaving Amazon since the boxes arrived in good shape.